Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action
Start with Why Reflection
- Discuss your major takeaways from the book. How will you apply the theories and practices outlined in the book.
In the book Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action, Simon Sinek presents his idea to help and inspire others to have personal satisfaction and to do an authentic job that can be successful. It shows us how great leaders succeed in explaining why you do what you do before describing how you do it and what you do, insisting that ‘people buy what you do, but why you do it.' Considering this, we can say that the idea of Simon Sinek is based on selling a product or an idea reaching people's feelings instead of just explaining what you are offering. These instructions take us to what Sinek called the Golden Circle, that has as its primary goal to illustrate how to express ourselves from the why (purpose) going through the how (process) and finally what (product), and this way inspire ourselves and others.
The book also points out the importance of working with people who believe in your purpose and think in the same way you do. Sinek (2013) stated "No matter how inspiring the leader is, if there are people in the organization inspired to bring that vision to reality, to build an infrastructure with systems and processes, then at best, inefficiency reigns, and at worst, failure results" (p. 34). This argues the relevance of this system because when it is correctly applied some way or another we can achieve the understanding of other people towards our vision.
To apply the theories and practices highlighted in the book, you should seek to be clear about what is your why (purpose). To achieve that, it is essential to think about what the main reason was that motivated you to start a project and why it is necessary for you to solve it. Think carefully what change you want to make and what you want to contribute to your environment and society. By keeping that in mind, I can apply these theories to inspire myself to make decisions. I can also avoid thinking about my competence and get original ideas based on the purpose I have already set. These theories do not only apply if you have a company, as many believe that since the book is based on marketing. According to Sinek, the most relevant leaders win the heart first, and then the mind. To achieve this, you have to start with the why, why you do it, why you believe it, why it seems so important to you.
- Identify at least five (5) major topics that you feel are the most important to you.
- People don't buy WHAT you do; they buy WHY you do it.
In the book, Simon Sinek presents the golden circle -WHY, HOW, WHAT- that explains how to inculcate ideas in other people, affecting feelings and human behavior. He says that many companies work from the outside to the inside -WHAT, HOW, WHY- and that's why they do not have the same success. The idea of the circle is to reverse this process: explain what you believe and what you want to achieve without thinking about the profit of it (WHY), then how to make it possible (HOW), and finally what you offer (WHAT).
- Find a partner. Someone who knows WHY needs someone who knows HOW.
Another critical point is having each step clear of the Golden Circle, because not only is the why leads to success but the whole process in general. In a company, the charges of each person inspired by the circle could be established, starting with the head-honcho that is the visionary who represents the why. Below would be executives who could make the boss's vision a reality, representing the how. Finally, those employees who can create tangible results, serving as the what.
- Trust in what you believe.
Sinek points out that people with personal motivations have more opportunities to succeed than a person motivated by money. Many people have achieved great things without having what Simon Sinek demonizes as "the recipe for success" which consists of money, ‘brilliant’ minds, and time. You do not need great studies or incredible amounts of money to achieve something if your beliefs motivate you. In the book, Sinek gives us the example of the Wright brothers and how they achieved the first power flight against all the odds because they did not have too much money, distinguished studies or a super brilliant team working for them. This example shows the power to believe in what you want.