In Simon Sinek’s TED talk, Sinek claims the existence of an
outstanding trend in the strategies of historical and current people and
businesses to explain how great leaders inspire action. Sinek believes that
those who lead well truly believe in their causes and project their beliefs to
audiences before presenting mere facts, and he periodically states his
overarching theme by repeating, “People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you
do it.”
In order to prove his point, Sinek presents biological data
and the work ethic of the Wright brothers. First, Sinek displays a graph with
three concentric circles, and he labels the smallest circle why, the middle circle how, and the largest circle what. Then, Sinek proceeds to explain
that adequate leaders start from the outside and explain what their products
and ideas can do, but they rarely touch upon the inner two circles.
On the contrary, he says that the greatest of leaders start
in the middle by explaining why they produce and believe in their products and
ideas and then work their way out to the more simplistic facts and details.
After explaining his theory, Sinek describes the biology of the human brain,
insisting that people better connect to a product or idea when presented with
the deeper and more emotional views and images that the how and why circles
inspire.
Next, Sinek continues to promote his theory by arguing that
the Wright brothers achieved flight before other more qualified people because,
“they believed that if they could figure out [a] flying machine, it [would]
change the course of the world.” According to Sinek, the Wright brothers
achieved success because they strongly cared about a cause and a purpose for
the flying machine rather than the potential results of the machine that affect
their own lives.
Personally, I believe that Sinek presents a very interesting
yet oversimplified theory of what makes a leader successfully influential.
Unlike Sinek, I do not believe that the only way to influence is to start from why and work one’s way out to what. Instead, I believe in the great
probability of the success of a product or idea with innovative features, high
quality, and a thoughtful presentation.
On the other hand, I do agree with Sinek’s view that a
leader must be passionate about a cause or something bigger than him or herself
in order to successfully create a product or spread an idea. Those who merely
care about their products and ideas relative to their public image greatly
lesson their chances of success because their work and effort ultimately reflect
their lack of character and pure intentions.
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