Simon Sinek
Simon Sinek
Simon O. Sinekis an author, speaker, and consultant who writes on leadership and management. He joined the RAND Corporation in 2010 as an adjunct staff member, where he advises on matters of military innovation and planning. He is known for popularizing the concepts of "the golden circle" and to "Start With Why", described by TED as "a simple but powerful model for inspirational leadership all starting with a golden circle and the question "Why?"'. Sinek's first TEDx Talk on "How...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth9 October 1973
Great leaders don’t try to be perfect. They try to be themselves. And that’s what makes them great.
The true value of a leader is not measured by the work they do. A leader's true value is measured by the work they inspire others to do.
Inspire people to do the things that inspire them and, together, we can change our world.
I look for the hotels that have figured out the comfortable balance - a modern room that is well designed, and really clean sheets.
Most organizations only focus on WHAT they do and HOW they do it - tactics and strategies - and they aren't even aware that this thing called the WHY exists. Focusing on only two pieces of a three piece puzzle leaves an organization, or a career, inherently out of balance. Being out of balance, only operating on two of the three pieces, shows up in different ways - increased stress, loss of passion, obsession with what your competition is doing, being forced to play the price game, trouble differentiating. These are all signs that the WHY is missing.
If you want to be a great leader, remember to treat all people with respect at all times. For one, because you never know when you'll need their help. And two, because it's a sign you respect people, which all great leaders do.
Make it about them, not about you.
Managers watch over our numbers, our time and our results. Leaders watch over us.
Words may inspire, but only ACTION creates change. Most of us live our lives by accident - we live life as it happens. Fulfillment comes when we live our lives on purpose.
Dream big. Start small. But most of all, start.
We can make up for lost money, but we can't make up for lost time.
Trust has two dimensions: competence and integrity. We will forgive mistakes of competence. Mistakes of integrity are harder to overcome.
For values or guiding principles to be truly effective they have to be verbs. It's not "integrity," it's "always do the right thing." It's not "innovation," it's "look at the problem from a different angle." Articulating our values as verbs gives us a clear idea - we have a clear idea of how to act in any situation.
Trust is built on telling the truth, not telling people what they want to hear.