TED presentation “How great leaders inspire action” by Simon Sinek
They all think, act and communicate the exact same way and it is the complete opposite to everyone else.
The Golden Circle
Everyone knows what they do, some know how they do it (USP), but very, very few people or organizations know why they do what they do.
Not profit. Profit is a result.
Why – purpose, cause, belief. Your reason to exist. Your reason to get out of bed in the morning. Why should anyone care.
Most people communicate from the outside-in. From the clearest to the most fuzziest.
We say what we do, we say how we are different or better and expect some behavior (purchase).
It’s uninspiring.
The inspired leaders, the inspired organizations all think, act and communicate from the inside-out.
They reverse the order of the information.
They talk first about what they believe (why they do what they do), then about how they are going about it (how they are doing what they believe) and finally what they have (what they happen to make as a result of how they are doing what they believe).
People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.
What you do simply proves what you believe.
Not his opinion. Not psychology either. It’s grounded in biology.
The Golden Circle is analogous to the way our brain is structured, with the neo cortex, rationality on the outside (what), the limbic system is the how and why – feelings like trust and loyalty- and drives/controls behavior, but NOT language! The cortex just rationalizes our decisions. Cortex is also what is capable of language. Limbic is not capable of language.
Outside-in communication (features and benefits) can easily be understood, but don’t drive behavior.
Inside-out communication talks 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.
Gut decisions: “I know what all the facts say, but it just doesn’t feel right.”
“Feel” is the best way we can describe the protestations of the limbic system (as that doesn’t have language available).
The goal is not to sell to people who need what you have.
The goal is to sell to people who believe what you believe.
The goal is not to hire people who need a job.
The goal is to hire people who believe what you believe.
If you hire people just because they can do a job, they’ll work for your money. But if you hire people who believe what you believe in, they’ll work for you with blood, sweat and tears.
If you talk about what you believe, you’ll will attract those that believe what you believe.
People will do the things that prove what they believe (about the world and how they want everybody to see them).
They didn’t do it because the technology was so great. They did it for themselves. They wanted to be first.
He (Martin Luther King) gave the “I have a dream” speech, not the “I have a plan” speech.
There are leaders and there are those who lead.
Leaders hold a position of power or authority.
Those who lead inspire us.
Whether they are 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.
And it is those who start with why that have the ability to inspire those around them or find others who inspire them.
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