1. How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone To Take Action By Simon Sinek
START WITH WHY
How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone To Take Action
By Simon Sinek

2. Chapter 1: Assume you know
Decision Making:
Using assumptions and 2. Making “right” decisions is not
“perceived truths” always possible no matter how
VS much research and/or data is Research and data collected.
gathering
Chapter 1: Assume you know
3. Behavior is affected by what we think we know!
PART ONE

3. Chapter 2: Carrots and Sticks
Ways of influencing human behavior
Manipulation Inspiration
Process of changing behavior or Inspiration/Motivation leads to
perception through deceptive tactics. trust and loyal partnerships being formed.
Chapter 2: Carrots and Sticks
The danger is that manipulations work and are the norm in today’s society !
PART ONE

4. Chapter 3: The Golden Circle
The concept of the Golden Circle is inspired by the Golden ratio.
Offers evidence of order in a world of disorder, and helps us understand why we do what we do.
We can achieve more if we start by asking WHY?
WHAT- the ability to describe the product or service being providing
HOW- the ability to explain the process
WHY- the purpose…think from inside the circle out, begin with the WHY?
“People don’t buy WHAT you sell, they buy WHY you do it.”
Chapter 3: The Golden Circle
PART TWO

5. Chapter 4: This is not Opinion, This is Biology
Our need to belong exists across all people and in all cultures.
When the WHY is clearly communicated, people will go to great lengths to include those products, services, or ideas into their lives.
That ability to make us feel special and that we belong is what inspires us to be apart of their WHY.
The GOLDEN CIRCLE corresponds with the major levels of the brain:
The neocortex is responsible for rational and analytical thought, and language.
The limbic brain is responsible for feelings, but has no capacity for language.
It is this disconnection that makes putting our feelings into words so hard.
When a decision feels right, we have a hard time explaining why.
Decisions...we rarely take all of the facts into consideration, we use our gut reaction
Gut reaction=limbic brain
Chapter 4: This is not Opinion, This is Biology
PART TWO

6. Chapter 5: Clarity, Discipline, and Consistency
Clarity of WHY: the discipline to never veer from your cause. The values or guiding principles.
Discipline of HOW: The actions you take to realize the belief (the WHY). The systems and processes within an organization and the culture.
Consistency of WHAT: the results of your actions (the HOW). Authenticity happens.
When the WHY is absent, imbalance is produced and manipulations thrive.
Authenticity means that the Golden Circle is in balance.
Authenticity is when you say and do the things you actually believe.
Authenticity→Relationships→Trust→Loyalty
No Authenticity→NO Relationships→NO Trust
The WHY must come first.
Starting with WHY is what inspires people to act.
Chapter 5: Clarity, Discipline, and Consistency
PART TWO

7. Chapter 6 The Emergence of Trust
Hire people that believe what you believe.
When motivated by WHY, success just happens.
The leader's role is not to come up with all of the great ideas, instead their role is to come up with an environment in which great ideas can happen.
Trust is very important. Create a culture where people can trust and it will be a great working environment.
Happy Employees ensure happy customers
What is trust?
-Trust emerges when we have a sense that another person or organization is driven by things other than their own self gain
-Trust comes with self value which means the transference of trust
Trust Is Not:
A checklist or fulfilling responsibilities
How You Earn Trust:
Communicating and demonstrating that you share the same values and beliefs.
You have to talk about your why and prove it with what you do.
Leading Means:
-Others are willing to follow you because
they want to, not because they
are being forced to.
-People who trust their leaders work
harder because they believe in something bigger than themselves
Chapter 6 The Emergence of Trust
PART THREE
Leaders Need A Following

8. PART THREE Chapter 7 How A Tipping Point Tips
Left side of the bell curve:
Find people who believe what you believe to purchase products.
Will pay a premium or be inconvenienced to be apart of your cause.
10% will show loyalty to your company
Putting the WHAT before the WHY
Make sure you apply the Golden Circle- people do not buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it.
The WHY is the belief that drives decisions
The difference between a fad and an idea that changes an industry forever.
Innovators: challenge the rest of us to see and think about the world differently.
Early adopters: recognize the value of new ideas
Will wait in line 6+ hours for the newest piece of technology
Early and Late Majority:
More practical minded
Rational factors matter more
Early Majority is more comfortable with new innovative technology, whereas the late majority is not.
The farther right you go people do not believe what you believe, but need what you have.
Important people in the chapters:
The Wright Brother, Dr. King, Southwest Airline
PART THREE
Chapter 7 How A Tipping Point Tips

9. How to Rally Those Who Believe
Start With WHY, but know how:
Energy motivates but charisma inspires
All great leaders have charisma because all great leaders have clarity of WHY; an underlying belief in a purpose or cause bigger than themselves.
Energy can motivate employees however is short term, they die out. Loyalty comes from employees seeing the cause and wanting to continue to do it no matter what.
Regardless of WHAT we do with our life, our WHY or our purpose, never changes.
The WHY is our beliefs, HOWS are the actions we take to realize our beliefs, WHATS are the results of those actions.
The HOW level is made up of people to build and support the vision of WHY and without it, it could not work.
How to Rally Those Who Believe
PART FOUR

