Start With Why - Part 1 of 6
Learn how to INSPIRE others to ACT
The Fearless Journeys book club is now diving into our second book, and this will be the book for the month of August 2021. As mentioned in last week’s newsletter, this very popular book was published in 2011, but the topic of the book was one of the most popular TED Talks ever given.
You can watch Simon Sinek’s 2009 TED Talk here for a preview of where we are going this month. If you have not done so yet, now is a good time to order the book on Amazon or pick it up in a local bookstore.
For this week, we are going to read the Introduction and the first three chapters of Start With Why. This is roughly about 50 pages. If you pace yourself about 8 pages each day, you’ll get there easy! My suggestion: take four separate times this week to read each of those chapters. They are short. You shouldn’t need more than 20-30 minutes each of those four days. And you’ll be filled with motivation, trust me.
As Simon Sinek says in the preface, one of the reasons he wrote this book is because “the more organizations and people who learn to also start with WHY, the more people there will be who wake up feeling fulfilled by the work they do.” And wouldn’t that be an exciting world? Right now, he identifies that mostly it is a small subset of people who feel this way and he has identified that some of the greatest leaders and organizations of our time LEAD with their WHY.
In the Introduction, he tells us that: “Their goals were not different than anyone else’s, and their systems and processes were easily replicated. Yet the Wright brothers, Apple and Martin Luther King stand out among their peers. They stand apart from the norm and their impact is not easily copied. They are members of a very select group of leaders who do something very, very special. They inspire us.”
Individuals and companies need to motivate people to buy their products. Politicians need to motivate people to cast votes for them. Most of these people use persuasion, fear, and manipulation (in some form or another) to motivate others to act.
“Great leaders, in contrast, are able to inspire people to act. Those who are able to inspire give people a sense of purpose or belonging that has little to do with any external incentive or benefit to be gained. Those who truly lead are able to create a following of people who act not because they were swayed, but because they were inspired. For those who are inspired, the motivation to act is deeply personal.”
Are YOU ready to learn how to INSPIRE others? Imagine how that will feel.
As Sinek tells us, “Studies show that over 80 percent of Americans do not have their dream job. If more knew how to build organizations that inspire, we could live in a world in which that statistic was the reverse—a world in which over 80 percent of people loved their jobs. People who love going to work are more productive and more creative. They go home happier and have happier families. They treat their colleagues and clients and customers better. Inspired employees make for stronger companies and stronger economies.
In the end, this isn’t just about US, or ME, or YOU. It’s about a happier family life. Treating people with respect. Having integrity. Building stronger companies and living in a nation with a strong economy. A stronger culture. In the end, it’s about PURPOSE. And then it’s about communicating that purpose - YOUR WHY - to others. To inspire them - which causes them not only to act, but to be excited to act. If you are running a company or considering starting one, INSPIRING others is a great asset to have. If you’re able to do this, you’ll be in some pretty elite company.
It’s time to START to dive in to Simon Sinek’s great book, Start With Why.