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| Start with Why |
Simon Sinek's first book Start with Why: How Great Leaders Take Everyone to Take Action is a direct depiction of why you do what you do. This book is a successful attempt to answer the questions regarding the ultimate success of a person and organization. Many of the world’s leading authors tried their own version of explanations and most of them are successful, this book is no different. Simon argues that the best way to influence human behavior is through inspiration. Many of the reputed organizations influence their mobs by manipulation, which would ultimately lead to destruction. Great leaders inspire people to take bold action and create a group of people capable of changing the world. This book is a byproduct of the movement Simon created to help people become more inspired at work, and in return inspire their colleagues and customers.
He uses
multiple times examples of icons like Martin Luther King Jr., Steve Jobs, and
the Wright Brothers depict the importance of starting with why. What is that
something else that plays here in between these people?
Why Steve
Jobs led Apple was more innovative than any other computer company in the
world? Why is it that Martin Luther King Jr. led the civil rights movement? And
why is it the wright brothers were able to find out the controlled man
flight?
They
did different things at different times in different fields, yet they are known
for impacting the world. But these people had one thing in common, they all
started with WHY. ‘Why’ is a powerful thing to influence people. Leaders like
them realized that people won’t get into a product, service, or idea until they
understand WHY it exists.
The
Golden Circle
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| The Golden Circle |
In his famous nineteen-minute-long TED talk titled How great leaders inspire action, he urges business leaders to follow the idea of The Golden Circle. This idea simplifies why some organizations and some people can inspire where others aren’t. The Golden Circle is an actual reverse pattern of how we normally do business, talk, or even creating an idea. The golden circle is a one-circle layout consisting of three different sized epicentral circles. Each circle displays three ways of action to change the world.
The
majority of the people go from what to why i.e., outside in, from the clearest
thing to the fussiest thing. But great leaders and organizations do the exact
opposite. The goes inside out, from why to what. So, it is important to know
the difference between these three.
The first
and foremost WHY- Your Purpose. This is important an starting the crusade. But
very few companies or people know why they do what they do. This is about the
purpose, not about the profit. By WHY it means the cause, the belief, and the
purpose. Why do they wanna buy that product? Why they wanna join the movement?
Why do they need to follow the idea? Why do you wanna get out of bed in the
morning? And why should anyone care?
Second
HOW – Your Process. Some companies and peoples know how they do what they do.
Whether you call them a “differentiating value proposition” or a “unique
selling proposition”. HOWs are often given to explain how something is
different or better.
Third,
the most exaggerated WHAT- Your Process. Every single company on the planet
knows what they do. This is true no matter how big or small the company is or
regardless of their industry. Everyone can easily describe the product or the
services their company sells or the job function they have within the company.
Law of
Innovation of Diffusion
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| Law of Innovation of Diffusion |
Law of Innovation of Diffusion pertains
to the bell curve of product adoption. Simon exemplifies the importance of this
curve for every business. This is a curve that begins from the Innovators,
followed by Early Adopters, Early Majority, Late Majority, and Laggards.
Mobs
queued up for hours or days outside an Apple store to buy the latest iPhone are
early adopters and belong to the left side of the curve. The people on the far
right instead are never content and never loyal. It would be prudent to get to
convert the laggards into a buyer. Laggards are generally aligned with the same
belief. Hence avoiding them is better. The goal of a business then is to know why
and find people who believe what you believe.
>>
In my
case, I would say this is one of the books that changed my perspective or, like
Simon says the way in which I operated in it. This is not just self-help or a
business book, instead, it is a reflection of life and a manual to lead a
purposeful life. This is one of the few books that I recommended to my friends.
Very good read and informative as well. I never felt to skip any page or
leaving it for next week. For anyone who is or wishes to be a leader or is
curious about why some are leaders and others not, I would suggest a read. I
never heard from anyone regretting reading Start with Why. I came to know about this book
from powerful word of mouth. The early you read, the more your life gets
better.
