Originally published by Gérald Karsenti on LinkedIn: Purpose is what really matters
50 years earlier, Martin Luther King was murdered. We celebrated this sad event few days ago. This man has been for me very inspirational. There are men and women who can really change the world through their words and acts.
Everybody knows the speech « I have a dream ». It was a tribute to the Gettysburg address pronounced by Abraham Lincoln in 1863.
In front of more than 250 000 people, King calls solemnly to the end of the racism in the United States and claims the equality of the civil and economic rights between Whites and Afro-Americans.
We should remember that leaders are usually all acting in the same way and this is in fact exactly the opposite of what « standard » people do. Instead of answering questions like the « How » and the « What », they are normally focusing on the « Why ». They want followers to « believe in what they believe », which means they want you to be part of their « inside theater ». It means a lot indeed.
Answering the "Why" is providing people with a purpose
Leaders want to give a clear purpose to people. Why are you following them? Why them and not someone else? Why things they do are impacting you so much? Pretty important questions indeed … and usually not answered!
With “I have a dream”, Martin Luther King did not attack the US, he did in reality exactly the opposite. He spoke to the heart of people. He spoke to the Limbic System of men and women, whatever their origins, and not only to the Cortex side.
With Limbic, you are on emotions. With Cortex you are on the reasoning.
Most managers speak with the Cortex. You understand them but their speeches will not usually make you moving ahead. There is a reason for that. You all have been in meetings where you heard excellent speakers. They were logical, structured, and knowledgeable. But when they are done, when you are back to work, you usually just restart from the point you were before … Cortex is helping you to understand as said before. The Limbic System, by answering to the “Why”, is working on your emotions, generating … actions!
By acting on the Limbic System, you work on emotions and then consequently you can generate actions
And this is why leaders are always starting their speeches from the “Why”. They are always speaking to emotions at first … before moving to the rationale side. Listen videos from Steve Jobs and you will find this quite obvious ...
As Simon Sinek said in one of his videos, this is why Martin Luther King did not say « I have a plan »!