Leadership is the ability to rally people
not for a single event, but for years. (p. 29)

Simon Sinek's popular and engaging stories showcasing pioneering companies such as Apple and Southwest Airlines is an excellent companion to Jim Collins' BE 2.0. Sinek reminds us that most people in the world are HOW-types (p. 141), or highly skilled subject matter experts. Why focus on HOW rather than WHY? It's easier to do, and the danger of manipulations is that they work. And because manipulations work, they have become the norm, practiced by the vast majority of companies and organizations... (p. 33).

An engaging talk highlighting several of Sinek's stories would perfectly set up a Leader's Compass or Core Values Alignment workshop. Sinek also provides physiological arguments in support of focusing on WHY, which bring our Energize2Lead (E2L) profiles to mind. Accordingly, we can apply his findings to the two unique Academy Leadership workshops.

Personal Leadership Philosophy | Core Values

Sinek shares his Golden Circle on page 37 and explains by WHY I mean what is your purpose, cause or belief? (p. 39)

Apple is Sinek's most frequently cited company, whose messaging starts with WHY, a purpose, cause or belief that has nothing to do with WHAT they do. Sinek also describes later in the book that company founders are often driven by WHY and organizations may lose their WHY after an inspirational founder leaves.

Recall Jim Collins in BE 2.0:

“The number one responsibility of a leader – is to catalyze a
clear and shared vision for the company and to secure commitment
to and vigorous pursuit of that vision.” (p. 90)

On Collins' page 91, we find a powerful visual diagram breaking down VISION into three components: Core Values and Beliefs, Purpose and Mission:

We can substitute Sinek's WHY with Collins' PURPOSE, which are based on unchanging Core Values and Beliefs. Recall the first portion of a leadership philosophy answers the question What Does Leadership Mean to Me? Our answer to that question can intersect with our WHY. Examples: Empowering every child in the world through educational opportunity or providing reliable energy or clean drinking water to as many people as possible.

Sinek explains our desire to feel like we belong is so powerful that we will go to great lengths, do irrational things and often spend money to get that feeling (to feel like we belong - p. 53). When we succeed at this we create an ecosystem. Cultures are groups of people who come together around a common set of values and beliefs (p. 88). Notice the source of the culture is unified people, not posters from the marketing department.

There exists this special partnership between WHY and HOW, and
this relationship starts to clarify the difference between a vision
statement and a mission statement in an organization. (p. 142)

Sinek emphasizes leaders should work on aligning WHY and HOW, or hiring people who understand the WHY and know HOW to carry out the mission, strategy and tactics.

Energize2Lead Profile (E2L)

Remember the biology of The Golden Circle. The WHY exists in the part of the brain that controls feelings and decision making and WHATs exist in the part of the brain that controls rational thought and language (p. 158). The WHY sounds a lot like our instinctive needs described in the lower dimension of our E2L profiles, and the WHATs corresponds to our non-emotional preferred, or upper dimension.

When we don't understanding another person's instinctive needs we won't know what motivates them and we probably won't know when they're under great stress. Like on a date, it is exceedingly difficult to start building a trusting relationship with a potential customer or client by trying to convince them of all the rational features and benefits (p. 77), or the WHATs rather than the WHY. Think of a great coach. Trust begins to emerge when we have a sense that another person or organization is driven by things other that their own self (p. 84). Consider this:

Historically, trust has played a bigger role in advancing
companies and societies than skill set alone (p. 104).

Summary

In the seminal Knowing Doing Gap, Pfeffer and Sutton share the importance of understanding the underlying philosophy of what organizations do and WHY. Sinek reaches the same conclusion:

The idea that copying WHAT or HOW things
are done at high-performing organizations
will inherently work for you is just not true. (p. 166)

JE | June 2022