I love watching TED Talks on various subjects. While browsing through to find a video to watch, I came across Simon Sinek’s talk on “How great leaders inspire action”. In this talk, Mr. Sinek explains his believe as to what makes leaders great. Apple is known for innovation and creativity but they are not the only company that makes computers. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wasn’t the only individual involved in the civil rights movement. The Wright Brothers weren’t the only team trying to achieve flight. So Mr. Sinek asks why them. He credits this to his golden circle theory.
The golden circle is composed of three circles within each other. The first outer circle is “what they do”. The next circle inward is “how they do it” and the last center circle is “why they do it”. Everyone knows what they do, some know how they do it but very few know why they do it. Most assume that profit is why but profit is actually a result not a reason. Why is suppose to be your purpose, cause and/or belief. Most individuals go from the outside in. They tell you want you they do and how they do it and expect you to buy it. In the case of the workforce, employers tell you what your job is and how you do it and expect you to complete the task. Those individuals that are great leaders start from the inside out. They start with why you are doing it. Apple communicates through the inside out. They tell you they believe in thinking differently to challenge the status quo. They do this by make beautifully designed and simple to use products, which just so happens that they make computers.
Mr. Sinek proves that individuals don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it. This is a more detailed version of the path-goal theory. Good leaders will motivate individuals to achieve a certain goal and then help them find a way to get there. Employers do not what to just hire people who need a job. Employers want to hire individuals who believe what you believe. The quote I loved hearing is “if you hire people just because they can do a job, they’ll work for your money, but if they believe what you believe they’ll work for you with blood and sweat and tears” (Sinek, 2009). This is what takes a company from being like Gateway to Apple or Samuel Pierpont Langley to the Wright Brothers. Path-goal theory states a reward in the work environment that the followers need to reach their goals. What Mr. Sinek demonstrates in his video is that the why in the golden circle is the reward for the employees. He mentions Dr. King again in his talk. He talks of his March on Washington and his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. On that day, 250,000 people came to hear his speech during a time where there was no website or Facebook and no invitations were sent. Mr. Sinek asked how did they do that. Dr. King wasn’t the only great orator in America and he wasn’t the only man who was suffering through pre-civil rights. His gift was he didn’t tell individuals what needed to change, he told them what he believed. When he told people what he believed, they took his cause and made it their own. When you tell employers your purpose and your cause, they make it their own. This is an interpretation of the path-goal theory that is very understandable and can be used in a wide array of areas.
Resource:
Sinek, S. (September 2009). Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action [Video file}. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action#t-1065098
Pennsylvania State University World Campus (2015). PSYCH 485 Lesson 5 Part 2: Path Goal Theory. Retrieved from https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/fa15/psych485/001/content/06_lesson/04_topic/03_page.html