Start With Why (30 page)

Imagine if every organization started with WHY. Decisions would be simpler. Loyalties would be greater. Trust would be a common currency. If our leaders were diligent about starting with WHY, optimism would reign and innovation would thrive. As this book illustrates, there is precedence for this standard. No matter the size of the organization, no matter the industry, no matter the product or the service, if we all take some responsibility to start with WHY and inspire others to do the same, then, together, we can change the world.

And that’s pretty inspiring.

If this book inspired you, please pass it on to someone you want to inspire.

Before any person or organization can take the steps necessary to be a leader, we must first agree on a definition of what a leader is. Leadership is not about power or authority. Leadership is decidedly more human. Being a leader requires one thing and one thing only: followers. A follower is someone who volunteers to go where you are going. They choose to go not because they have to, not because they were incentivized to, not because they were threatened to, but because they want to. The question is, why would anyone follow you?

If an individual or organization hopes to assume the responsibility of leadership—a responsibility that is given, not taken—then they must think, act, and speak in a way that inspires people to follow. Leadership is always about people. No one leads a company. A company is a legal structure. You can run a company, you can manage an organization, but you can lead only people. And that requires two things.

Imagine we’re out on a boat tour with a group of strangers and the boat gets stranded on a deserted island. How will we get off the island? Some people are panicking, some people are starting to form little cliques to figure out how to get off the island. Then, all of a sudden one person stands up and announces, “I will lead.” We like that; we’re social animals and we respond well to leaders.

Our new leader moves to the front of the group and asks, “Right . . . who’s got ideas?”

One person raises her hand and suggests we light a fire to attract the attention of a passing boat or aircraft. “Good idea,” our leader says.

Another person pipes up, “We should forage for food in case we’re stuck here for a while.”

“Also a good idea,” says the leader.

“We should build a shelter because we’re going to need protection from the elements.”

Our leader gives a thumbs-up and says, “That’s also a good idea. OK,” he continues, “let’s take a vote. . . .”

And at that point someone in the group stands up and says, “As we were coming into shore, I saw some masts and smoke out on the west side of the island. There must be a fishing village there. If we can get there, we can get help. We’re going to have to go through the thick woods to get there, though, and I can’t do it alone. So if there is anyone who will join me, I’d be grateful. If anyone doesn’t want to go,” he says, “don’t worry, we’ll come back to get you when we find help.”

The question is, whom do you want to follow? Do you want to follow the first guy or the second guy? Both are confident. Both care that we get off the island. The answer is so obvious it’s almost a silly question: we want to follow the second guy.

Keep in mind, no one else saw the fishing village. There are no photographs and no research. All we have is the undying belief of this one person of a world that exists in the future and his ability to communicate it in a way that lets us imagine it as clearly.

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. The second leader could have simply stood up, with the same vision of this fishing village, and simply announced, “This won’t work,” and walked away in the direction of the village. He would have been a visionary, for sure, but without the ability to communicate his vision, he cannot be a leader. We all work with people like this—they walk around with all the answers to all the questions, frustrated that no one else “gets it.” No one can see what they can see. They are visionaries, for sure, but they are not leaders.

There are also those who have the gift of gab, the amazing ability to communicate. But absent a vision, they are just great communicators and not leaders. The second leader could have also stood up and given a rousing speech about the importance of us working together. We would have felt wonderful and excited, but we would still have no clue how to get off the island.

Leadership requires two things: a vision of the world that does not yet exist and the ability to communicate it.

The question is, where does vision come from? And this is the power of WHY. Our visions are the world we imagine, the tangible results of what the world would look like if we spent every day in pursuit of our WHY.

Leaders don’t have all the great ideas; they provide support for those who want to contribute. 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.

There is nothing that brings me more joy and happiness in this world than waking up every day with a clear sense of WHY—to inspire people to do the things that inspire them. It is a simple thing to do when surrounded by so many amazing people to inspire me.

There are countless people who believed in me and helped me over the years. I’d like to thank those who helped me build a piece of my megaphone with this book. Amy Hertz was the first to insist that I write it and introduced me to my incredible agent, Richard Pine. Richard believes in doing good things in the world and has made it his business to make authors out of those who have a positive message to share. His patience and counsel have been invaluable. To Russ Edelman who was such a nice guy to introduce me to his editor, Jeffrey Krames, who, in turn, took a bet on me and let me push him to do things differently. To Adrian Zackheim, who willingly challenges convention and is leading the evolution of the publishing industry.

Thank you to Mark Rubin, who sees the colors I can see and in whose basement I started writing, to Tom and Alicia Rypma, in whose home I continued writing, and to Delta Airlines, for being so good to me while I wrote so much at 35,000 feet. To Julia Hurley, who made sure everything was right. To the whole team at Portfolio, who worked so hard to bring this book to life. And, most importantly, to Laurie Flynn, who so passionately devoted herself (and her family) to help me tell this story.

I have had the great honor and privilege of meeting some wonderful people who have inspired me in a way that is hard to quantify. Ron Bruder has changed the way I see the world. Brig. Gen. Lori Robinson has shown me what the humility of great leadership looks like. Kim Harrison, who lives her WHY—to appreciate all good things around her—and works tirelessly to see to it that good ideas and people are appreciated. She taught me what a true partnership looks and feels like. And to those whose shared what they know to help bring the WHY to life, I am truly grateful for your time and energy: Colleen Barrett, Gordon Bethune, Ben Comen, Randy Fowler, Christina Harbridge, Dwayne Honoré, Howard Jeruchimowitz, Guy Kawasaki, Howard Putnam, James Tobin, Acacia Salatti, Jeff Sumpter, Col. “Cruiser” Wilsbach and Steve Wozniak.

