Weekly Live Show Recap - Ep. 8 - The 7 Why's - Ft. Al Cini

Introduction:

Often times we hear people talk about meaning and purpose, however, many people struggle with how to find that meaning and purpose, this discussion will talk about how the “7 Why’s” exercise is one that can help a person find meaning and purpose in life. 

In this week’s discussion Boruch and Yermi explore the real meaning and difference between each of these behaviors.

In case you missed the podcast, Wednesday Live Show, and Thursday Night Clubhouse discussions - please check out the following links: 

Wednesday Evening Live Show 

Thursday Night Clubhouse Discussion

Who is Al Cini? 

• Grew up in middle class hood in south Philly
• As a child, Al had a natural gift for facilitating others and getting others to gather WITHOUT forcing them to do it. The example given was with neighborhood sports games. Even though he himself wasn’t good at sports and nobody would pick him, he was the one that got the games going and even “umpired” the games
• Over time, Al developed a career in technology and ended up as a Contract Project Manager at NBC Universal - used childhood experiences to influence his career abilities
• All this ended up influencing BCAT - Brand and Culture Alignment Toolkit

Key Takeaway:

• Everything you learn as a child and growing up are experiences and lessons learned that can be used in the future. 

Watch the recap below: 

The 7 Why’s:

Every great conversation starts with a question.

Mark Hunter - Sales expert

3 kinds of questions you can ask:

1. A question you know the answer to but the other doesn’t. - Did you know that only 1/3 of employees actually care about the work they do? This is to show how much you as the asker know (essentially asserting your knowledge and expertise) - Used in sales - this doesn’t get you far as it's a dead end question.
2. A question that the person you’re asking knows the answer to but you don’t - what keeps you up at night? A very popular rookie sales question. But you have to have a good place to put this question and have a respectful response that you can do something with this answer.
3. The greatest questions in life are the ones that neither the one asking nor the one being asked knows the answers to. By asking these questions in a way that respects the importance of the answer both parties will buy into the importance of FINDING the answer and can agree to work together to find the answer. - this question is not to test you or be judged on. 

In order to close the gap between the question you’re asking and the answer you’re seeking you have to keep diving deeper and deeper, hence the 7 WHYs.

Key Takeaway:

The 3 types of questions of which the best is one in which neither party knows the answer and both parties have to work together to find the answer.

Experience at NBC Universal:

• Engage your audience in something deeper without them knowing that that is what you’re doing.
• This expertise allowed NBC to go from needing 90 pilots to find a working model to only needing 10 pilots

Watch the recap below: 

The Role Model Method:

The Story of the Model:

• By slowing down, taking notes, creating a presence in a room, you can influence others in a room in a way that suits your purposes.
• You can be a better version of yourself by being more intentional.
• A role model is someone who acts in a way that you respect and you imitate them and want to adopt the behaviors that you respect of them without even being aware of them. 

The Role Model Model Exercise:

1. Think of someone in your life that impressed you so much with the way they behaved that you then put that behavior into your own life. 
2. One or two words that describe the individual and their behaviors. Think about what you saw that individual DO to cause you to think of those words. What actions did they take?

Key Takeaway:

• People don’t follow people. People follow what people follow. 
• They follow a following, an idea, an ideology, a way of life. People follow you for the way you live your life. And the way you live your life outlives you. 
• Meaningful “lives” are somewhere beyond all of us. It’s an idea/ideology. Role models are the ones that lead us to that meaning and purpose. 

Watch the recap below: 

The Importance of Digging Deep:

• Green People/Words - Harmonious Words - following rules. Hours tradition. Etc.
• Blue People/Words - Learned, deep thinker, scholarly, intentional - 
• Red People/Words - get to the point. Set deadlines. Abrupt. 
• Yellow People/Words - Out of the box type person. 
• The successful shows introduced all four of these character types before the second commercial break
• Most people think that the character that they relate to and that is what draws them in…but in reality, the one that draws them in is the one that is LEAST like them, and represents the most change in them. 
• We are drawn to that which inspires growth.
• Everybody is seeking change and seeking those that can help them change. 
• The idea of role models can be used in a way that’ll engage others to change in a way we want them to (for the positive)

Digging Deeper:

• Create an outcome for the project that is so compelling and so alive that people gravitate to the outcome and fall in love with it. And people will be pursuing the outcome as a goal. 
• The importance of digging deep and understanding WHY things operate the way they do, why people behave the way they do etc.

