Any organization can explain what it does; some can explain how they do it;
but very few can clearly articulate why.—Simon Sinek
Speaker and author Simon Sinek frequently provides thoughts about leadership success, and also shares his ideas about collaboration, change, trust, and results. He also created a leadership model called “The Golden Circle”.
At the core of The Circle is WHY. Think of the WHY as your vision, your purpose, your passion, your beliefs, as well as the direction you want to take your organization.
Sinek believes that the commonality between ALL great and inspiring leaders starts with WHY. He also believes “very few organizations know why they do what they do” or why their organization exists, other than to make money.
Next, the model reflects that the CORE is surrounded by HOW. The HOW’s are the actions and processes that shape our culture and our values and bring the vision to life. A critical component of HOW is communication. You want to attract, engage, and retain those that fully believe your WHY. He feels these are the people that will work for more than a paycheck; they will give it their all.
Next is the outer circle, the WHAT. This is your business, your product, your service, etc. Sinek shares that too often when promoting our business, we start with the WHAT.
We’re too anxious to learn pain points, to jump to solutions, to share how we can help. This is contrary to the beliefs of the The Golden Circle.
People care about relationships, and they care about your purpose, your passion, and your work culture. Do you agree that leadership and success start with “WHY”?
Directions are instructions given to explain how.
Direction is a vision offered to explain why.
—Simon Sinek