4.6 out of 5
37,152 global ratings
The inspirational bestseller that ignited a movement and asked us to find our WHY
Discover the book that is captivating millions on TikTok and that served as the basis for one of the most popular TED Talks of all time—with more than 56 million views and counting. Over a decade ago, Simon Sinek started a movement that inspired millions to demand purpose at work, to ask what was the WHY of their organization. Since then, millions have been touched by the power of his ideas, and these ideas remain as relevant and timely as ever.
START WITH WHY asks (and answers) the questions: why are some people and organizations more innovative, more influential, and more profitable than others? Why do some command greater loyalty from customers and employees alike? Even among the successful, why are so few able to repeat their success over and over?
People like Martin Luther King Jr., Steve Jobs, and the Wright Brothers had little in common, but they all started with WHY. They realized that people won't truly buy into a product, service, movement, or idea until they understand the WHY behind it.
START WITH WHY shows that the leaders who have had the greatest influence in the world all think, act and communicate the same way—and it's the opposite of what everyone else does. Sinek calls this powerful idea The Golden Circle, and it provides a framework upon which organizations can be built, movements can be led, and people can be inspired. And it all starts with WHY.
Simon Sinek
Simon Sinek is an optimist. He teaches leaders and organizations how to inspire people. From members of Congress to foreign ambassadors, from small businesses to corporations like Microsoft and 3M, from Hollywood to the Pentagon, he has presented his ideas about the power of why. He has written two books, Leaders Eat Last and Start With Why and is quoted frequently by national publications. Sinek also regularly shares 140 characters of inspiration on Twitter (@simonsinek).
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B. L. Keller
5
Learn Why Your WHY Is Important
Reviewed in the United States on August 20, 2021
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While the subtitle of this book (How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action) suggests that the content is for leaders of large organizations, I believe the book's details can apply to all kinds of leaders and businesses. The main mantra of the book is:
People don’t buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it.
The book includes stories of many different companies. Some were successful, and others were not. The successful ones were led by individuals who strongly believed in something (they had a Why), which was the business's guiding principle. The unsuccessful companies may have started out doing well, but when they lost their focus on their Why, or if the person who had that vision left the organization, the business started to falter.
I agree with the author’s point that having a strong Why for your business can help that business be successful. I highlighted all the successful companies and individuals in the book and want to study them further. Here’s an alphabetical list of who I intend to examine:
One key concept from the book that hit home with me was that when you have a strong Why you will naturally attract individuals to your business who share that Why. A strong Why will allow you to market based on these beliefs instead of using manipulative tactics like price, features, and benefits.
That’s what a WHY does. When it is clearly understood, it attracts people who believe the same thing.
Another central point Why is so important relates to hiring (or being hired). It’s essential to have everyone in an organization believe in the same Why to have the best performing team. This requires a leader who knows their Why and knows how to share the details of their Why with others.
While reading the books, I made some other highlights that I think were important concepts:
This book has helped me personally. I’m in the process of trying to start a business, teaching others how to use productivity software (so far just Microsoft Excel, but I have plans to branch out to other applications). My training content is specifically geared towards those who may be intimidated by software and computers in general.
I need to spend more time thinking about my Why, but my initial Why is that I believe anyone can learn to use productivity software; they need to get past any fear of using the software and computers. I think the biggest fear people have when learning new things is the fear of the unknown. I want to show people it’s not hard to learn to use software and computers if they take a little time to learn the basics. I want to help them convert the unknown to a known.
If you’ve thought about starting or are running your own business, do you know your Why? Is your Why evident in everything you do related to that business? If not, I would urge you to take some time to read Start With Why and to get clear on your Why.
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41 people found this helpful
Jamie Seedorf
5
amazing book
Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2024
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Highly recommend, make sure to keep a highlighter handy for it. Many great quotes and definitely a better way of looking at things
John H. Hwung
5
A MASTER book of other books!!!
Reviewed in the United States on August 7, 2012
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THIS IS THE GREATEST BOOK EVER PUBLISHED IN THE LAST 10 YEARS!!!
