How Great Leader Inspire Everyone To Take Action by Simon Sinek - Article Example

Start With Why: How Great Leader Inspire Everyone To Take Action Author Simon Sinek presents a detailed analysis of what elements define great leaders that influence everyone to take action. In his perspective, there are critical traits and behaviors of these great leaders, yet at the backdrop of these traits, there are natural hindrances that cloud the success. According to the perspective put forth; there are three cornerstones for great leaders who make a big difference in their jurisdiction. These are the WHY, the HOW and the WHAT. These three items are widely applicable in business leadership or personal situations in which there is the need for inspiration. Just before immersing into the insight and realms of successful leaders, influential leaders, and inspiring leaders, he elaborates that the three must follow the order of WHY, HOW and the WHAT (Sinek, 2014). He developed the simple diagrammatic illustration of the three concepts using the tool called the Golden Circle (Sinek, 2014). The Why is the base of the How and the what. In his words, companies whether small or big are made by a chain of decisions. The decisions that say why the company exists, why people should buy its products, why they explored a particular industry, so many decisions shaped by whys. This representation is quite a necessity when it comes to leading and the desired outcome. The emphasis that Leaders being the spear leaders of organizations must first understand the whys so that they enable formulation strategies that foster success is more than important. This is witnessed from the case example of successful leaders such as Steve Jobs and all those that set the path for prosperity. However, anyone reading this would be more concerned about the applicability of this golden circle. From background studies on influential leadership, I agree with the necessity of intuitive and counterintuitive wisdom for management roles. The leaders apply their intuitive wisdom on the team or the consumers to either attract co-operation or fuel laxity. The intricate connection between the intuitive wisdom and the three tenets is so appealing in how it helps to picture the Golden Circle's applications and how this relates to creating influence. Here, the author endorses two ways a leader can influence but inclines more favor to one than the other. Manipulation and inspiration. The two might look overly similar at first, yet they are not. So, starting with inspiration, great wisdom is invested in this since the outcome is largely rewarding in the long term. The bottom line difference is inspiration cannot be imposed on subordinates the way just like manipulation leaves them with no choice (Kouzes & Posner, 2010). Inspiring those being led undoubtedly leaves them yearning to be the leader and so they will naturally act as in his counsel because of the trust they have in his abilities. One crucial intuitive factor necessary to inspire and influence everyone to act is by giving them a sense of identity or a sense of purpose which tracks back to the Why. Simon Sinek precisely makes this concept explicit by pointing that impacting a sense of belonging is so deeply inspiring that there is no need for an external motivations or incentives to act (Sinek, 2014). The inspiration motivates employees to attend to their jobs, crack their minds to establish strategies for the company's success and are happy. This unique attribute draws the line between influential leaders and those not so influential. Leaders who inspire influence people to act and benefit their organizations in several ways. One, they cultivate the loyalty of customers or those being led, two, they bring in loads of profitability, three, they create a friendly platform for innovation and above all, they can sustain these achievements for a very long time. These leaders are the world changers that the world needs. Reading through this, there is persuasion in the form of manipulation that leaders can use. Persuasion has been in the past and so has the author. Nevertheless, manipulation remains a form of persuasion for the larger part (Tichy & Cohen, 2007).To capitalization on the levels of wisdom, great leaders that influence everyone thinks, act and communicate differently. Of the three precepts, thinking is a very powerful intuitive aspect that determines a leader’s success or their failure. To put it into context, leadership is like a team sport. When the debate of what makes influential leadership is raised, there is a list of unending factors that are mentioned. Effective communication is that factor that never slips from the list. The general understanding of this aspect is so general, yet there are simple acts that boast a leader's communication skill. These ought to be mentioned by the author; borrowing from the thought of starting with the known to the unknown. Before intruding the detailed and engraving forms of communication, how about a highlight of a leader sharing his experiences with others. Incidences where he failed, just to create a rapport and for team work. Complementing the subordinates to show that you as a leader acknowledge their strengths. This starter pack is more essential and would be useful as well in the text (Tichy & Cohen, 2007). The team’s success is the leader’s success and vice versa. A great leader ought to be