Let’s start with Start with Why Summary written by Simon Sinek.
1 Sentence Summary: Start with Why summary will inspire you and give you example about the why. You will also find out that the multi-million companies succeed because they started with a purpose.
Let’s understand what the title means “start with why ” means start with a purpose. Why do you want to be a leader? What is your purpose?
The subtitle of this book is “How great leaders inspire people to take action”. Great leaders do not only refers to politicians. It also refers to leading company of industry. Great leaders have followers who are loyal to them. Their competitors may have a new or better product. But the loyal customers do not buy at once. They are loyal to one brand. Have you ever thought How did this Happen? This is because the company started with why.
Manipulation VS Inspiration
Motorola (A mobile phone Company) launched its flip flop model phone RAZR in 2004. Hollywood celebrities and prime ministers bought this product. It was a huge success for company. Motorola sold 50 Million RAZR units. However, within 4 years, competitors have already copied RAZR. They have created new phone with better features. Motorola lost the spotlight.
The company used manipulation and not inspiration. That is why it lost the customers. The company launched a new product. It has made people to buy but it didn’t make people to become loyal to them. When you manipulate people, you just make them follow for a short time. You will make them take action but you will not have their loyalty. This is not what great leaders do.
Let’s have a look at what are the forms of manipulation?
They are fear, peer, pressure, aspiration, price, promotion, novelty and many more like that. In politics, the politicians create fear to gain votes. They may use money, pressure, or make promises. Manipulations only make companies and organization weaker. They make people follow but only for a short period of time. Manipulations cost a lot of money but they are not effective.
Think Different
“Think different”. That is the motto of Apple since its foundation in 1984. It is evident in all of Apple’s products and advertisements. Apple has that strong purpose.
iTunes changed the music industry. In the early 2000s, people were burning music on their CDs. Piracy became a problem for the recording companies. The music industry was saved because of iTunes and Ipod.
It wasn’t actually which invented the mp3 player, it was creative technology from Singapore. But why did Apple led the market. Creative advertised their product as “5gb mp3 player” but Apple said that ipod is “1,000 songs in your pocket”. Creative told the market WHAT the product is but Apple told the market WHY it needs to buy the ipod.
“People don’t buy WHAT you do. they buy WHY you do it”
Apple became leader not only in the computer industry but also in the small electronics industry and the mobile phone industry. This is because of Apple’s purpose remains constant no matter WHAT they do.
The Golden Circle
If you want to lead, do not start with what you can give to people. Start with why. Tell the people the purpose in wat you do. If the people believe in your purpose, they will become loyal. They will be inspired and they will follow.
Remember this concept. It’s called the Golden Circle. Why refers to purpose. How refers to Process. What refers to product.
More than just coffee
The sense of belongingness is innate in us humans. We need to feel safe and connected. We always seek that feeling. If we take a vacation to other country and find people from our own country makes us feel like home.
What Starbucks offers is coffee. but the purpose is to make people feel comfortable while drinking coffee. Starbucks gives people nice experience and nice feeling. There are other coffee shops out there but people choose Starbucks because of the feeling it gives.
Howard Schultz is not the founder of Starbucks. He only joined company in 1992. But we know Starbucks we do today because of Howard Schultz. He has that vision that Starbucks is more than coffee. He wanted to give customers a comfortable place where they can stay. Drinking coffee became a culture because of Starbucks. People can read books, do work in their laptops or bond with customers. Howard Schultz made that possible because he has that strong vision . He has that strong purpose.
Harley-Davidson
Have you seen any man with a Harley-Davidson tattoo? Why is it that anyone would tattoo a company logo on their skin? This happened because Harley-Davidson is good at telling people their purpose. The Harley-Davidson logo became a symbol that represents a belief. In America, it is very common that you would see a Harley tattoo.
The company is disciplined in following its own values. It communicates to people clearly the purpose that the company believes in, the people understood that and they were inspired. The logo became a symbol of a belief.
Disney
The CEO is the leader. He embodies the purpose of the company. Below him are the executives. They believe in the CEO’s purpose. They know How to bring that purpose into reality.
The leaders are what we call the WHY-types. They are visionaries. They are optimists. The WHY- types are people who believes that everything they can imagine can be done. The HOW – types are realists. They are more practical. They see the word as it is.
Walt Disney worked as a cartoon artist for advertisements. But he wanted to make animated movies. Roy Disney is 8 years older . He works as a banker. Roy admire Walt’s imagination and talent. but he knew that Walt is not good with business. Walt also take huge risks. Like other WHY-types, Walt is dreaming abut the future. Roy used his talents in finance and business. He helped Walt turns his dreams into reality. Roy founded Buena Vista, the company that distributed the Disney films.
If there is strong partnership between WHY and HOW types people, they can make a billion-dollar company.
Bill Gates
Bills Gates believe that there are way to solve any problem. He is optimistic and believes that if you provide people useful tools, they will become successful. Bill gates has a vision to empower people through technology. When Bill Gates left Microsoft, he continued on this mission and founded the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation with his wife. He does not produce software anymore, Bill gates gives people the opportunity to improve their lives.
Bill Gates only changed WHAT he does. but his purpose and vision remains the same.
Wal-Mart
Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart, grew up in the great depression. He knows the value of hard work.
The secret of Sam Walton lies not in hard work and cheap prices. Walton has a deeper cause. He ahs a strong belief that motivates him. Sam Walton believes in people. ” He believed that if he looked after people, people would look after him. The more Wal-Mart could give to employees, customers and the community, the more that employees, customers and the community would give back to Wal-Mart.”
He worked on weekends and dedicated himself in service of others. He is always humble and remembered birthdays of his employees. That is the purpose of Sam Walton. He wants to serve the people. This is the reason why Wal-Mart became a huge success.
However, Sam Walton died on April 5, 1992 Because of bone marrow cancer. His son Robeson Walton succeeded him as the chairman of Wal-Mart. Robeson said that nothing will change in the company’s policy, control and direction. But that simply was not true.
Many things changed in Wal-Mart after Sam died. There were reports of mistreated customers and employees. There became split within Wal-Mart. The result is Costco, a new retail store, was formed.
The CEOs who succeeded Sam Walton were not able to carry on his vision. They did not carry on his belief to Sam’s belief to serve the people. Wal-Mart lost his reputation.
Conclusion of Start with Why
The conclusion is that the purpose must be deeply rooted in the organization. That is even if the founder is gone, the purpose would carry on and the company will continue to succeed. Now, you know how to start with WHY. Think about your purpose. What do you believe in? From there you can establish your How(Process) and WHAT(product). Be mindful of how you think, act and communicate. Make sure that they are in line with your purpose. Remember that, those with a purpose greater than themselves achieve success.
Recommended Reading
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