I just finished listening to Simon Sinek Start with the Why. I have seen this title on several recommended reading lists for military professionals and for business leaders. I actually listened to it twice! Great book, lots of interesting insights, and easy to understand thesis. As an entrepreneur, it seems so obvious to have a good WHY, but it’s not something I’ve really thought about before. He explains the Golden Circle – What, How, Why – and compares it to a dart board with WHAT on the outside (easy to explain and discuss), HOW in the middle (usually containing parts that answer how a company differs from others ), then WHY in the middle (the purpose, the reason, the belief). He is full of perfect examples of companies and people who know their cause and stick to it and those examples make it easier to see why we should start with the why. Apple. Harley Davidson. Southwest Airlines. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – to name a few. They have a clear sense of why. Apple’s WHY, for example, “everything we do is to challenge the status quo.” And we can see that in almost everything Apple does. A few years ago, when everyone tried to put more buttons on their phones, Apple went down to 1. And who can forget “I’m a Mac. I’m a PC” commercials. Apple clearly understands its WHY.
And, after some thought, I feel like I have a good grip on mine. I have always explained why I became a postpartum doula. My inspiration, my path, and why I do it. But I think I kept that review shallow. So, over the past few weeks, I’ve thought more about my doula WHY. Why do I doula? Why am I doing this? What is my doula WHY? Why does From The Start, Postpartum Doula exist?
I’ve spent a decent amount of time thinking about this lately and I think I can sum it up in a few words.
serve the heads of the family and teach them their best parenting
There are a lot of key words in there for me, but let me expand on those two verbs.
