Read a book recently. What?! How could I?

Starting with Why.

The book is written by Simon Sinek. I found him accidentally on Facebook. For whatever reason, likely his why, I was enthralled. He spoke about leaders getting the last word. Sit there, listen to others, and when everyone has spoken, the leader is to say what happens next, with thought and consideration to what everyone else had said. This is a little novel to me as my boss (dad) almost always starts with his thoughts then asks others.

This led me to speak with a very intelligent friend, Devani, because she knows things. While I was now aware of the rabbit hole, she pointed me towards it, showing me other videos and books.

Starting with Why talks about three steps of doing our work. What is what we do, and everyone knows it. Using me as an example, I sell restaurant equipment. Then there is how, and that is how you do it. A few people know this, and they end up successful in their own right, but never truly revolutionary.

The why has a dream. They have a vision. They change the world. They make people believe, and those believers create loyalty. In a world that’s becoming increasingly mercenary, that would be an incredible feat.

I found my why. I love working with kids, I love facilitating learning, and I love showing them the different exciting and difficult things they will face when older. I only got out of teaching because parents are insane at how much they’re enabling their kids to be brats, as well as the requirements a kid needs to fulfill at school or sports to find acceptance.

This is likely what led me to want to get involved so deeply with Pokemon. I want to teach kids how to play, how to read, how to do some basic math.

Now I want to aim it at writing, getting kids interested in writing, and showing them what it is to get published. Right now, even at the college level, we teach what it is to write. We don’t teach what it is to publish, which I think is a weakness.

At work, I’m going to look into helping high school students who desire to be chefs get more experience of what that means, including cooking meals for charity events and learning with our personal chef. While that doesn’t necessarily mean we’re selling equipment, it gives us a why, and it sets us apart from everyone else who does the same thing. We would stand for something other than profit. And don’t get me wrong, we do help customers to achieve their dreams of setting up a restaurant. But so does everyone else we compete with.

Simon inspired me enough that when I finished reading, I gave it to my dad so hopefully it would inspire him. That’s Simon’s why: inspire. And I believe in his why.