If I could give this book 10 stars, I would! This book beats many other books. This book is so exciting to read that I read it three times! The beginning of the book said it extremely well -- This book is about an unique kind of leadership that has the natural recurring pattern of inspiring, influencing and affecting people. It is about a very small group of leaders that achieve disproportionate amount of influences in their industries/areas compare to other leaders. The most prominent example is, of course, Steve Jobs who displayed a recurring pattern of changing one industry after another.
(Of all the books that study Steve Jobs, this is probably the best one although it is not a book on Jobs' biography. However, this book offers the best angle to understand his motivation and influence.)
The core of this book is about the kind of WHYs that a special kind of leaders has that enable them to have the natural recurring pattern of inspiring, influencing and changing people and industries. The prime examples of this kind of leaders quoted in this book are Steve Jobs, Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Wright Brothers.
This book is revolutionary. All the top business schools should reevaluate their curriculum based on this book! All the top business consultants should reconsider their theories and recommendations based on this book! All the writers on leadership should read this book and revise their theories! All political leaders in the world should read this book! All board of directors of corporations should read this book and learn how to select the next CEOs! ...
This book can be considered the MASTER book to be read before reading books like "From Good to Great", "Stall Points", "The Innovator's Dilemma" and the follow-on books, "Crossing the Chasm" ...
The central theme of this book is WHY -- the essence, the core, the purpose of a person's life, of leadership, and the starting point of a corporation. Without the clarity of this WHY, the life of a person, the leadership, and the products and services offered by a corporation are all fuzzy and treated as commodities. This is so very true. Look around us: Though we (persons, organizations and corporations) are special in some ways, yet we are almost all commodities -- except the very few that display the recurring pattern of major changes and influences such as Jobs, Apple and Google. These are the ones that have the clarity of WHY and the discipline of diligently and strictly enforcing their HOWs (principles, methods, criteria) in producing the WHATs (behaviors, products and services).
There are three views of WHY + HOW + WHAT presented in this book:
These views are wonderful ways for us to look at leadership, to understand the life cycle of a corporation, and summarily see why companies thrived and why they died. These views can even be applied to our personal lives.
Of course, this book has some blemishes. But these defects do not distract from its greatness.
At the first reading, the book seems repetitious. The WHY, HOW and WHAT get repeated over and over. However, on the 2nd and 3rd reading, this apparent repetition disappears and you can see the different points that the author was trying to emphasize.
I would like to recommend some future topics or books for Simon Sinek: a) Qualify and rank levels of WHYs -- not all WHYs are equal. Probably some are top-notch while most are mediocre. Also, tell us how to construct best kinds of WHYs. b) Compare the WHYs to big tech companies, the WHYs of big Wall Street firms (if they have any???) and the WHYs of big retail companies. c) Compare the WHYs of big empires in history d) Compare the WHYs of nations in WWI and WWII e) Compare the WHYs of great leaders in history f) Compare the WHYs of great geniuses g) Consider how WHYs can be incorporated into Teachers' College (Ed College). It is the teachers who educate our future generations. They need to be thoroughly immersed in the understanding of The Golden Circle, The Cone and The Megaphone. h) Consider how WHYs can be incorporated into the K-12 and the college education g) Consider how WHYs can be incorporated into and how HOWs can be enforced in our political systems. We have far too many politicians and not enough true leaders i) Consider how WHYs can be incorporated into our law schools. Our lawyers really need a strong dose of treatment.
In summary, this book is dynamic. It's a dynamite! It's the best book I have read in the last 10 years!
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72 people found this helpful
Jamie
5
Leadership
Reviewed in the United States on April 22, 2024
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This order came on time and the product was as it was stated and the picture on Amazon. I am happy with the product and there was no damage done to the package.
Ck1
4
Good for shifting sales approach/mindset
Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2024
Verified Purchase
I know this isn’t a “sales” book per se, but I’m in sales and a bit applies. One of the key shifts I have after reading is making sure to lead a presentation less with features and functions and more to the “why” any this matters and seeking to get that “gut feeling” of approval before I even jump to all the things my product can do.
4 stars since some of the stories and thoughts get a little repetitive.
Also…he has some good book recommendations in the acknowledgments :)
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