EEFG

Start with why

Last month I had the great pleasure of attending energy efficiency sales training with Mark Jewell at EEFG in San Francisco, and let me tell you--it's a-may-zing!

The very first class began with a TED talk (we've thoroughly covered my TED obsession here and here) from Simon Sinek on how leaders inspire action. Why are some people just better able than others to lead? Sinek says he codified what 'it' is and he calls it the golden circle of communication--why, how, what. What do we do, how do we do it, and why do we do it. What Sinek says is that truly effective leaders, companies, messages have in common is that they start with the why.

This got me thinking, why do we, the Clean Energy Organization do what we do? Well, we do it because we believe that energy efficiency can provide a better quality of life for all people, especially rural and under-served communities.
That's easy, we talk about it all the time. But why do I, Courtney, do what I do?

"Something you love better than me, though you may not know it. 
Tara. It's this from which you get your strength. 
The red earth of Tara." 
To start, I love my home; I love the San Joaquin Valley. I find peace in driving the 99 and more so the back roads that runs along the foothills in the east and across the flat lands to the west. I love every single inch of the 27,000 square miles that make up this region. I'm not blind to the problems, the imperfections that others move away from. Yes, our air quality is horrendous, our land is drying up, our people live in greater levels of poverty than almost anywhere else, our energy is expensive and our pay is low. But I love the land--like all 27,000 square miles are my own Tara.


That's why I do what I do.

So, why do you do what you do? For my fellow energy evangelists out there, why do you do it? Is it passion? Is it pay? Leave a comment and remember, always start with why. 
 
Video: YouTube, Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action, http://youtu.be/qp0HIF3SfI4

Photo credit: Photo Credit: Selznick, David O. (Producer) & Fleming, Victor (Director). 1939. Gone with the Wind [Motion picture]/ United Sates. Seiznick International Pictures. Lowes Inc.