Simon Sinek
Start with
Why
How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action
Read the BookThere are leaders and there are those who lead. Leaders hold a position of power or influence. Those who lead inspire us.
Whether individuals or organizations, we follow those who lead not because we have to, but because we want to. We follow those who lead not for them, but for ourselves.
— Simon SinekIntroduction
Why Start With Why?
This book is about a naturally occurring pattern, a way of thinking, acting and communicating that gives some leaders the ability to inspire those around them. Although these "natural-born leaders" may have come into the world with a predisposition to inspire, the ability is not reserved for them exclusively. We can all learn this pattern. With a little discipline, any leader or organization can inspire others, both inside and outside their organization, to help advance their ideas and their vision. We can all learn to lead.
The goal of this book is not simply to try to fix the things that aren't working. Rather, it was written as a guide to focus on and amplify the things that do work. If we're starting with the wrong questions, if we don't understand the cause, then even the right answers will always steer us wrong — eventually.
The stories that follow are of those individuals and organizations that naturally embody this pattern. They are the ones that start with Why.
The Wright brothers, Apple, and Martin Luther King Jr. all shared something remarkable: they started with why — a belief, a cause, a purpose — before they communicated what they did or how they did it. And that changed everything.
There are leaders and there are those who lead. With only 6 percent market share in the United States, Apple is not a leading manufacturer of home computers. Yet the company leads the computer industry. Martin Luther King's experiences were not unique, yet he inspired a nation to change. The Wright brothers were not the strongest contenders in the race to powered flight, but they led us into a new era of aviation.
Their goals were not different than anyone else's, and their systems and processes were easily replicated. Yet they stand apart from the norm and their impact is not easily copied. They are members of a very select group of leaders who do something very, very special. They inspire us.
What if we could all learn to think, act and communicate like those who inspire? 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 reversed. This book is not designed to tell you what to do or how to do it. Its goal is to offer you the cause of action.
From now on, start with Why.
Part One
A World That Doesn't
Start With Why
Chapter One
Assume You Know
On a cold January day, a forty-three-year-old man was sworn in as the chief executive of his country. By his side stood his predecessor, a famous general who, fifteen years earlier, had commanded his nation's armed forces in a war that resulted in the defeat of Germany. The young leader was raised in the Roman Catholic faith. He spent the next five hours watching parades in his honor and stayed up celebrating until three o'clock in the morning.
You know who I'm describing, right?
It's January 30, 1933, and the description fits Adolf Hitler — not, as most people assume, John F. Kennedy. The point is, we make assumptions. We make assumptions about the world around us based on sometimes incomplete or false information.
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. It wasn't too long ago that the majority of people believed the world was flat. This perceived truth impacted behavior. People feared that if they traveled too far they might fall off the edge of the earth. It wasn't until that minor detail was revealed — the world is round — that behaviors changed on a massive scale.
The Japanese auto industry understood it best. "We make sure it fits when we design it," they explained — a metaphor for how the best leaders engineer outcomes from the beginning, rather than hammering things into place after the fact.
There are those who decide to manipulate outcomes to achieve the desired result and there are those who start from somewhere very different. Though both may yield similar short-term results, it is what we can't see that makes long-term success more predictable for only one. The one that understood why the doors need to fit by design — and not by default.
Chapter Two
Carrots and Sticks
There's barely a product or service on the market today that customers can't buy from someone else for about the same price, about the same quality, about the same level of service and about the same features. If you truly have a first-mover's advantage, it's probably lost in a matter of months.
There are only two ways to influence human behavior: you can manipulate it or you can inspire it. When most companies don't know why their customers are their customers, they rely on a disproportionate number of manipulations. Typical manipulations include: dropping the price; running a promotion; using fear, peer pressure or aspirational messages; and promising innovation to influence behavior.
Playing the price game can come at tremendous cost and create a significant dilemma. For the seller, selling based on price is like heroin. The short-term gain is fantastic, but the more you do it, the harder it becomes to kick the habit. Once buyers get used to paying a lower-than-average price, it is very hard to get them to pay more. The companies that are forced to treat their products as commodities largely brought it upon themselves.
Fear, real or perceived, is arguably the most powerful manipulation. "No one ever got fired for hiring IBM," goes the old adage — a behavior completely borne out of fear. When fear is employed, facts are incidental. Deeply seated in our biological drive to survive, that emotion cannot be quickly wiped away with facts and figures.
