Book Review: “Start with Why”

Book: Start with Why by Simon Sinek
Reviewer: Bobby Powers

My Thoughts: 10 of 10
I am so thankful I finally read this book. I had heard dozens of people talk about Start with Why, but I prioritized reading other books because I thought Simon Sinek's TED talk (see link at the bottom of this post) likely captured all I needed to know about the book. I was wrong. This book is definitely worth a thoughtful read, and I will likely re-read it several times in the coming years. Sinek cuts to the core of why certain companies and leaders are successful. It all comes down to their ability to define the WHY behind their actions and align all marketing efforts and communication with that WHY. This is an incredible book for marketers, leaders, and anyone looker for a deeper sense of purpose in their work.

Takeaways from the Book

Manipulation Does Not Create Loyalty

“There are only two ways to influence human behavior: you can manipulate it or you can inspire it.”
“Typical manipulations include: dropping the price; running a promotion; using fear, peer pressure or aspirational messages; and promising innovation to influence behavior--be it a purchase, a vote or support.”
“Selling based on price is like heroin. The short-term gain is fantastic, but the more you do it, the harder it becomes to kick the habit.”
“I cannot dispute that manipulations work...But there are trade-offs. Not a single one of them breeds loyalty. Over the course of time, they cost more and more. The gains are only short-term.”
“Loyalty is when people are willing to turn down a better product or a better price to continue doing business with you.”

The Golden Circle (WHY -> HOW -> WHAT)

“The Golden Circle shows how these leaders were able to inspire action instead of manipulating people to act...When you start with WHY, those who believe what you believe are drawn to you for very personal reasons.”
“Very few people or companies can clearly articulate WHY they do WHAT they do. When I say WHY, I don’t mean to make money--that’s a result. By WHY I mean what is your purpose, cause or belief? WHY does your company exist? WHY do you get out of bed every morning? And WHY should anyone care?”
“It’s not WHAT Apple does that distinguishes them. It is WHY they do it. Their products give life to their cause...Apple’s WHY, to challenge the status quo and to empower the individual, is a pattern in that it repeats in all they say and do.”
“What authenticity means is that your Golden Circle is in balance. It means that everything you say and everything you do you actually believe.”
“It is a false assumption that differentiation happens in HOW and WHAT you do...Differentiation happens in WHY and HOW you do it.”
“Your role in the process is to be crystal clear about what purpose, cause or belief you exist to champion, and to show how your products and services help advance that cause. Absent a WHY, new ideas and technologies quickly find themselves playing the price-and-feature game--a sure sign of an absence of WHY and a slide into commodity status.”
“With a WHY clearly stated in an organization, anyone within the organization can make a decision as clearly and as accurately as the founder. A WHY provides the clear filter for decision-making.”
“[Marketing is] just one of the things I’ve done--it’s not my passion and it’s not how I define my life. My cause--to inspire people to do the things that inspire them--is WHY I get out of bed every day. The excitement is trying to find new ways, different WHATs to bring my cause to life, of which this book is one. Regardless of WHAT we do in our lives, our WHY--our driving purpose, cause or belief--never changes. If our Golden Circle is in balance, WHAT we do is simply the tangible way we find to breathe life into that cause.”

Image Credit: Philipp from Balanced Action

Charisma and Finding Your Why

“Charisma is hard to define, near impossible to measure and too elusive to copy. All great leaders have charisma because all great leaders have clarity of WHY; an undying belief in a purpose or cause bigger than themselves.”
“Charisma has nothing to do with energy; it comes from a clarity of WHY. It comes from absolute conviction in an ideal bigger than oneself. Energy, in contrast, comes from a good night’s sleep or lots of caffeine. Energy can excite. But only charisma can inspire. Charisma commands loyalty. Energy does not.”
“Most organizations today use very clear metrics to track the progress and growth of WHAT they do--usually it’s money. Unfortunately, we have very poor measurements to ensure that a WHY stays clear.”

Logos vs. Symbols

“Most companies have logos, but few have been able to convert those logos into meaningful symbols. Because most companies are bad at communicating what they believe, so it follows that most logos are devoid of any meaning. At best they serve as icons to identify a company and its products. A symbol cannot have any deep meaning until we know WHY it exists in terms bigger than simply to identify the company. Without clarity of WHY, a logo is just a logo.”
“For a logo to become a symbol, people must be inspired to use that logo to say something about who they are.”
“Symbols are any tangible representation of a clear set of values and beliefs.”

Leadership

“Great organizations become great because the people inside the organization feel protected. The strong sense of culture creates a sense of belonging and acts like a net. People come to work knowing that their bosses, colleagues and the organization as a whole will look out for them. This results in reciprocal behavior. Individual decisions, efforts and behaviors that support, benefit and protect the long-term interest of the organization as a whole.”
“All leaders must have two things: they must have a vision of the world that does not exist and they must have the ability to communicate it.”
“Leaders achieve very little by themselves; they inspire people to come together for the good of the group. Leaders never start with what needs to be done. Leaders start with WHY we need to do things. Leaders inspire action.”

Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action
Simon Sinek has a simple but powerful model for inspirational leadership -- starting with a golden circle and the question "Why?" His examples include Apple, Martin Luther King, and the Wright brothers ...

Think you’d like this book?

Buy It Here

Other books you may enjoy:
The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek
Made to Stick by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

Other notable books by the author:
The Infinite Game
Find Your Why
Leaders Eat Last