Episode 172 - David Mead, Helping Others to Find Their WHY
David Mead believes that every one of us deserves to wake up inspired to go to work, feel safe while we're there, and come home at the end of the day fulfilled by the work we do. He works with leaders to help them create an environment where people show up to work because they want to, not because they have to. Everything David does is designed to propel people to be a little more than they were yesterday so they can do more good in the world.
In 2004, David began his career in corporate training. In 2009, he became frustrated and discouraged by his personal experience with poor leadership in the workplace. That same year, David met Simon Sinek, a world-renowned thought leader and author of Start With Why and New York Times best-seller Leaders Eat Last. An opportunity to join Simon's team presented itself, and David eagerly jumped on board. Drawn to the Start With Why team’s desire to inspire people to do the things that inspire them, David began developing communication and content, which evolved into speaking and facilitating workshops inspired by Simon's simple, yet powerful message.
David now travels internationally, helping people shift their perceptions about the reason their organizations really exist, what leadership is, and how human biology plays into it all. He has worked with organizations in a wide variety of industries including Johnson and Johnson, Zappos, Capital One, Home Depot and Hyatt.
David also co-hosts the Start With Why podcast, which is downloaded in 170 countries. He is based in Salt Lake City. He earned a BA in Communication and an MBA, with a focus on Organizational Development.
Recommended Books: Together is Better: A Little Book of Inspiration by Simon Sinek
Website: startwithwhy.com
YouTube Feed:
Quotes: "We can control how we show up to any situation and when we know our own individual "why", the thing that inspires us, the thing that drives us, the difference we make to the lives of people, we can do that wherever we are."
"Exactly the point that we make is that leadership is a lot like parenting, you will always as a parent make sure that your kids are fed and clothed first, that's your first concern. Leadership is that, it is putting the needs of someone else before your own and parenting is a perfect example of that."
"The way that we help people articulate their "why" is in a very simple one sentence format, which is, "to___________, so that____________." The idea is, that my "why" is to__________, the first blank is to make a specific contribution. So when I interact with people, this is the thing that I give, this is the thing that I bring to them. That perhaps I can bring that someone else can't, not to say that our "why" should be distinct and different from the anyone else's and were the only one that should be able to do this thing, it's just this is who we are and I might be other people out there that are like us and kind of do the same thing and that is fine too. But to ____________, to make that contribution, so that________, the last blank is the impact, that I have some sort of impact on their life."
"You're "why" is the reason people love you. It's the reason your friends love you, it is the reason your colleagues love you, the reason your family loves you, it's because you give them this thing that you can't not give them."
"There is a distinction between the difference of 'doing' and the 'being.' We know what we do and we usually show up and do things really well because that's what we are used to, completing tasks and getting stuck in the "what" in the doing. When we understand and begin to internalize our "why" it changes who we are being, it changing the way we show up, it changes the kind of person that we are, even though we might not change what we're doing. The way that we come across for doing those things, changes when we approach it from the context of "why."