Real innovation changes the course of industries or even society. The light bulb, the microwave oven, iTunes — these are true innovations that changed how we conduct business and live our lives. What many companies cleverly disguise as "innovation" is in fact novelty. And novelty can drive sales, but the impact does not last.
There is a big difference between repeat business and loyalty. Repeat business is when people do business with you multiple times. Loyalty is when people are willing to turn down a better product or a better price to continue doing business with you.
Not a single manipulation breeds loyalty. Over the course of time, they cost more and more. The gains are only short-term. If manipulation is the only strategy, what happens the next time a purchase decision is required? Manipulations lead to transactions, not loyalty.
The reality is, in today's world, manipulations are the norm. But there is an alternative.
Part Two
An Alternative
Perspective
Chapter Three
The Golden Circle
There are a few leaders who choose to inspire rather than manipulate in order to motivate people. Consciously or not, how they do it is by following a naturally occurring pattern — The Golden Circle. It finds order and predictability in human behavior. Put simply, it helps us understand why we do what we do.
The Golden Circle — WHY · HOW · WHAT
WHAT: Every single company and organization on the planet knows what they do. WHATs are easy to identify.
HOW: Some companies and people know how they do what they do — their differentiating process or unique value proposition. Not as obvious as WHATs, many think these are the key motivating factors in a decision.
WHY: Very few people or companies can clearly articulate why they do what they do. By WHY, this doesn't mean "to make money" — that's a result. WHY 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?
When most organizations think, act or communicate they do so from the outside in, from WHAT to WHY. But not the inspired companies. Every single one of them, regardless of size or industry, thinks, acts and communicates from the inside out.
People don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it. And what you do simply proves what you believe.
Consider Apple. If Apple were like most other companies, a marketing message might start with what they make — "We make great computers. They're beautifully designed and user-friendly. Wanna buy one?" Instead, Apple communicates from the inside out: "Everything we do, we believe in challenging the status quo. We believe in thinking differently. The way we challenge the status quo is by making our products beautifully designed, simple to use and user-friendly. And we happen to make great computers. Wanna buy one?"
It's a completely different message. It actually feels different. All that changed was the order of the information. There's no trickery, no manipulation — just a message that starts with WHY.
Chapter Four
This Is Not Opinion, This Is Biology
Our need to belong is not rational, but it is a constant that exists across all people in all cultures. It is a feeling we get when those around us share our values and beliefs. When we feel like we belong we feel connected and we feel safe. As humans we crave the feeling and we seek it out.
Our desire to feel like we belong is so powerful that we will go to great lengths, do irrational things and often spend money to get that feeling. We want to be around people and organizations who are like us and share our beliefs. When a company clearly communicates their WHY, and we believe what they believe, then we will sometimes go to extraordinary lengths to include those products or brands in our lives.
The human brain is split into major components that correspond remarkably well with The Golden Circle. The neocortex — the newest part of the brain — is responsible for rational and analytical thought. The limbic brain is responsible for all feelings, such as trust and loyalty, and all human behavior and decision-making. Crucially, the limbic brain has no capacity for language.
When we communicate from the outside in — leading with WHAT — people can understand vast amounts of complicated information but it doesn't drive behavior. When we communicate from the inside in — starting with WHY — we speak directly to the part of the brain that controls behavior, and then we allow people to rationalize it with the tangible things we say and do.
This is the origin of the saying "I can feel it in my gut." Your gut doesn't communicate in words — it communicates in feelings. When a decision feels right, we have difficulty explaining why, often reverting to "it just feels right." That feeling comes from the limbic brain.
This is also why truly inspiring companies and leaders can command such loyalty. Those who believe what you believe will work for you with blood, sweat and tears. Those who don't believe what you believe will work for you, but only for a paycheck.
Chapter Five
Clarity, Discipline and Consistency
For The Golden Circle to work, each of the elements must be in balance and in the right order. WHY must be clear, HOW must be disciplined, and WHAT must be consistent. That's the standard. That's how trust is built and maintained.
It all starts with clarity of WHY. If the leader of an organization cannot clearly articulate WHY the organization exists in terms beyond its products or services, then how does anyone inside the organization know the direction in which to lead? And if people inside the organization don't know WHY, how will anyone on the outside know?
