Start With Why Key Takeaways Flashcards
The Golden Circle of Why, How and What
Essentially, Sinek believes our sense of purpose, whether personally or professionally, is the key to success. The “why”, followed by the “how” and the “what” are the three steps to achieving personal satisfaction, as well as being a great leader and growing a successful company.
Is your Marketing Inspirational or Manipulative?
You should know why your customers are your customers. It’s literally one of the most important things you could know. If you’re using manipulative marketing techniques (low price, promotions, fear, aspirations, peer-pressure, novelty-factor) you are probably not focussed on building long-term quality relationships with your customers based on their loyalty to your brand.
People Don’t Buy WHAT you Do: they Buy WHY you Do It
Apple is Sinek’s champion example of leading with why. By pitching products by saying: “We believe in challenging the status quo and thinking differently, so we design our products to be beautiful and simple to use. Want to buy a computer from us?” the overriding impression with which Apple leaves their audience is inspiration, appealing to people who also feel they challenge the status quo. Inspirational marketing and a clear sense of why is what engenders brand loyalty.
Your Decisions should be Consistent with your Why
Companies and employees will be most successful if they align their why and make sure they both believe in the same things. If companies choose partnerships or leaders who do not support the company’s why, this usually causes problems and a loss of trust from customers and employees.
Building a Wall versus Building a Cathedral
Sinek talks about two tradesmen, each laying bricks for years on a project to build a cathedral, which would never be finished in their lifetime. One man says he hates his job - he just puts bricks in line every day, every week. The other man is inspired, he does exactly the same job, but he loves it because he knows he is building a cathedral. Whilst the two men do the same job, one aligns with the mission and has a sense of purpose.
Tipping Points - Innovators, Early Adopters, Early Majority, Late Majority and Laggards
Sinek speaks about this curve in the quest to gain customers. Early Adopters and Innovators are alike, they’ll accept a certain amount of risk and performance issues in order to use the newest products and services in the market. These are the people you need on board, and believing in your why. You need to have penetrated between 15-18% of your target market before you can be successful, the tipping point. Even if you have a product which is great, you’ll struggle to reach the mass market unless you have a strong ‘why’ that appeals to the innovators and early adopters. This is because most people won’t try a new, untested product, no matter how amazing it is.
You Need a Dream, but Have a Plan
Whilst the ‘why’ is powerful, Sinek notes the importance of having a how, and highlights that often the people to embody these aspects of a business are not one and the same. The founder and visionary (the ‘why’ person) probably partners up with a ‘how’ person who knows how to make their vision a reality. An example would be Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak of Apple.
Being Successful versus Feeling Successful
“Achievement is something you reach or attain, like a goal. It is something tangible, clearly defined and measurable. Success, in contrast, is a feeling or state of being.”
I think this final point is something really powerful to take away. Achievement is what you do, but success is why.
