Why do people stick to one brand for their lifetime? What successful organizations have in common? What makes people follow organizations, leaders, and movements by heart?
It’s because they started with Why. When we don’t know why we exist or why we lead we can either stop in between our journey or fail the mission.
In the book ‘Start with Why’ Simon Sinek explained the importance of knowing your Why through the framework, ‘The Golden Circle.’
What’s a Golden Circle?
Why is the epicentre of the Golden Circle, the next concentric circle is How and the outermost circle is What.
If you start from the outside that’s with What, you’ll focus on the actions to reach your goal. For example, if you own a bookstore, you will focus on sending the books to the market for sale without knowing the Why.
Then, you’ll fall in the concentric circle, How. How will you reach your goal? For example, to send the books to the market, you need to hire a van who can pick and drop books on time. But still, if money and trading books are your goal, you can never achieve big out of your business. You’ll think small actions and do small steps to achieve it. It’s because you don’t know Why you’re doing it.
If you follow the Golden Circle from the outside, you’ll be more like other businesses who exist to earn money but don’t have their leadership impact on people.
Now, let’s follow the circle from the inside.
You own a bookstore, your Why is to make people read the books so they can change their minds, grow their knowledge and become strong as a nation.
To achieve your why, you’ll sell books to the local stores so maximum people can read it and reap the benefits. In this process, you aren’t focusing on short-term goals like making money or maintaining your business. You have a vision and your vision is to empower people with the value of books.
If your Why is clear, it will derive the What and How but if it isn’t you cannot inspire people with your dream and leadership.
That’s why it’s important to know your Why.
After reading the book, you’ll get more details about the Golden Circle and how it inspire people to take actions. It explains that if you have a small dream and your Why is clear, you can reach great success but if it isn’t then your organization can split at some point, or people won’t attach to you with a purpose but either their benefits.
So, that’s why it’s important for all the entrepreneurs and even for individuals to know this Golden Circle.
“The Golden Circle provides compelling evidence of how much more we can achieve if we remind ourselves to start everything we do by first asking why.”
` Simon Sinek
The Apple Leadership
Simon took the Apple example to further elaborate his message. It’s because Apple knew their Why from the first day. Their Why is innovation, think different, everything they do, they believe in challenging the status quo. If they hadn’t known their Why, they’ll be more like other brands or just a mobile company who also make computers.
Now, people who own Apple products know that they own a brand which adds to their value makes them different and challenge the status quo.
The book is further filled with evidence, examples and concrete concepts to make you understand the importance of Why.
So, if you’re the one who’s passionate to lead, build a business then this book is a must-read for you as it will let you connect with the Golden Circle in depth.
Comments 1