HOW you do things is your values or guiding principles made manifest. The discipline of HOW is what gives an organization its backbone. It is what allows them to maintain their WHY even as they scale and grow, even when the pressures of competition and short-term gain are greatest.
Everything you say and everything you do has to prove what you believe. A WHY is just a belief. HOWs are the actions taken to realize that belief. And WHATs are the results of those actions. Authenticity is when all three are in alignment.
Authenticity means that your WHY, your HOW, and your WHAT are all in alignment. When they're not, people sense the inauthenticity — even if they can't put their finger on exactly why something feels "off."
Part Three
Leaders Need
a Following
Chapter Six
The Emergence of Trust
Trust begins to emerge when we have a sense that another person or organization is driven by things other than their own self-gain. When we trust that what others are doing is in the service of the whole and not themselves, we choose to trust them. Southwest Airlines customers who sent checks to the company after 9/11 — contributions far too small to help the bottom line — did so simply because they wanted to say thank you. They felt the airline was on their side.
Trust is not a checklist. Fulfilling all of your responsibilities doesn't create trust. Trust is a feeling, not a rational experience. For those who have earned trust, they know that people will give them tremendous leeway before their trust is broken.
When a WHY is clear and the things a person or organization says and does are consistent with that WHY, trust emerges. In a business context, a trustworthy brand becomes a shortcut for the decisions we make; it gives us something to point to that validates the things we say and do.
Chapter Seven
How a Tipping Point Tips
Sociologists will tell you that there is a magic number at which a movement becomes self-sustaining. Malcolm Gladwell wrote about the tipping point — the moment of critical mass, the threshold, the boiling point. The march on Washington on August 28, 1963, was the result of a tipping point that had been building for years.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. did not simply travel the country to tell people what needed to change in America. He traveled the country to tell people what he believed. And people who believed what he believed took up his cause and made it their own. And they told people what they believed. And those people told others what they believed.
Martin Luther King Jr. gave the "I Have a Dream" speech — not the "I Have a Plan" speech. A plan is rational. A dream is a feeling. And it was the feeling that moved a quarter million people to the National Mall on that August morning.
The Law of Diffusion of Innovation tells us that if we want mass-market success or mass-market acceptance of an idea, we cannot achieve it until we achieve this tipping point — somewhere between 15 and 18 percent market penetration. The early adopters do not need the product explained to them in great detail. They intuitively feel the value of it. And they are willing to pay a premium or endure inconvenience to have it. This is loyalty.
Part Four
How to Rally
Those Who Believe
Chapter Eight
Start with WHY, but Know HOW
A WHY-type is the visionary, the one with the overarching idea. A HOW-type is the one who takes that vision and executes it. Most successful businesses have a partnership at the top that balances both. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. Bill Gates and Paul Allen. Martin Luther King and Ralph Abernathy.
The WHY-type is not better than the HOW-type — they are different, and both are essential. Without a HOW-type, a WHY-type can be nothing more than a charismatic source of inspiration. Without a WHY-type, the HOW-type lacks the conviction and the sense of purpose that gives their systems and processes direction and meaning.
The most successful organizations and leaders — those that inspire — always have a partnership between the visionary who knows WHY and the operator who knows HOW. When both are present, and when both are aligned, remarkable things happen.
Chapter Nine
Know WHY. Know HOW. Then WHAT?
A company is one of the tangible things an organization does to prove its WHY. Products, people, marketing — all are proof of WHY. When a company is small, the founder's WHY is the filter through which all decisions are made. People work together because they share values and beliefs. There is an organic nature to it.
As an organization grows, the CEO's WHY must be explicitly stated and communicated throughout the organization, otherwise the people making decisions on behalf of the company may not be making them in alignment with the founding vision.
The role of a leader is not to come up with all the great ideas. The role of a leader is to create an environment in which great ideas can happen. The role of a leader is to filter all ideas through the WHY and ensure that what gets built, what gets said, what gets done — all of it — is consistent with the core belief.
Chapter Ten
Communication Is Not About Speaking, It's About Listening
A symbol is not simply a logo. A symbol represents a belief system. The American flag doesn't simply represent the country — it represents a set of values and ideas about freedom and democracy. When people see a flag, they feel something. The best brands work exactly the same way.
