Simon Sinek, author of Start With Why
Simon Sinek, author of Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone To Take Action, recognized four years ago that great leaders think, act and communicate in the exact same way. What makes it remarkable is that it is exactly opposite of what everyone else does. Simon believes that, with a little discipline, anyone can learn to inspire.
Faced with a crisis of faith in his own business, Simon returned to why he started the business in the first place and, by doing so, revitalized and reinvented his business and himself.
Simon gave some interesting figures about work. He says a person will work 8 hours per day at a job they endure, 10 hours per day for a boss s/he likes but 24 hours per day for something s/he loves.
Simon says people have a need to be devoted to causes greater than themselves. Great leaders get us to see those causes greater than us—leaders like Martin Luther King, John F. Kennedy, Steve Jobs or Bill Gates.
A fun exercise Simon gave to help people find the “why” inside themselves is to find close friends and ask them, “why are we friends?” At first, they will stumble and say they don’t know. Ask again, in a different way, “what about me do you like?” They will rationalize and give answers like “you’re loyal” or “you are kind.” Those are attributes that can be ascribed to anybody. Ask again, “what is it about me that you like?” After some uncomfortable time (and this exercise does make the person uncomfortable), they will eventually start describing themselves and say things like, “you make me laugh” or “you make me feel stronger.” It’s then you know you’ve gotten to your core strength.
Listen to this entire, valuable, enthusiastic interview below:
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