10. How to Rally Those Who Believe
Start With WHY, but know how:
It is the partnership of a vision of the future and the talent to get it done, that makes an organization great.
Vision statements are public statements of the organizations WHY, mission statements are the HOW they will get it done.
Being loud and getting your message across is good for your organization at the time, but you must incorporate your message and the WHY to make a lasting impression.
How to Rally Those Who Believe
PART FOUR

11. How to Rally Those Who Believe
Know Why, Know How. Then What?:
The what stage has to try and communicate the Why the company exists in order to inspire.
This can be very hard for large companies with a disconnect between the level of what and why because of the large distance between the two on the model.
Marketing, branding and symbols can become a way to show the outside world the why of a company and if communication is clear, those values can be understood.
How to Rally Those Who Believe
PART FOUR

12. How to Rally Those Who Believe
Communication is Not About Speaking It’s About Listening:
People don’t buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it.
Having a clear message of why, with logos that carry meaning, into someone’s lifestyle. They hear the message and want to listen to it.
People will give you advice and you will take it all in, but you must use your WHY to look at that advice and be able to filter it out.. WHAT actually fits into my WHY. How can my purpose be shown through these things?
A WHY provides a clear filter for decision making.
How to Rally Those Who Believe
PART FOUR

13. The BIGGEST Challenge is SUCCESS
Chapter 11. When WHY goes fuzzy
Being Successful vs. Feeling Successful
WHAT you do, HOW you do it and WHY you do it
As success grows many lose sight of WHY they do what they do
Achievement vs. Success
Achievement: something you reach, or attain like a goal. This is tangible, measurable and clearly defined.
Success: is a state of being, not tangible or measurable
Achievement comes with the WHAT you want and Success comes with the WHY you want it
It is not an either/or we need both achievement and success
PART FIVE

14. The Life of an Organization
What Gets Measured, Gets Done
Christina Harbridge started Harbridge Financial on her belief of WHY
Their bonuses were based on how many thank you cards were sent out not by how much money was collected
Her business succeed not just because of the WHY but how she measured the WHY
Share your WHY and clearly communicate that belief in everything you say and do, then trust will begin to emerge and value is perceived
Chapter 12. Split Happens
Nearly all organizations start with a single person or a small group and an IDEA fueled by PASSION
But PASSION is not enough
You can not have a WHY without the HOW- Passion without Structure = Failure
The Life of an Organization
Good Successions Keep the WHY Alive
The WHY needs to exist in all members of the company even when the leader leaves
The successor that follows needs to have a clear vision of WHY
Successful succession is more than selecting someone with an appropriate skill set
It's about finding someone who is in with the original cause around which a company or organization was founded
They pick up the original banner and lead into the next generation
That's why we call it succession not replacement
There is a continuity of the vision
PART FIVE
The clarity of WHY starts to dilute as the organization grows

15. Leaders Need A Following
Discover WHY
Chapter 13- The Origins of a WHY:
-WHY does not come from looking ahead at what you want to achieve & figuring out an appropriate strategy.
WHY comes from looking in the completely opposite direction from where you are now.
-Finding WHY is a process of discovery, not invention.
The WHY is born out of the upbringing & life experience of an individual or small group.
-Every company and organization starts with a person or small group who were inspired to do something bigger than themselves.
Gaining clarity of WHY is not the hard part, the discipline to trust one's gut, to stay true to one’s purpose, cause or beliefs proves to be the most challenging.
I am a failure
Statistically over 90% of all new businesses fail in the first three years.
To those who strive to be successful this statistic just adds fuel to the fire believing they are in the small minority that will defeat the odds.
Once overcoming these odds it is critical to constantly remember the WHY. The problem is never that you don't know what to do or how to do it, you just forget the WHY, and it can ruin your inspiration quickly.
Leaders Need A Following
PART SIX
Discover WHY

16. PART SIX Chapter 13- The Origins of a WHY:CONT.
To Inspire People to Do the Things That Inspire Them
“If you think you can or you think you can't, you're right”- Henry Ford
Be the eternal optimist.
To inspire, you must make a decision about your concept of your WHY-Do i try and patent it, protect it and use it to make lots of money or do i give it away?
The vision is to have every person know their WHY and use it to benefit all they do.
You must learn how to start with WHY and stay true to the path of WHY.
Wake up everyday with a sense of WHY you arrived at work
Looking for people to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with us in pursuit of the same goal.
If our leaders started with WHY optimism would reign and innovation would thrive.
If we all take some responsibility to start with WHY and inspire others to do the same, together we can change the world.
Chapter 14 The New Competition:
If You Follow Your WHY, Then Others Will Follow You
Important to focus on and conquer your own WHY which will then inspire others to focus on theirs
Go into everything trying to be only better than yourself the day before.
Those who forget WHY they were founded show up to the race everyday to outdo someone else instead of to outdo themselves.
PART SIX