How starting with ‘why’ impacted my business

I became a Family Therapist after my second child was born. I had always had a dream of becoming a Professional Counsellor but I put that dream aside to join the team of an International not-for-profit organization right out of University. One of the main motivations for pursuing counselling at the time I did, was that my first career involved long hours and travel. Since my husbands job required the same, I anticipated discussions about our complex schedules and which of our commitments would take precedence over the other one’s in order to accommodate our new reality of having children. I decided that having a career that was more flexible and didn’t require travel would be a good fit for our family and the new responsibilities of motherhood.
Fast forward twenty years. I now have more letters after my name, a thriving counselling practice for over 14 years, a son in law school and a daughter finishing up her undergrad on her way to becoming a French teacher. Also, over the last five years or so, have been involved in helping companies increase their performance with regard to individual staff, as well as helping to create high level functioning teams. All this helps staff and employees feel better about their roles, increases a company’s bottom line, helps decrease negativity and conflict and increase organizational morale. By bringing my company in to do this, it protects the time and energy CEO’s and senior executives have to focus on what matters to them and what they’re good at!
Over the past year I have embarked on a journey of getting clear about the vision and mission of my company. It seemed that the career path and experiences I have had over the past thirty or so years were so diverse that I couldn’t find a common denominator to state one vision. Sinek’s book, “Start with Why” offers a poignant question that helped me sort this out. Why do I do what I do? After months of thinking about this question, it came to me. I’m about helping people to be all that they can be. I am motivated by unleashing potential in people and organizations so they can fulfill their goals. Hence the name of my company’s newsletter, Unleash Potential! Having my ‘why’ clarified helps me to focus my attention and capacity. There can be lots of different projects I take on and lots of ways to do them, but at the end of the day, Five Star Relationships exists to unleash your potential!