It is time for the Book & Wine recommendation! Febuary is a romantic month. Lots of pink colors. I cannot resist recommend the Veuve Clicquot Brut Rose champagne. Do you know the story being the brand?

Veuve Clicquot was founded in 1772 by Philippe Clicquot and is one of the largest champagne houses in the world. Madame Clicquot is credited with major breakthroughs, creating the first known vintage champagne in 1810. From risking her inheritance on a failing business to gambling her champagne against a naval blockade, Barbe-Nicole Clicquot built her champagne empire on bold decisions, a business model she never regretted.

As she wrote in the later years of her life in a letter to a grandchild: “The world is in perpetual motion, and we must invent the things of tomorrow. One must go before others, be determined and exacting, and let your intelligence direct your life. Act with audacity.”

When asked about the quality of her wines, Barbe-Nicole answered: “we have only one quality, the finest” This remains the company’s vision. That is inspiring to see how Barbe-Nicole drove innovation solutions to evolve the business following the ONE VISION of the business. With that being said, that leads into the book I have been enjoying. Join me and pour your self a glass of champagne, let’s get into the book of the month: Start with Why by Simon Sinek.

First of all, the book described that : Your WHY is your purpose, cause or belief. If we look at the example of Madam Clicquot, her business purpose is to ” make the finest champagne”.

1. The WHY is important for leadership

“There are only two ways to influence human behavior: you can manipulate it or you can inspire it.”

“Though positive in nature, aspirational messages are most effective with those who lack discipline or have a nagging fear or insecurity that they don’t have the ability to achieve their dreams on their own (which, at various times for various reasons, is everyone).”

“Every single company and organization on the planet knows WHAT they do. Some companies and people know HOW they do WHAT they do. Very few people or companies can clearly articulate WHY they do WHAT they do.”

Instead of asking, “WHAT should we do to compete?” you need to ask yourself, “WHY did we start doing WHAT we’re doing in the first place, and WHAT can we do to bring our cause to life considering all the technologies and market opportunities available today?”

“We are drawn to leaders and organizations that are good at communicating what they believe. Their ability to make us feel like we belong, to make us feel special, safe and not alone is part of what gives them the ability to inspire us.”

“When employees belong, they will guarantee your success. And they won’t be working hard and looking for innovative solutions for you, they will be doing it for themselves.”

“The role of a leader is not to come up with all the great ideas. The role of a leader is to create an environment in which great ideas can happen.”

2. The WHY is important for customers

“If a company adds too many novel ideas too often, it can have a similar impact on the product or category as the price game. In an attempt to differentiate with more features, the products start to look and feel more like commodities. And, like price, the need to add yet another product to the line to compensate for the commoditization ends in a downward spiral.”

“Loyalty is when people are willing to turn down a better product or a better price to continue doing business with you.”

“No matter where we go, we trust those with whom we are able to perceive common values or beliefs.”

“The goal of business should not be to do business with anyone who simply wants what you have. It should be to focus on the people who believe what you believe.”

3. Know your WHY

“Knowing your WHY is not the only way to be successful, but it is the only way to maintain a lasting success and have a greater blend of innovation and flexibility.”

“Only when the WHY is clear and when people believe what you believe can a true loyal relationship develop.”

“Energy motivates but charisma inspires. Energy is easy to see, easy to measure and easy to copy. Charisma is hard to define, near impossible to measure and too elusive to copy. All great leaders have charisma because all great leaders have clarity of WHY; an undying belief in a purpose or cause bigger than themselves.”

“Charisma has nothing to do with energy; it comes from a clarity of WHY.”

“Regardless of WHAT we do in our lives, our WHY—our driving purpose, cause or belief—never changes.”

“Don’t forget that a WHY is just a belief, HOWs are the actions we take to realize that belief and WHATs are the results of those actions.”

“Clarity of purpose, cause or belief is important, but it is equally important that people hear you.”

“It is not just WHAT or HOW you do things that matters; what matters more is that WHAT and HOW you do things is consistent with your WHY.”

“Achievement comes when you pursue and attain WHAT you want. Success comes when you are clear in pursuit of WHY you want it.”

“For passion to survive, it needs structure. A WHY without the HOWs, passion without structure, has a very high probability of failure.”

“When people know WHY you do WHAT you do, they are willing to give you credit for everything that could serve as proof of WHY. When they are unclear about your WHY, WHAT you do has no context.”

4. Finding WHY:

“When the WHY is absent, imbalance is produced and manipulations thrive. And when manipulations thrive, uncertainty increases for buyers, instability increases for sellers and stress increases for all.”

“Finding WHY is a process of discovery, not invention.”

The key takeaway is that there is only 1 WHY for every person & organization. Once you identify the WHY, you also need the HOW to provide structure to be successful.

Find the book here: https://amzn.to/3aBrKGJ

Find the champagne here:https://www.wine.com/product/veuve-clicquot-brut-rose/87191