Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action [Hardcover]

I saw the ted-talk by Simon Sinek and wanted to read more about his ideas. This book is easy to read and gives some interesting insights on how to communicate.

I have tested it at work and it works. I gave a talk at a conference recently and people congratulated me on the clarity of my presentation. Really, what I did was to start with why.

More interesting to me, I think that this book provided the secret of how one specific person I know (a genious in communication) actually behaves when he enters the stage.

I agree with Simon Sinek that individuals as well as organizations must have a crystal clear sense of purpose or it will be very difficult (if not impossible) for them to decide what to do and how to do it. If they have the right purpose, it will guide and inform their decisions and, meanwhile, inspire and then sustain their efforts. Sinek suggests that the Golden Circle "helps us to understand why we do what we do. [It] provides compelling evidence of how much more we can achieve if we remind ourselves to start everything we do by asking why." In brief, here is Sinek's outside-in explanation:

"Every single company and organization on the planet knows WHAT they do...Everyone is easily able to describe the products or services a company sells or the job function they have within that system. WHATs are easy to identify."

"Some companies and people know HIW they do WHAT they do...Not as obvious as WHATs, many think these are the differentiating or motivating factors in a decision. It would be false to assume that's all that's required. There is one missing detail."

"Very few people or companies can clearly articulate WHY they do WHAT they do...By WHY I mean what is your purpose, cause or belief? WHY does your company exist? WHY do you get out of bed every morning? And WHY should anyone care?"

Brief digression: Whenever I meet with a new client's marketing team, I go around the table and ask each person to answer three simple questions. One after another around the table, they have no problem answering the "first two: "Who are you?" and "What do you do?" So far, so good. Then I ask the third question and the subsequent silence is deafening: "Why should I care?" Eventually, one brave soul finally responds, citing and praising functions, features, benefits, etc. Without the right WHY, a company's customers won't care. Worst yet, without the right WHY, a company's employees won't care.

Credit Sinek with a thorough coverage and brilliant analysis of issues inherent to statements such as these:

* "People don't buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it."

* "Those whom we consider great leaders all have an ability to draw us close and to command our loyalty. And we feel a strong bond with those who are also drawn to the same leaders and organizations."

* "A WHY is just a belief. That's all it is. HOWs are the actions you take to realize that belief. And WHATs are the results of those actions - everything you say and do: your products, services, marketing, PR, culture, and whom you hire."

* " You have to earn trust by communicating and demonstrating that you share the same values and beliefs. You have to talk about your WHY and prove it with WHAT you do. Again, a WHY is just a belief, HOWs are the actions we take to realize that belief, and WHATs are the results of those actions. When all three are in balance, trust is built and value is perceived."

* "Charisma has nothing to do with energy; it comes from a clarity of WHY. It comes from absolute conviction in an ideal bigger than oneself. Energy, in contrast, comes from a good night's sleep or lots of caffeine. Energy can excite. But only charisma can inspire. Charisma commands loyalty. Energy does not"

* "What companies say and do matters. A lot. It is at the WHAT level that a cause is brought to life. It is at this level that a company speaks to the world and it is then that we can learn what the company believes."

I hope that these brief, representative excerpts from Sinek's narrative suggest the thrust and flavor of his thinking. Here in a single volume is just about all that any business leader needs to determine precisely what her or his organization's WHY is...or should be. Sinek also provides a wealth of information, insights, and recommendations as the alignment and coordination of the organization's WHAT and HOW with its WHY.

Without the right WHY, even great leaders cannot inspire everyone in the given organization to take action. Only with the right WHY can an organization develop great leadership at all levels and in all areas of its operation.

You know how there are some organisations where "it just works" and there are others where it doesn't?

This book goes behind the obvious analysis of "what firms do" to ask the much more important "why do they do it?" Once you know that, the rest (what, how etc) is so much easier to understand.

If you want to get some insight into why your organisation is successful and a happy and fulfilling place to work (or not) then read this - it will open your eyes and allow you to see organisations in a new light.