2 Simon Sinek and Why
Simon Sinek and whyarmy
Reasoning and critical thinking are essential in your roles and your organisation more generally. This lesson helps you to think about the Why of your actions and it really works to keep you focused on purpose. Important work, whether it is about an issue, a problem or some specific situation, need a Why. Why’s bring clarity. A Why helps you to create meaning and relevance. It helps to inspire those around you to get on board with your initiative. As you work your way through this topic you will see that when you start with your Why and you carry it through your work, others tend to be more engaged as well.
Simon Sinek is the author of Start With Why: How great leaders inspire everyone to take action.
Some of you are likely to be familiar with Simon Sinek’s work from other units. Just in case, here is a YouTube clip that you can watch. It gives you the fundamentals of Sinek’s thinking:
To help you with your understanding of the power of this approach, here are some more details about the Why, How and What. Please read these in preparation for the Why How What exercise after the reading. You would have noted from the title of his book that it is partly aimed at leaders. We want you to remember that even if you are not formally in a leadership role this approach is useful to you and to others, to help you to make sense of what you are doing. If you are developing a new idea or you are setting out to influence and inspire others to action, then the Why, How, What is likely to focus your efforts.
Sinek uses the Golden Circle (pictured below) to suggest that the power of his approach comes from the WHY of his concept which then radiates out and influences the How and What. The Circle also helps us to remember the sequence of the Why How What process.
By creating a Why for a project or change, you are aiming to inspire people to act. When you inspire it gives people a sense of purpose or belonging. This is not so much about external motivation or requiring someone to act. It helps to create a desire to participate, follow or act. It becomes a personal commitment.
When we aspire to something or want to participate, it becomes an appeal to our emotion. Emotion, especially when it comes to safeguarding our families, colleagues, teams and our place of work, doing something with purpose, is powerful and universal.
Authenticity
Sinek says that it is at the What level that authenticity happens. Authenticity comes from consistency. Authenticity shows up when the Why makes the purpose clear and there is discipline to the How. Finally, the What needs to be consistent with the Why. Everything makes sense. You and others can see and experience the fit between these three elements. Simon Sinek says that authenticity comes from balance, the balance of Why, How, What.
The Golden Circle shows how this balance works. The circles need to ‘fit’ and the order is crucial: Why, How, What.
You have to know WHY you do WHAT you do. If people don’t buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it, so it follows that if you don’t know WHY you do WHAT you do how will anyone else.
Simon Sinek2
Many of Sinek’s examples are in the commercial space and are about motivating consumers or employees. In this unit, the ‘Why, How, What’ approach would be about inspiring your colleagues to believe in and adopt your innovation for example. Your ‘why’ would be very much for the good of your teams and your organisation. However, the likelihood of success is still enhanced by a very powerful andyour organisation inspiring reason.
There is much written about Sinek’s ideas and the Golden Circle if you want to investigate further.
Activity
Refer to any notes from the other activities you completed.
Action: Explore the Why of the activity. What is it that will inspire others to participate in a meaningful way, other than of course, it is likely to be a requirement?
Write the Why. Keep the Why to three sentences at the most.
Action: Continue to write the How and What of your activity. Use the Golden Circle template or use your Reflective Journal.
Action: Review your Why, How, What. Find a colleague who isn’t or hasn’t been involved in the activity. Share the activity description. Allow time for questions.
Now share your Why, How, What. Ask for feedback. You are really interested in knowing how effectively the meaning of the activity was conveyed and how inspired the listener was by your Why, How, What pitch.
Action: Record your observations and ‘what next’ in your Reflective Journal. Make a note about how you could use this process in other situations.
References
- Sinek, S. (2009). Start with why: How great leaders inspire everyone to take action. Penguin.
- Ibid. p. 66.