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by
Simon Sinek
Read between
October 15, 2020 - January 2, 2021
Studies show that over 80 percent of Americans do not have their dream job. If more knew how to build organizations that inspire, we could live in a world in which that statistic was the reverse—a world in which over 80 percent of people loved their jobs. People who love going to work are more productive and more creative. They go home happier and have happier families. They treat their colleagues and clients and customers better. Inspired employees make for stronger companies and stronger economies.
This is important because our behavior is affected by our assumptions or our perceived truths. We make decisions based on what we think we know.
WHAT: Every single company and organization on the planet knows WHAT they do. This is true no matter how big or small, no matter what industry. 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. HOW: Some companies and people know HOW they do WHAT they do. Whether you call them a “differentiating value proposition,” “proprietary process” or “unique selling proposition,” HOWs are often given to explain how something is different or better. Not as obvious as WHATs, many think these are the
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It’s worth repeating: people don’t buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it.
When you force people to make decisions with only the rational part of their brain, they almost invariably end up “overthinking.”
These rational decisions tend to take longer to make, says Restak, and can often be of lower quality. In contrast, decisions made with the limbic brain, gut decisions, tend to be faster, higher-quality decisions.
People don’t buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it.
This is what we mean when we talk about winning hearts and minds. The heart represents the limbic, feeling part of the brain, and the mind is the rational, language center.
When belief enters the equation, passion exudes from the salesman.
Trust begins to emerge when we have a sense that another person or organization is driven by things other than their own self-gain.
“We measured things the employees could truly control,” Bethune said. “We made the stakes something the employees would win or lose on together, not separately.”
As Herb Kelleher famously said, “You don’t hire for skills, you hire for attitude.
Great companies don’t hire skilled people and motivate them, they hire already motivated people and inspire them.
A company, indeed any organization, must work actively to remind everyone WHY the company exists. WHY it was founded in the first place. What it believes. They need to hold everyone in the company accountable to the values and guiding principles. It’s not enough to just write them on the wall—that’s passive. Bonuses and incentives must revolve around them. The company must serve those whom they wish to serve it.
Passion comes from feeling like you are a part of something that you believe in, something bigger than yourself.
Like any natural law, the Law of Diffusion must be considered if mass-market acceptance is important to you.
That’s what a manipulation is. They may buy, but they won’t be loyal. Don’t forget, loyalty is when people are willing to suffer some inconvenience or pay a premium to do business with you.
The WHY is the belief that drives the decision, and WHAT it does provides us a way to rationalize the appeal of the product.
Energy motivates but charisma inspires. Energy is easy to see, easy to measure and easy to copy. Charisma is hard to define, near impossible to measure and too elusive to copy. All great leaders have charisma because all great leaders have clarity of WHY; an undying belief in a purpose or cause bigger than themselves.
Charisma commands loyalty. Energy does not.
As a company grows, the CEO’s job is to personify the WHY.
It is not just WHAT or HOW you do things that matters; what matters more is that WHAT and HOW you do things is consistent with your WHY. Only then will your practices indeed be best. There is nothing inherently wrong with looking to others to learn what they do, the challenge is knowing what practices or advice to follow.
success and achievement are not the same thing, yet too often we mistake one for the other. Achievement is something you reach or attain, like a goal. It is something tangible, clearly defined and measurable. Success, in contrast, is a feeling or a state of being. “She feels successful. She is successful,” we say, using the verb to be to suggest this state of being.
Money is a perfectly legitimate measurement of goods sold or services rendered. But it is no calculation of value.
Value is a feeling, not a calculation.
When you compete against everyone else, no one wants to help you. But when you compete against yourself, everyone wants to help you.
“Because the work we’re doing now is better than the work we were doing six months ago. And the work we’ll be doing six months from now will be better than the work we’re doing today.
Imagine if every organization started with WHY. Decisions would be simpler. Loyalties would be greater. Trust would be a common currency. If our leaders were diligent about starting with WHY, optimism would reign and innovation would thrive. As this book illustrates, there is precedence for this standard. No matter the size of the organization, no matter the industry, no matter the product or the service, if we all take some responsibility to start with WHY and inspire others to do the same, then, together, we can change the world.