When a WHY is clear and goes beyond words, the products and services you sell become symbols of that WHY. They become proof of what you believe. When they do this effectively, people don't just buy the product — they buy into the WHY. And they tell everyone they know what they believe, using your product as the proof.
The Celery Test: Imagine you've just attended a conference where various speakers recommended different things — cookies, M&Ms, rice milk, celery. You go to the store. You don't buy everything. You buy the things that align with your WHY — your philosophy. The celery passes the test; the M&Ms probably don't. Every product you make, every decision you take, every message you send — run it through your own Celery Test.
Part Five
The Biggest
Challenge Is Success
Chapter Eleven
When WHY Goes Fuzzy
Success can be the greatest enemy of a WHY. When a company achieves enormous growth and success, it is often tempted to shift attention from WHY to WHAT — from the cause to the results. The company's original WHY becomes harder to articulate. The metrics of success shift from inspiration to financial performance.
Walmart is a striking example. Sam Walton believed deeply in giving ordinary Americans the chance to buy things previously available only to the wealthy. His WHY was to democratize access. As the company grew and Walton's voice faded from the culture, the WHY became fuzzy — replaced by an obsession with price and cost-cutting at any cost.
When a WHY goes fuzzy, the way a company maintains its position in the market is to rely more and more on manipulations — on promotions, price cuts, fear, peer pressure. And these manipulations work in the short term. But they breed neither loyalty nor trust.
The ability of a company to navigate successfully through growth depends on whether the WHY is clearly articulated before the growth started. If it is, the WHY can scale. If not, the growth itself is what eventually causes the company to lose its way.
Chapter Twelve
Split Happens
A split happens when the WHY and WHAT become misaligned. There are two types of splits. The first is when a WHY-type leader leaves an organization and the HOW-types take over. Without the visionary at the helm, the organization can still function well — it just becomes less and less inspired over time. The second type of split happens when the WHY-type himself loses sight of WHY.
When Apple fired Steve Jobs in 1985, the company split. John Sculley, a consummate HOW-type, ran the company well but without Jobs's WHY. For a decade, Apple made good products — but the passion that made Apple great was absent. When Jobs returned in 1997, the WHY returned with him, and the results were extraordinary.
A split is not the death of a company. But it is the death of the inspiration that made the company special. And without that inspiration, the company eventually becomes just another commodity — competing on price, features, and quality rather than on belief.
Part Six
Discover WHY
Chapter Thirteen
The Origins of a WHY
Every organization on the planet always knows WHAT it does. Some know HOW they do it. But very few organizations know WHY they do WHAT they do. The WHY does not come from looking ahead at what you want to achieve and figuring out an appropriate strategy to get there. It is not born out of market research. It comes from looking in the completely opposite direction from where you are now.
Finding WHY is a process of discovery, not invention. Just as an arrow must be pulled backward before it hurtles forward with enormous power, a WHY derives its power from the past — from the upbringing and life experience of an individual or small group.
I became obsessed with the concept of WHY. I was consumed by the idea of it. When I looked back to my upbringing, I discovered a remarkable theme. Whether among friends, at school or professionally, I was always the eternal optimist. I was the one who inspired everyone to believe they could do whatever they wanted. This pattern is my WHY. To inspire.
— Simon Sinek
Gaining clarity of WHY is not the hard part. It is the discipline to trust one's gut, to stay true to one's purpose, cause or beliefs — and to remain authentic — that is the most difficult part. The few that are able to build a megaphone, and not just a company, around their cause are the ones who earn the ability to inspire.
Chapter Fourteen
The New Competition
Ben Comen has cerebral palsy and runs cross-country for his high school team. He has never won a single race. He's the slowest runner on the team. But something amazing happens when Ben finishes: when everyone else is done with their race, they come back to run alongside him. Ben is the only runner who, when he falls, someone else will help pick him up. Ben is the only runner who, when he finishes, has a hundred people running behind him.
What Ben teaches us is profound. When you compete against everyone else, no one wants to help you. But when you compete against yourself, everyone wants to help you.
What if we showed up to work every day simply to be better than ourselves? What if the goal was to do better work this week than we did the week before? All organizations start with WHY, but only the great ones keep their WHY clear year after year. Those who forget WHY they were founded show up to the race every day to outdo someone else instead of to outdo themselves.
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.
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.
And that's pretty inspiring.