If, over a hundred years ago, you asked George Horace Lorimer, “What is The Saturday Evening Post for?” he’d probably talk about setting society’s agenda, capturing the attention of the educated and powerful and most of all, delivering the best news package he could. Today, the answer is clear: to increase circulation. It used to be that the profit enabled a business to reach its goals. Today,…
This is a YouTube video from May 4, 2010. It has been online for quite some time now and there are chances that you have already seen it.
In the TED video, Simon Sinek talks about how some leaders are able to inspire action with the same access as everyone else. He shares a simple model to explain how great leaders are able to defy all assumptions.
The Golden Circle
The pattern is explained with the help of the concept: The Golden Circle.
Everyone knows "What" they do.
Some know "How" they do it.
Very few know "Why" they do it.
Note that, "Why" is not about profit. Profit is a result. Why is your cause, purpose or belief.
Most people communicate from the outside->in of the model. First they explain the what, then they tell the how and they have no idea what their why is. They are essentially going from the clearest to the vaguest part.
Great leaders think, communicate and act in a way which is completely opposite of what others do. That is why they are able to inspire change.
Simon Sinek gives an example of Apple and its marketing communication—
Everything we do, we believe in challenging the status quo. We believe in thinking different.
The way we challenge the status quo is by making our products beautifully designed, user-friendly and simple to use.
We just happen to make great computers.
Wanna buy one?
Imagine how the same marketing message would sound like if it was outside in without knowing their why. Something like:
We make beautiful computers. They are beautifully designed, user-friendly and simple to use. Wanna buy one?
This is why even though their competitors are able to make equally qualified products, Apple always wins. They have believers who are willing to stand in line for 24 hours to be the first one to use their new product. They have people who believe in what they believe.
The goal should be to gain such people. Have people who believe in what you believe because when people do so, they work blood, sweat and tears for you. It is possible only by communicating from the inside out. Only then will we talk directly to the part of the brain that controls behavior. That is what gives the gut feeling. The outside parts are there just to rationalize the purchase.
So know that
People don't buy what you do. People buy why you do it.
The video continues with an explanation of the theory: Diffusion of Innovations.
Finally, Simon Sinek concludes by differentiating between leaders and those who lead. Leaders hold a position of power or authority. The ones who lead inspire. They have followers, not because of their position but because the people who follow them want to. The followers follow for themselves. So, always start with the WHY, inspire others and find others who inspire you.
What is your vision statement? Why do you do what you do? Such an easy question, yet a question that many don’t know how to answer.
I’ve been reading Simon Senek’s book “Start with Why”. In the book, it he talks about the difference between great leaders and companies, with the rest. Where great leaders and companies start with their why, more specifically, why did they get in business first off.
Whereas, most companies start by talking what they do or how they do it. Talking about how great their company is, how they deliver value through customer service --- all the what and how. But nowhere do they mention why the do it.
A little while ago my friend Cristian turned me on to this great book - Start with Why by Simon Sinek. After inhaling the book in a day, I couldn't stop thinking about the book's underlying theme. What is your why?
It's not an easy question to answer as the book so eloquently demonstrates. The thought of it would always pop up in my head. I mean I didn't obsess over it where I would miss meals or anything but it would creep up on me quite often. A few weeks after that I took a trip to a small town in Ukraine. A town I was born in and lived in until the age of 13.
I love visiting my hometown. The visits here always give me time to reflect on the past and future. It also gives me a chance to interact with the past. As if time almost stands still for a week and I can travel back to the years of my life that are still my fondest memories. Those memories almost always include growing up with my grandparents.
My grandfather moved to this small rural town in Western Ukraine in 1944. It was his first job after college and It's no accident that he still talks about this town daily. He lived his whole adult life there. He worked his way up to hold a powerful position in a Railroad Depot and would continue working there in some capacity until we came to the United States. His life was devoted to his job. There was absolutely nothing that gave him more pleasure than going to work. (Aside from hanging out with his grandkids, of course).
As part of our trip me and my mom went to a dinner with some of his old friends and old co workers. I love listening to funny and very real stories of a young kid coming to a war ravaged town and being a part of it's rebuilding. I love listening to his old co workers retell stories that I heard many times before. Suddenly, in the middle of all those stories I remembered something my grandpa told me when I was about 9. The first thing any person with power should do is care for his employees.
It was at that very moment I realized that he lived his whole professional career by that simple and powerful motto. His why was so crystal clear. It defined all his actions and all his beliefs. Care for the people. Be sensitive to their needs. Treat everyone with respect. He never strayed from it. He always put "his" people first and himself second. He never had to question his decisions because he knew that if it differed from his mission it was ultimately the wrong one.
Today is exactly 18 years since my family relocated to America. 18 years later I sit at a dinner people with seemingly a bunch of strangers. People I barely know. Yet, I don't feel like a stranger. I hold my head up high because I know that my grandfather worked his whole life believing a simple rule of helping people.
It's hard to figure out a question of why you want to do something clearly. It'e even harder to live a life full of actions that define it. My grandfather never heard of Simon Senek, nor did he read awesome motivational quotes on Twitter. Living a life defined by one simple rule was more than enough.
