Start with the Golden Circle
How Great Leaders Inspire Action

What did these four have
in common?

All four started with the
golden circle.

What is The
Golden Circle?

“It is a principle grounded
in the tenets of biology.” --Simon Sinek

Great
leaders

Think

Think
ACT

Think
ACT
Communicate

Why

Why How

Why How What from the
inside out.

What Neocortex rational factual logical
detail-oriented textual statistical

How & Why Limbic Brain
& Amygdala purpose decision-making context instinct emotion no language

What’s Wrong
with What?

“When we communicate from the
outside in, people can understand vast amounts of information, but it doesn’t drive decision-making.” -- Simon Sinek Samuel Langley

“When we communicate from the
outside in, people can understand vast amounts of information, but it doesn’t drive decision-making.” -- Simon Sinek Samuel Langley Focused on being “first”

“When we communicate from the
outside in, people can understand vast amounts of information, but it doesn’t drive decision-making.” -- Simon Sinek Samuel Langley Focused on being “first” Excellent market conditions

“When we communicate from the
outside in, people can understand vast amounts of information, but it doesn’t drive decision-making.” -- Simon Sinek Samuel Langley Focused on being “first” Excellent market conditions Sufficient funding

“When we communicate from the
outside in, people can understand vast amounts of information, but it doesn’t drive decision-making.” -- Simon Sinek Samuel Langley Focused on being “first” Excellent market conditions Sufficient funding The best minds

“When we communicate from the
outside in, people can understand vast amounts of information, but it doesn’t drive decision-making.” -- Simon Sinek Samuel Langley (Gave Up Because he Wasn’t first) Focused on being “first” Excellent market conditions Sufficient funding The best minds

What’s right
about why?

The Wright Brothers

The Wright Brothers
No notoriety

The Wright Brothers No notoriety
The right people

The Wright Brothers No notoriety
The right people No funding

The Wright Brothers No notoriety
The right people No funding Belief in the promise of flight

The Wright Brothers (Credited with
the First Man-Powered Flight, December 17, 1903) No notoriety The right people No funding Belief in the promise of flight

Why does
Why work?

We follow those who lead,
not for them, but for ourselves. And it's those who start with "why" that have the ability to inspire those around them or find others who inspire them. --Simon Sinek

One man, one speech, immeasurable
impact.

Start with
the golden circle

Start with
Why

Sources: Sinek, S. Start With
Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action. Portfolio Hardcover: New York, 2009. Sinek, S. (2010, May 1). Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action | Video on TED.com. TED: Ideas worth spreading. Retrieved September 14, 2012, from http:// www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action.html

Images: Sun (slide 1): jenny
downing via Flickr Golden Lights (slides 3, 4, 15, 22, 29, 32-35), : EJM Photo via Flickr Steve Jobs: acaben via Flickr Orville and Wilbur Wright: Wikimedia Commons Martin Luther King, Jr.: Library of Congress Brain Scan (slide 5): Health Research Board via Flickr O is for Occipital (slides 13-14): Illuminaut via Flickr Samuel Pierpont Langley: Wikimedia Commons March on Washington (slide 31): Wikimedia Commons