likable, and it all begins with how they treat those being led. It is scientifically proven that people treat others exactly in the way that they think of them. Therefore, a leader who respects, appreciates and values the others creates that likable attitude to himself. This kind of mind game is a default equation that stirs incredible influence (Adair, 2002). Along with the thinking comes traits such as being open-minded and receptive. This way of thinking attracts everyone to follow, conform and duplicate the leader’s steps. On one point, everyone will concur with the author of this inspiring book. That effective communication is characteristic of great leaders. Effective communication results in influence in two ways. The primary one according to the author is communicating from the inside out, of the Golden Circle. Moving with the Golden Circle, the How is the differentiating factor between great leaders and just leaders, successful companies and not so successful companies this is a solid fact. For a leader seeking to influence, how you do it speaks volumes to observers and those being led in particular. As aforementioned, manipulation and inspiration are basic ways still of going about the How. Other than these, there is consistency, discipline, and clarity as imperative in making an impact. From the achievements of the Apple Company, it is evident the role that consistency, discipline and clarity play for leaders to realize long-term success (Sinek, 2014). The author uses several examples to illustrate what discipline means; it goes as long as virtues such as integrity which is the framework of all organizations. The discipline of the How means that the highest level of accountability is set for the leader, the employees and the organization in general. This makes a lot of sense in the context of having a how that reflects the Why. A leader that is disciplined considers themselves accountable, understands what is needed in the How and can influence people to it. Naturally, it is not reliable to just tell people what to do and expect that they will follow. However for a leader to guarantee this, they first have to instill the discipline and all values that go along with it such as integrity such that the lasting impact of their influence is generated (Sinek, 2014). Even in the guiding principles, the leaders have to align themselves, stay disciplined and this naturally translates to the team and target for the acts. An important factor that the author points out is that the principles have to be centered on meaningful and action statements rather than nouns. The wisdom of clarity as discussed occurs as much more involving than the shallow thought of it being a communicative issue. Clarity as an externality cuts across the three levels of the Golden Circle; the Why, The How and the What. Clarity goes beyond the mere understanding of the why and the products (WHAT). It is about articulating to others all the three precepts in a measure that can be bought. Clarity happens as the umbrella of communication and inspiring the team to act and follow the leader. The author gives this aspect the weight that it desires. Looking around in the corporate sector, subordinates are drawn to leaders that are charismatic in thought and giving back information. Reading the book, the perspective used is suitable for addressing all the questions that corporates present on how much does one's clarity matter. A third counterintuitive wisdom is the aspect of consistency. This is fundamental not only to leadership but in personal life. The author of the book breaks this down into utter simplicity. Now first consistency is really about the outcome which is to influence (Sinek, 2014). Placing the Why, the How and the What side by side, there has to be consistency in three components such that there is a logic of why one how is better than the other. As a leader, being able to synchronize the three is a plus. It all about the sense that is spoken that moves people to buy the leaders’ ideas. Great leaders exhibit the level of authenticity that is questioned; they can defend themselves very substantially. The author emphasized on how a leader portrays themselves as authentic and largely what it means to be authentic. From the text, authenticity in leadership is intuitive; it is the belief in what is said, what is the dome and how these affect the outcome. Authenticity is the balance between the Why, the How and the What (Sinek, 2014). Practically, it is very easy to convince a person of something that you believe in than where there are doubts. This extends to leadership roles. Having all the three together proves of a leader’s authenticity such that even in the management, there is there is minimal resistance to follow and act for the larger result. All these concepts form a comprehensive framework for understanding how great leaders influence. For the application, it almost has to become routine before the results are noticed, but it is also a learning experience (Kouzes & Posner, 2010). References Adair, J. (2002). Inspiring leadership-learning from great leaders. Thorogood Publishing. Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2010). The five practices of exemplary leadership (Vol. 237). John Wiley & Sons. Sinek, S. (2014). How great leaders inspire action. TED. com. Tichy, N. M., & Cohen, E. (2007). The leadership engine. New York, NY: HarperCollins. Read More