A short monologue arguing that people are inspired by 'why'—purpose, cause, or belief—rather than the products companies sell. The speaker emphasizes that companies must cultivate internal happiness and joy among employees (using Coca‑Cola as an illustrative example) because customers will only love a company after its employees do.
What I learned many years ago is that we are not inspired by what human beings are inspired by, purpose, cause, or belief. We're inspired by why. Right? Very, very few if any people are inspired by the product the company sells. You know.
Not a single person in your audience, not a single person in your company is living their childhood dream of one day selling sweet drinks. Right? Nobody was 10 years old and says, one day, one day. Right. It doesn't exist. Right. Sorry, but it's true.
But when we say when we were, our childhood dreams is to work for an organization where we feel like we're a part of something bigger than ourselves and contributing to something bigger than ourselves. And Coca Cola, going back decades, when that company. When your company is at its natural best, and it's not always at its natural best, but when you're at your natural best, you're spreading happiness and joy. And we know that from your marketing. But most importantly, you have to do it internally as well. There has to be happiness and joy in the company. The customer will never love the company until the employees love the company first. And so you can't be so dedicated to spreading joy externally if you're not good at spreading joy internally.
And by the way, that is living your childhood dream. Because for people who are motivated and love working at your company, it's because they love making people happy. It brings them intense joy. I just happen to be in marketing. I just happen to be in sales. I just happen to be in human resources. But more than anything, I love making people happy and is spreading joy. That's why I love this company.
