GOLDEN CIRCLE: WHY? HOW? WHAT? HOW TO INSPIRE A GREAT ACTION

Simon Sinek presents a simple but powerful model for how leaders inspire action, starting with a golden circle and the question "why?"

He talks about a successful example of the law of diffusion of innovation:

"in 1963, over 250,000 people gathered at the mall in Washington D.C. To hear Dr Martin Luther king’s great speech. He sent no Facebook invitation and there was no website to check the date. How could you do that? Dr Luther king had a gift. “I have a dream,” he said, not “I have a plan”. He did not go around telling people what needed to change in America. He went around telling people what he believed: “I believe, I believe, I believe” he told people. And people who believed what he believed took his cause and made it their own. They told other people. And some of those people created structures that helped to interest many more people. And lo and behold, 250,000 people showed up on the right day at the right time to hear Dr Luther King speak. How many of them showed up for him? Zero! They showed up for themselves. It was what they believed in about America and its future that got them to travel there….

There are leaders and those who lead. Leaders hold position of power and authority. But those who lead inspire us. We follow those who lead not because we have to but because we want to. We follow those who lead not for them but for ourselves. And it is those who start with “why?” That have the ability to inspire those around them and find others to inspire them".