Note: The following article was included in the Aug. 2014 intercultures e-newsletter. Email the Editor to receive our next monthly edition in your inbox well in advance of website postings. We offer fresh, intercultural info and insights.
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The purpose of Simon Sinek’s work is to inspire people in their work. He is best known for the Sept. 2009 talk that he gave on the concept of “Why” in the third-most-watched talk of all time on TED.com[i]. In “How Great Leaders Inspire Action,” Sinek speaks about why people “buy” what leaders “sell.” This article highlights key quotes and summarizes main themes from the talk.
Click here to view video of the 18 minute TED video. Subtitles available in 42 languages.
“How do you explain when others are able to achieve things that seem to defy all of the assumptions?”
Even when all things seem relatively equal, some people or organizations consistently succeed and excel beyond others. Sinek uses Apple, Martin Luther King, Jr. and The Wright Brothers (credited with having inventing the airplane) as key examples that have respectively, out-sold, out-orated and out-invented others during their time in history.
“Why? How? What? This little idea explains why some organizations and some leaders are able to inspire where others aren’t.”
Communicating why, how and what—in that order—inspires people and attracts them to follow you. First, tell them why you do what you do. In order to do this, you have to know your purpose, cause or belief. Money doesn’t count; it’s only a result of your Why. Second, tell them how you do it (e.g., your USP, value proposition or proprietary process). Finally, tell them what you do. Sinek calls it the „golden circle“ and has identified it as the pattern that leaders demonstrate. According to Sinek, “the great and inspiring leaders and organizations in this world…all think, act and communicate in the exact same way.”
He continues by saying that, “the human brain is actually broken down into three major components that correlate perfectly with the golden circle.” Our homo sapien brain— responsible for our rational and analytical thought— corresponds with the „what.“ The middle two limbic brains correspond to the „how“ and the Why. These sections are responsible for our feelings (e.g., trust, loyalty) as well as our decision-making and behavior.
“People don’t buy what you do; they buy Why you do it.”
In fact, Sinek suggests that your “goal is to sell to people who believe what you believe”— and “not just to sell to people who need what you have.” Talking about what you believe in an inspiring way (Why, how, what) creates a power of attraction between people who share like beliefs.
“There are leaders and there are those who lead.”
Sinek differentiates between individuals and organizations who lead and inspire, and leaders who hold a position of power. He ends with the example of a man whose cause continues to inspire today. Dr. King “didn’t go around telling people what needed to change in America. He went around and told people what he believed. ‚I believe, I believe, I believe,‘ he told people. And people who believed what he believed took his cause, and they made it their own, and they told people…We followed, not for him, but for ourselves. And, by the way, he gave the ‚I have a dream‘ speech, not the ‚I have a plan‘ speech.“