What is my WHY?
This year, I was selected for the University of Adelaide’s Women’s Professional Development Network mentoring program.
It’s been a precious opportunity to reflect on myself, my career and the professional world at large.
Early in the program, I was asked to articulate my WHY. A WHY was described as: ‘Your purpose. The reason you get out of bed. The coming together of your values and strengths. The reason you use words like “I love”, “I get excited about” and “I’m passionate about”...
I found this task challenging, to say the least. I spent my twenties gallivanting through multiple degrees and potential callings. What do you mean just one WHY?
It’s a big question. And as someone whose job is to effectively articulate things, I wanted my answer to feel honest and true.
Here’s what I considered:
For a start, I was evolutionarily programmed for work and love; all humans need meaningful relationships and something to do with their time. But these drives are outside my control and common to all humans, so can’t be my WHY…
Other valid WHYs, professionally speaking, might be: capitalism, money, survival, validation, status, self-esteem, praise… I’m not discounted from those.
There are many causes I’m passionate about: mental health awareness; LGBTQIA+ liberation; respect and empowerment for young people; creativity as a powerful force; challenging anti-fat bias; fighting dehumanisation and misinformation; education; anti-racism; intersectional feminism…
But these are not a WHY in the way that ‘challenging the status quo’ is Apple’s WHY. And surely it should feel natural when expressed verbally?
All year, I’ve been asking people about their WHYs. It’s sparked some good conversations.
Some people say problem-solving.
Some say motivating those around them.
Some say caring for others (they are always the quickest to answer).
But problem-solving isn’t my WHY. And neither is caring for others, at least not exactly.
My first real attempt was:
- I’m fascinated by human behaviour, emotions, culture and morality.
- I enjoy the process of ideating and pulling pieces together in a way that is unique, interesting and serves a meaningful purpose.
It’s a little wordy…
I then learnt Simon Sinek recommends formatting a WHY as:
To (contribution)… so that (impact)…
Eugene Healey called Sinek ‘Chief Bullshit Officer’ responsible for driving a vacuous, dissonant trend in liberal capitalism where brands follow ‘the Purpose doctrine’ instead of solving real problems.
But I was glad to have some structure for my nebulous task.
So, what did I come up with?
My dad called me a ‘champion of the human experience’ in his father of the bride speech, and I ended up building my WHY around that.
You can read it in my bio. I’m not sure I’m there yet, but I had a great time thinking about it.