Why?
Quite a powerful word.
Simon Sinek starts with Why.
Amanda Lay shows us the power of Why.
Charles Duhig explains Why we do things....the list goes on with a multitude of books, articles, quotes all around that one word...Why. But when was the last time you asked it? More importantly when was the last time you asked yourself why? Vague, but bear with me.
Over the past few years, I have been fortunate enough to have been able to hire exceptional people and more than lucky enough to have some of them call me their friend. It was one of these friends that reminded how easily this process of asking yourself why gets lost in the day to day lives we go about.
A few months ago, Tom (fake name) came to me and asked for some guidance on moving into a head of growth/marketing role. I was a little surprised as even though it was a logical step forward in his career, it wasn't the direction I thought he would be the happiest in. This came out in as many words as it did actions as time progressed.
Initially, Tom just wanted to changes jobs as the management and culture had moved away from being enjoyable. We discussed other companies and roles but there wasn't much enthusiasm. A few months passed and Tom reached out again giving me an update on how things were going, unfortunately still no luck. Having worked with Tom directly, I was quite surprised, as I knew his calibre of work and the demand for his skillset.
We discussed more and this is when he explained he wanted to move into a more senior job. After outlining all the tasks and responsibilities as well as the next steps that he should do to accomplish this task Tom gave the following reply:
"Wow...great thanks! Not sure if I am up for it now or what I am missing. Difficult to say."
Was Tom missing a few of the skills for a head of growth/marketing role?
Sure.
But everyone is. If you hire someone that ticks all the boxes then you can be assured of two things:
1) they will hit the ground running and you'll get some quick wins
2) you'll need to hire someone again for that role in short order
I'm a firm believer that people need to keep learning and improving to deliver their best work but that is a different topic.
Back to Tom.
Long story short, I explained his pitfalls, how he could improve it and the strategy he could employ to land and do well in the role. It was a bit of hard work but that is part and parcel with Head of Roles.
Me - " You just need to decide on what you want and how badly you want it"
Tom - "To be honest, I really don't know"
Depending on your career/life maturity, that answer might have surprised. But given the recent conversations I've had, it probably didn't. A lot of people don't know what they want to do and that's fine. Finding the right career is a lot harder than anyone tells you. But the most important aspect that sticks out to me is that people don't dive deeper into the why of their role. And I don't mean why the role exists or why it does X or Y. I mean Why do you want to do it.
True Story Time.
My first job was as a recruitment consultant. A hard enough job as it is but I got lucky enough to join a financial desk specialising in quantitative analysts in September of 2008. For those of you that don't remember the significance of that date, it was the peak of the financial crisis and Lehman Brothers collapsed a week after my first day. I was lucky enough (no sarcasm) to have joined a team with an amazing boss who believed in me and what I could become.
After a few months, it was clear this area of recruitment wasn't working. My boss then arranged for me to be transferred to another recruitment area whilst everyone else was getting made redundant. Gareth Webb if you are reading this - thank you, I really needed that job. It was here that I was brutally introduced into the question of why.
On a call that was being listened to by my new manager, Filmon Goitom, I asked the potential candidate why he was looking for a new job, he replied that he wanted more money, which I completely understood and moved on.
Filmon didn't.
It was right at the end of the call so I just said goodbye and hung up. The following is exactly what happened as it was burned into my memory.
Filmon - "Why does he want a new job"
Me - "He wants more money"
Filmon - "That's not the reason"
Me- "you were listening and heard him"
Filmon-"ok...What's he want more money for?"
Me - "I don't know!? Everyone wants more money"
Filmon - " I don't care about everyone, I care about him - why does he want more money?"
Me - ".....I don't know"
Filmon " Exactly....call him back and find out"
If you are cringing at this, then prepare yourself, it gets better. I picked up the phone and dialled the candidate again and after the initial surprise and confusion about me calling back so quickly, I dived straight into the question.
Me - "Yes again, just wanted to clarify something, you said you wanted another job because you wanted more money?"
Candidate -" yes that's right"
Me- "ok great...why is that?"
Candidate - "What?"
Me - "Why do you want more money?"
Candidate -"...What? Are you asking why I want more money?"
Me (looking at Filmon) - "Yes"
Candidate -"...Because I want more money at the end of the month..."
Filmon mouths again and waves me on.
Me - "Ok...but why is that?"
Candidate - "...Because I want to put more into the savings"
Filmon gets excited starts mouthing why savings whilst vigorously pointing at me.
Me - "why do you want to do that?"
Candidate - " no recruiter has ever asked me that....it's quite personal no?"
Me staring at Filmon -" Yes I can imagine no one else has asked you this but I just want to make sure we are on the same page"
Candidate -" Alright...I want to make sure that if myself or my wife are made redundant we can still pay the mortgage."
Me - "Oh...so-" Filmon's face breaks out into a smile and he points at me.
Candidate -"yea I figured you'll ask anyway but when I was young my parents lost their house and it really affected us. It is not something I ever want my kids to go through."
I was too stunned by the revelation to take into account Filmon's happy dance in the background. We discussed it a bit longer but that piece of information became pivotal for the salary negotiations. In finance, most candidates are speaking to a few recruiters and the good ones will always get a few offers. This candidate got an offer from myself and another recruiter but when I spoke with the hiring bank, I was able to get them to include a clause about them bringing the mortgage over to their bank and making it possible for him to pay it off before his probation was over (he didn't have that much more to pay off).
Even though the offer from the other recruiter was for a little bit more money, the candidate lept at my offer. I can still remember how happy he was that I had really listened to him and made that a part of the offer.
What does this have to do with Tom? Or Marketing?
This was the story I told Tom after he told me he wasn't sure. Often the initial answer to the why of why you do something only touches on the surface of the underlying reason. Pushing yourself further down the rabbit hole can unearth your true motivations and desires.
At the end of the day, your job takes up the majority of your life, it is your responsibility to fully know why you want to do it.
Take a few minutes and try the exercise yourself. Ask it at least five times or as many as you want until it comes to a comfortable end. You might be quite surprised by where it takes you.
Alright makes sense for Tom but what about marketing?
Well, it's not only for marketing. Sit down and ask your team members to go through this exercise. Some of them might not know why they are doing their job and some might just be doing it for the paycheck. And that's alright. The main point is to get them thinking about it. Not only will this give you a much deeper understanding of the individuals in your team but you could also be helping someone find what they truly want to do.