Summary Of Start With Why By Simon Sinek

The book Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action, written by Simone Sinek, is a necessary read for anyone wanting to take a deeper look at their leadership style. Simon Sinek is an author and motivational speaker with one simple goal, inspire others. Simon Sinek examines numerous companies throughout the book, and how they have been more successful in their business ventures, then others by simply starting with “why”. The “why” as illustrated throughout the book is the most powerful tool a leader has, but is often forgotten, or even worse, never realized. (discuss the apple Harley etc.) Likewise, it is paramount for the leaders in our Army to have the ability to think outside of the box, be innovated, and adaptable.

Sinek describes how most companies can easily define “what” they do, however, very few can tell the customer “why” they do it. In fact, most Soldiers can tell you the “what” they do in the military. However, to tell someone the “why” they do it could pose a much greater challenge. Sinek uses the Golden Circle for the foundation of why great leaders should utilize their “why” versus their “what” to be an effective leader. Sinek writes, “The Golden Circle was inspired by the golden ratio- a simple mathematical relationship that has fascinated mathematicians, biologists, architects, artists, musicians and naturalist since the beginning of history” (pg. 37). The Golden Circle, as shown in figure 1, is comprised of three circles: The Outer-most ring is the “What,” this is what the company does to fulfill their core belief. The next ring is the “How,” this is how the business fulfills their core belief. Finally, the innermost ring is the “Why,” this is the core belief of the business. It is why the business exists. Sinek uses the Golden Circle to illustrate how many companies begin with what they do, instead of why they do

Assumptions are established on inadequate information, leading to unexploited opportunity, in which Leaders fail to see the entire picture. Don Miguel once said, “Don't Make Assumptions. Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings.” (website 2). The author of the book provides a great analogy about assumption, and it ties into the military perfectly. He uses the two automakers, one is Japanese, and the other is American. Both automakers have the same assembly line, and produce the same car; however, there is one major difference between the two of them. At the end of the assembly line, the American automaker uses a rubber mallet to ensure the door fits, whereas, the Japanese automaker does not. The Japanese automaker took the time in the beginning to ask the right question, and did not assume anything. They also knew that if there were a point of failure, it would have been in the planning and preparation, not the execution. Leaders can learn a lot from this, in this case, ask the right question in beginning, do not