https://youtube.com/watch?v=Zu9mmrsg2Xo

How do you know if your why is something you can lead with? (5:45) If you ever made a friend, you know Whys are compatible Tribal connection Not all other people

What if you’re not in a position of authority, but you can clearly see the why? (7:10) Organisations are started with a why. Often not articulated. Leaders / entrepreneurs falsely believe the why is clear to everyone.

Are we changing the way we try to fit or belong to a group in this covid period? (9:00) Superficial things fall away We feel more connected

Since publishing of book, a lot has changed in tech industry, Apple still great? (10:40) It takes long for a large company to completely lose it’s why.

If you’re graduating college, how do you launch yourself in this uncertain future? (12:45) Future is always uncertain Crisis is opportunity for reinvention Company defined by what they do, struggle with reinventing themselves. Defined by why, more opportunities, easier to reinvent

It’s the journey First job is not last job First job is not best job It’s about learning what you want

How to spread a why through an organization? (16:15) The why probably does not have to do with the climate the manner in which you’re bringing your why to life has to do with the climate. A why, almost always, has to do with human beings. And if climate weren’t a challenge in our lives right now, your why would be the same. You’d be bringing it to life in a new way.

How to spread it?

  • Talk about it.
  • Start meeting with it
  • Put it on the website
  • Give speeches to teams
  • Reward people who advanced the cause
  • Build into incentive structure
  • Talk about it obsessively

Put stuff on walls, stairwells.

How can we clearly understand our why? (19:10)

Program: Jumpstart your why See website 90 minutes

Friends exercise: Friend you love and who loves you. Not family member, not spouse, that relationship is too close The friend you could call at 3 o clock in the morning Ask the question:

  • “why are we friends?”
  • “What is it about me, that I know, that you would be there for me, no matter what?”

They will struggle to put into words. They will start rationalizing Play devil’s advocate

  • “that’s the definition of a friend”
  • “what specifically is it about me, that I know that you would be there no matter what?”

They’ll get frustrated. You’ll keep playing devil’s advocate

  • “that’s just the definition of a best friend”

Eventually they’ll give up. Eventually they’ll start to describe themselves

  • “I don’t know Simon, all I know is I can just sit in a room with you, I don’t even have to talk to you, and I feel inspired”

What they finally articulate, is the value you have in their lives. And you’ll have some sort of an emotional reaction.

  • Goosebumps
  • Well up

The things we give to the world, is the value our friends have for us. If you do this with multiple friends, you will get exactly the same answer, if not very very close. Because the value we have is our why.

Is a personal why the same as a business why? (22:30) Yes Why is basically an origin story, where we come from

Individual: sum total of

  • How we were raised
  • Lessons we learned from our parents, friends, experiences we had growing up

Company takes the why of the founder

Goal: keep it clear when you get successful

Why of a tribe Person that says “I’m gonna start my own tribe”

Who inspires you and why? (24:30) Friends, people I wrote about

Have you seen any companies change because of learning about the golden circle? (25:30) Younger companies

  • Sweet green
  • Airbnb
  • Cliffbar

Bob Chapman saw TED talk, “I built this company and you put words to it”

Paramedics, medics, why is clear, but how to keep going? (27:30) Take care of each other Mental energy You have to have emotions Get that stress out

How to explain golden circle to young officers? (29:40) What defines the uniformed forces are the cultures. They have different cultures.

  • Airforce: find a better way to do things
  • Marines
  • Army

How do you know your why is going fuzzy? How to keep clear? () Metaphor health

  • Stress goes up
  • Joy of work
  • Relationships will struggle “I don’t know who you are anymore”

Get it back? Cf 12 step program

  • Admit the problem
  • Ask for help

Surround yourself with symbols

  • Color orange
  • Pictures of people who remind
  • Quotes
  • Little labels

Take advantage of all the open spaces to remind yourself (walls, stairs,…)

How do you move forward as an introvert, when your why requires you to be an extrovert? Why never demands extrovert Job (aka what) may demand extravert

Book: Quiet - Susan Cain Introvert wakes up with 5 coins, every social interaction takes a coin. End of the day, depleted Extrovert wake up without, every social interaction gives a coin. End of day, richer.

How do you seperate why from ego? Why: knowing where you come from Ego: self-opinion

  • Healthy: thinking you’re good
  • Unhealthy: thinking you’re better than others

People with huge healthy ego, think they’re good, know they’re good. But if you come in and say “hey I have an idea” they lean in

What are best ways of making why accessible to staff? Sense of your why in your gut To make it accessible, you have to find words that connect to people Eg. Martin Luther King put into words what many people felt

“you put into words, something I have been trying to say for years”

Can there be an overdoing of the why? Like a cult status or something? Are the people in service to the people, or in service to themselves?

Cult-like You can accuse any organisation with strong culture as cult-like

Cult Leader puts the self first Using everyone else to benefit their needs and goals

Great leaders see themselves as in service for the people.

What is the relationship between intuition and the why? Why exists in limbic brain

  • Feelings
  • Behavior
  • Not language

Knowing your why enhances intuition Root of intuition is your why

The more we practice

  • Starting with why
  • Leading with why
  • Making decision with why

The stronger our intuition becomes

How do you help everyone in your organisation to find their why?

  • Friends exercise
  • Book: find your why - Simon Sinek
    • Individual
    • Group
  • Workshop: Jumpstart your why
    • Pay what you like
  • See website, free download (eg. Friends exercise)

How does imposter syndrome factor into finding your why? The clearer the why is, the less susceptible you are to imposter syndrome

Imposter syndrome: wondering if you have any role to play here “Why are they taking advice from me? What the heck do I know?”

Why gives quiet calm

Remind people: I don’t have the answer, I don’t think I’m right, I offer a perspective. Set the expectation, hedge against the imposter syndrome. Not an expert, but a student on a journey.

How do you deal with a leader whose why is good and focused, but the how not good for the employees? Golden Circle: every piece is equally important, why is most often forgotten If any is kissing, you are off balance

The fact that the why is strong in this organisation or in this leader, but the how’s they don’t follow a set of clear values, then they’re out of balance, the golden circle is out of balance, and that’s where they have to work.

By the way, you can have a super strong why and a super strong how, but if you don’t produce anything that helps bring it to life… And all you’re doing is, you know, doing whatever job you can find, and like not paying attention to finding a tribe or finding a company, where you feel like you belong. Then your why can be crystal clear. Your values can be crystal clear. And you’re going to be struggling and feel stress. Because you’re in a place that isn’t where you should be.

Each piece of the golden circle, must be in balance for that

  • Calm confidence
  • Focus
  • Joy
  • Fulfillment
  • Inspiration

Each piece has to be there, no one piece is more important than the other.

What’s more important, why or Vision? Equally important they are different things Why, comes from the last, we look for patterns across your life, when things were naturally going extremely well. That pattern is our why Only one

Vision is where we’re going Subjective Any you want Multiple visions, one for company, family,… Just cause, so just we would willingly sacrifice

What if my why does not match the why of your colleagues? You probably don’t get along

If they all belong, and you don’t:

  • Change teams
  • Change company

You’re gonna struggle to get along

Find a place where you can find common values.

Find common human ground with those colleagues

How can we best prepare ourselves for the new normal, without knowing what it is?

World is constantly changing

It’s more clear now, because it’s sudden.

Not: how do we prepare for new normal? Yes: given the current circumstances right now, how can I bring to life what I believe in a new way? Eg. In person is gonna be delayed for a while. How can we create new ways of social closeness? Eg. Book club is a mechanism for social closeness Don’t worry about the future, adapt for now.