Defined by your why and not your what.

I was trying desperately to come up with great ideas and questions for my Williamsburg Intermediate students. (Yup! I'm a mentor now.) After a quick search of "Leadership" I found this picture...

Immediately I was pondering the message trying to be conveyed. Obviously there is one red pyramid and a myriad of blue spheres. Obviously the red pyramid was different. But is he an outcast or a leader??

lt got me thinking really seriously. What does this symbolize? Well generally, red represents leadership. Red in The Color Code means you are an outgoing leader. Another interesting fact that I knew was that Red focuses the human mind on attention. We become incredibly focused when the color red is present.

Blue is fairly opposite. Those who have "Blue" personalities are incredibly empathetic and love to comfort others. Last time I checked, many red personalities didn't stop to make others feel better. The color blue also makes us creative. It opens our brains to make connections that would go unnoticed if we were hyper focused to detail.

But what do these shapes have in common? I wondered at this and couldn't find anything; besides the fact that they were on the same plane.  That night, I fell asleep satisfied that the presentation would be fine.

But the next morning, I couldn't stop pondering what it meant.

The next day in class, I asked my students the question that was blocking my thoughts.

"What do these shapes have in common?"

Four of them raised their hands.

"Yes? Go Ahead." I said with a smile.

"They are all shapes."

It hit me like a sack of potatoes in the diaphragm. That's it!

Excitedly, and probably confusing the students, I made a new board and drew the following diagram on the board.

"Class, how many of you know Apple Computers? Macintosh? iPads, iPods, iTunes, MacBooks?"

Everyone knew.

"Okay. So how many of you know other computer makers? What are some of those companies?"

"HP. Dell. Acer." 

"Okay. So would you agree that for the most part, Dell, HP and Acer are similar and Mac is different?"

"Yes."

"What makes Mac and these companies different?"

Mac is better! 

I grinned.

"Okay. That's an opinion. But lets go with it. Why is Mac better?"

*silence*

Obviously that question hadn't helped.

I returned to the picture of the Blue Spheres and Red Pyramid.

"Class. Lets say that this red pyramid is Mac, and these blue spheres are the other companies. Okay. So what does Mac do that the others don't?"

The class had no idea. So I took a deep breath and was reminded of one of my favorite videos. I would show the students what I was trying to get across.

"Class. Did that ad have anything to do with computers?"

"No! It was amazing! I loved it."

I smiled.

"'I love it as well. Even if you don't like Apple, you can still love their ideas. The reason behind why they do what they do."

I switched back to the Bulls eye slide.

"You see, guys... Most everyone knows what they are. What they do. What they believe.
A few of them even know how they do what they do.
But few people know why they do what they do. And if they do know, they usually don't tell you.

'I am a human being. I mentor youth. I work really hard at it. I meditate to know what questions I should ask in class.' That is what I do and how I do it. But does that mean anything if I don't tell you why I mentor?"

"No."

"Why not??"

"Because.... you don't have a reason?"

"Great! Because I don't have a reason to do what I do!

Have you ever said 'This person doesn't feel right.'?"

"Yeah."

"But do you really FEEL that its not right?"

Yes.

At this point I realized I was confusing myself and the students. I wasn't quite sure how to transfer from the "This doesn't feel right topic" back to the "Why, How, What" topic.

Okay. So how do your feelings tell your mind something?

They just do.

"Okay. Yes. They do. But the reason why your feelings and brain communicate is because your brain is functioning normally. It doesn't see anything wrong.  But if there isn't an emotional connection with something, you don't feel right. Humans are emotional people. We like emotional connection. That's why I like seeing you on web cam. It makes it more human. Connecting with people is normal. The difference between Apple and the PCs is that Apple focuses on peoples emotions. I tries to make a connection.

Apple starts with why they do things: They do things to break the status quo.

How do they do that? By thinking differently.

And what is the result? Great computers. "

I finished my mini lecture by telling them this:

"If you want to be a great leader. If you want to be successful people in whatever you do, make sure you know WHY you do things. You can do anything you want to do if you have a reason for doing it. Tell people that reason and they will trust you. That is one of the many keys of great leadership."

Leadership Class at Williamsburg Intermediate. 9/14/12

I have numerous reasons for posting this. 

The first is to simply document one of my epiphanies. I normally don't follow those ideas and so that was a new experience for me.

The second is to share that lesson with all of my readers.

The third reason is because one of my students wanted me to paraphrase that class for him.

But the honest (and fourth) reason for my posting it is because I believe that Americans need to stop thinking of WHAT they do. What you do does not matter if you have no purpose. I could be a garbage man, but it would be no use if I didn't have a purpose.

Leaders have a reason for everything they do. Incredible minds are the same way. In order for America to rise from our trying times, we need leadership. To be leaders we much change from being the same cookie cutter follower to being a creative, innovative hard working leader who is inspired by his purpose.

Be sure you are defined by your why and not your what.