Watch the recap below: 

Managing vs. Leading:

• Leadership happens EVERYWHERE
• Most people try to MANAGE instead of LEAD

Inanimate objects have 2 probabilities 

1. It’ll do what I want it to do
2. It won’t do what I want it to do (it’ll break)

• But it has no free will
• Humans have a 3rd - the probability to do something we didn’t expect it to do that is better than we expected.
• We can’t treat children and individuals who have free choice the way we would treat technology which does not. 
• We have to be prepared to allow individuals to do amazing things, things we never could’ve thought possible, even if it doesn’t fit into our frame of reference for expectations. 
• Be prepared for people to surprise you and do things you didn’t expect but make room for that band be ready and willing to honor and support and respect them and their actions. 

Watch the recap below: 

Using the Model in Family and Business

• There’s no such thing as work-life. There’s only life. You have to have a fulfilling and meaningful life in all areas.
• Your employees are looking to you to see how you’re acting and behaving because you’re the role model showing them what to expect and what’s going to be.

Ask the question:

• Imagine the family or group is a single person that someone could meet…what would that person be like? Red, Green, Blue, Yellow, etc. 
• Every family and company has a mix of all four people types - and a singular vision/person/role model

THE QUESTION: 

• What are we like when we are doing our best work on our best day to keep all of our promises and deliver to achieve all of our goals? - this identifies the Role Target
• We need to combine all our individual types and personalities to come together under one role model that unites us all with a common vision and goal.

Watch the recap below: 

The Power of 7

• You get to the deepest truths in nature by repeatedly asking WHY
• We have to remember our childhood wonder and remember to keep asking WHY WHY WHY

Watch the recap below:

The Bottom Line: 

The 3 main takeaway points were: 

• People want to feel human in a business environment 
• People do not follow people - they follow a role model
• A role model is someone that acts in a specific way, if the people relate to that behavior, they follow it. 

Contributors to this article include:
 

Al Cini - Al Cini is the managing partner and the creative force behind the Brand and Culture Alignment Toolkit. Al is certified to administer and interpret several psychological instruments, such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, DiSC, and the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument. But his greatest focus is using BCAT to deliver insights and actionable guidance that help leaders and employees all “row in the same direction” toward a shared purpose. 

BCAT is the result of Al's career-long immersion in the effects of people, personality, and purpose on company culture. It is an interactive culture-building tool that begins with the “incorporating question”— Imagine your whole team as though it were a single person doing its best work on its best day, keeping all of its promises and accomplishing all of its goals.

Al will be sharing ways that BCAT can help a company—no matter how small or large—find its “North Star” to keep morale high, productivity constant and revenue strong.

To reach and learn more about Al Cini you can check out his Website join his next Webinar, follow him on LinkedIn, or email him at [email protected] 

Boruch DuBrow - Boruch is an Exceptional Development Coach with over 13 years of experience as an educator. Boruch has helped hundreds of people feeling lost in life to discover their path and reach their potential. Today, Boruch educates and empowers individuals and organizations to discover their path, define their purpose, and create an “Exceptional” future for themselves, their families, and their organizations.

To learn more about Boruch DuBrow feel free to follow him on LinkedIn, or Instagram, You can also reach Boruch by emailing him at [email protected]

Yermi Kurkus - Yermi has spent most of his career helping people at their lowest find meaning and purpose through proven methods that are built from psychology, philosophy, and mystical teachings. Yermi's approach is pragmatic and down to earth, thus coining the term Practical Mindfulness. 

Today, Yermi partners up with business owners, professionals, and individuals that want to become more "irresistible" in their personal and professional lives, as well as helping founders build "irresistible" systems in their businesses.

To learn more about Yermi Kurkus feel free to follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube. You can also reach Yermi by emailing him at [email protected]