Book - Start with the Why

I picked up this book recently while browsing in the bookstore and was quite intrigued with the concept.

The concept of why is as old as us. It's one of the first questions that we ask when we're kids but it's something that we forget over time when we grow up and, especially, when we start working.

I didn't imagine that I would like the book so much, especially the way that it presents things, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Book premise

The book talks about, spoiler alert, the why of things. It covers the significance of that why, and especially how to apply it in our lives and businesses. The part I like most is how it shows us we're ignoring what is right in front of us, and that our priorities are sometimes inverted, or at least, we have the incentives all wrong.

From Wikipedia

The book primarily discusses the significance of leadership and purpose to succeed in life and business. Sinek highlights the importance of taking the risk and going against the status-quo to find solutions to global problems. He believes leadership holds the key to inspiring a nation to come together and advance a common interest to make a nation, or the planet, a more civilised place. He turns to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, John F Kennedy, Steve Jobs and the entire Apple culture as examples of how a purpose can be created to inspire a culture together, away from the manipulative society we live in today.

Notice the description talks about "manipulation" and this is an important theme around the book.

I don't want to give you any spoilers, but "manipulation" and "inspiration" are motivational pieces that companies employ, but which of them do you think serves the bigger public and makes the company loved by many?

The author

I didn't notice the author until after I was already reading the book, but then it clicked that I had watched this TED talk a while ago that talked about leadership.

From Wikipedia:

Sinek was born in Wimbledon on 9 October 1973. His mother is of Hungarian Jewish descent. As a child, he lived in Johannesburg, London, and Hong Kong before his family settled in the United States.

Usually I'm not interested in history, especially personal history, with some exceptions like Tim Cook, Barack Obama or Steve Jobs, or Warren Buffett (ok maybe some people), but superficially at least it's always good to take a look at an author's Wikipedia page and see where they come from and what shaped their experiences.

He has a nice career and quite the achievements.

Sinek began his career at the New York ad agencies Euro RSCG and Ogilvy & Mather, then launched his own business, Sinek Partners.

Simon defines himself as an "optimist". As a motivational speaker, Sinek has spoken at the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit in 2016 and at TEDx conferences several times, beginning in 2009. His 2010 "How Great Leaders Inspire Action", arising out of his first book, Start with Why, is one of the most-viewed TED talks, and his following book, Leaders Eat Last, appeared on the bestseller lists of the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.

He also has his own company in case you need courses and materials and of course the mandatory podcast.

Why did I like it?

Simon is a great author and makes the idea super clear and simple. It's often that I read books and take notes but this one not only made me take notes but also generated a lot of ideas and things to think about later.

The concept is super simple, but then applied to companies that we all know and seeing them in action makes things "make sense" and gives us something that only a few of the most amazing writers can do. The feeling of "why didn't I think about that?"

It's not a huge book and you can get through it quite quickly, so if you have a chance, get a copy and take a look.

Where you can find it

Official Website