Forget Who, What, Where, When. Have You Asked “Why”?
Short answer: it’s actually strategic.
Long answer:
This is one of my absolute favorite values (?) to live by… and it’s as simple as asking “why”.
Two years ago, I was fortunate enough to ideate, build out & execute the first-ever iHeartRadio President’s & CEO’s Club programs for our most elite sales people. The program set out to recognize (and retain) the sellers that went above and beyond to bring in the most $$$.
This program was no joke, and taught me that after a long day, listen to no one and just have the wine.
31 winners flew into NYC for a 3-day all expenses paid trip to iHeartHQ
Each winner brought a plus one of their choice
Ryan Seacrest hosted an awards ceremony followed by an incredible private dinner
We surprised the winners with everything. But best of all - we shocked them with a show in Times Square. Each of them had their own time to shine with a billboard highlighting their names, regions & photos. (and they thought we were just getting drinks. LOL.)
This program blessed me with having built such incredible relationships with colleagues around the USA, sales leadership, and got me thinking… I can really do stuff here and run with it. What’s next? What’s the “CEO’s Club” equivalent in my career journey?
And so I thought, and read, and talked to people about the swirling in my brain. And nothing really came of it, to be honest. I almost thought by doing all of that, I would have a solid answer and someone would be like HEY, do this next! You won’t! But that didn’t happen. But instead, I was finishing up an email to a Division President of Sales when it hit me — I don’t need another program to launch, I need a mentor.
In an effort to not be creepy, I’m going to keep his name outta here. Let’s call mentor man, “Phil”. I was excited at the thought of having a mentor, and shockingly, I really didn’t think much about who I’d ask (or how you even go about doing that)… I just knew that what I thought I lacked, “Phil” exemplified.
I emailed Phil with what was in hindsight, a pitch to take me on as a mentee, and HE WENT FOR IT! We began meeting monthly, and we both came prepared with agendas followed up with his homework assignment updates. This was his way of keeping me progressing even outside of our sessions.
At one of our meetings, he asked me to list 3 projects, and to share why each one did or did not work. I found the exercise to be a little too simple, and looked at him waiting for the “aha” explanation. "
“Was it easy for you to figure out what was working while working on the second project you mentioned?” (one I deemed unsuccessful)
“No. And I’m still trying to make it work.”
“Did you ask yourself, or anyone, why?”
“Why, what?”
“Why you’re doing it, why it’s important, why it’s failing?”
Woah. Could it be that easy? Let me tell you. Yes, it can. We sat there putting pieces together, digging into the deepest “why” of the project that we could find, and low and behold, everything was coming to light. There was no executive sponsor, no overarching goal, no nothing, really. It was an idea that wasn’t fully thought out, and went right into “production”, before anyone could question it any further.
This advice hasn’t only helped me in the workplace. It’s helped me in my personal life more times than I can count. If you don’t understand or know the why behind your actions, your projects, or your decisions, my general rule of thumb is to pause. Pause and allow yourself the time to figure it out. Are you feeling uneasy about going through with certain plans? PAUSE. Why are you doing it? Is it because you feel like you have to? Why are you building a workaround for a task? Is there a process that can be streamlined first?
Save yourself the headaches, and do yourself the favor by continuing to ask yourself WHY. If you don’t have that answered, you won’t be giving whatever it is 100% anyway — even if you think you will.
XO,
Renee