Long before there was even an idea of a book, there were all the people and early adopters who wanted to learn about the WHY and use The Golden Circle to help build their organizations. This forward-thinking group were willing to embrace a new idea and were essential to helping me figure out many of the details and nuances of the concept. Thank you to Geoffrey Dzikowski, Jenn Podmore, Paul Guy, Kal Shah, Victor DeOliveria, Ben Rosner, Christopher Bates, Victor Chan, Ken Tabachnick, Richard Baltimore, Rick Zimmerman, Russ Natoce, Missy Shorey, Morris Stemp, Gabe Solomon, Eddie Esses and Elizabeth Hare, who saw the value of the WHY in building the most valuable organization of all—her family. Thank you to Fran Biderman-Gross, who is not only an early adopter, but who went out of her way to embrace her WHY in all aspects of her life and to encourage others to learn their WHY, too. Thank you to Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, Congressman Paul Hodes, and Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz, who gave me so much and continue to give back to others with such passion.

Over the years there were those who gave me a break and helped advance my cause. Thank you to Trudi Baldwin, the director of the Graduate Program in Strategic Communications at Columbia University (a wonderful program), Jim Berrien, who trusted me, the indefatigable Jack Daly, who teaches me, Piers Fawkes, Denis Glennon, who pushed me, Kevin Goetz, Tony Gomes, Paul Gumbinner, who gave me a career on a silver platter, Kenneth Hein, Peter Intermaggio, who taught me self-reliance, Pamela Moffat, Rick Sapio, who keeps doing good things for me, Alana Winter and Matt Weiss, for asking me to share my thoughts with an audience, and Diederik Werdmolder who took a bet on me right at the start.

I am grateful to all the brilliant minds I have met within the U.S. Air Force who stuck their necks out to try something different. They embody the WHY of the USAF: to find and deliver better ways of doing things. To Maj. Gen. Erwin Lessel (who first introduced me to the organization), Maj. Gen. William Chambers, Brig. Gen. Walter Givhan, Brig. Gen. Dash Jamieson (who never stops believing), Maj. Gen. Darren McDew, Brig. Gen. (Sel) Martin Neubauer (who knows more than I will ever know), Christy Nolta, Brig. Gen. Janet Therianos and Lt. Col. Dede Halfhill (you owe me one, DeDe).

I am immensely grateful to all the brilliant people and candid conversations that inspired so many of the ideas that became The Golden Circle and all its parts. Thank you to Kendra Coppey, who helped me out of the hole in late 2005 and to Mark Levy, who pointed me in the right direction. Thanks to Peter Whybrow, who saw a problem in America and helped me to understand the neuroscience of it all. Kirt Gunn, whose brilliant storytelling mind inspired the split. Every conversation with Brian Collins illuminated something new. Thank you to Jorelle Laakso, who taught me to reach for the things I believe in. To William Ury, who showed me a path to follow, and Lt. Gen. David Deptula, who is probably the smartest person I know and gave me a new perspective for solving highly complex problems.

My understanding of the WHY would be incomplete without the conversations, help and support of Nic Askew, Richard Baltimore, Christopher Bennett, Christine Betts, Ariane de Bonvoisin, Scott Bornstein, Tony Conza, Vimal Duggal, Douglas Fiersetin, Nathan Frankel, JiNan Glasgow, Cameron Herold, John Hittler, Maurice Kaspy, Peter Laughter, Kevin Langley, Niki Lemon, Seth Lloyd, Bruce Lowe, Cory Luker, Karl and Agi Mallory, Peter Martins, Brad Meltzer, Nell Merlino, Ally Miller, Jeff Morgan, Alan Remer, Pamela and Nick Roditi, Ellen Rohr, Lance Platt, Jeff Rothstein, Brian Scudamore, Andy Siegel, John Stepleton, Rudy Vidal, the 2007 and 2008 classes of the Gathering of Titans, and the one and only Ball of Mystery.

To my late grandfather, Imre Klaber, who showed me that it is more fun to be slightly eccentric than to be completely normal. To my parents, Steve and Susan Sinek, who always encouraged me to follow the beat of my own drum. And to Sara, my remarkable, remarkable sister, who appreciates that I keep my head in the clouds but makes sure I keep my feet on the ground.

There are a few books and authors that have, over the years, inspired me, spurred ideas and offered me new perspectives: the works of Ken Blanchard, of Tom Friedman and of Seth Godin,
The Starfish and the Spider
by Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom,
First, Break All the Rules
by Marcus Buckingham,
Good to Great
by Jim Collins,
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
by Stephen Covey,
The 4-Hour Workweek
by Tim Ferriss,
Never Eat Alone
by Keith Ferrazzi,
E-Myth
by Michael Gerber,
The Tipping Point
and
Outliers
by Malcolm Gladwell,
Chaos
by James Gleick,
Emotional Intelligence
by Daniel Goleman,
Made to Stick
by Chip and Dan Heath,
Who Moved My Cheese?
by Spencer Johnson, M.D.,
The Monk and the Riddle
by Randy Komisar,
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
by Patrick Lencioni,
Freakanomics
by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner,
FISH!
By Stephen Lundin, Harry Paul, John Christensen and Ken Blanchard,
The Naked Brain
by Richard Restack,
Authentic Happiness
by Martin Seligman,
The Wisdom of Crowds
by James Surowiecki,
The Black Swan
by Nicholas Taleb,
American Mania
by Peter Whybrow, M.D., and the single most important book everyone should read, the book that teaches us that we cannot control the circumstances around us, all we can control is our attitude—
Man’s Search for Meaning
by Viktor Frankel.