Episode 107: Simon Sinek – Leadership: It Starts With Why

Simon Sinek is a bucket list type of a guest. He is a literally hero of mine. His TED Talk, “How Great Leaders Inspire Action” is one of my all-time favorites. It’s also happens to be one of the most popular TED talks of all time. I loved learning more about Simon the person… As well as some of his newer views on leadership... I loved how emotional Simon got at certain points in this conversation… Especially when we discussed how it takes courage for great leaders to step up and make tough decisions. We had a fascinating conversation on this episode of The Learning Leader Show.

Simon Sinek is an unshakable optimist. He believes in a bright future and our ability to build it together. Described as “a visionary thinker with a rare intellect,” Sinek teaches leaders and organizations how to inspire people. With a bold goal to help build a world in which the vast majority of people go home every day feeling fulfilled by their work, Sinek is leading a movement to inspire people to do the things that inspire them. A trained ethnographer, he is the author of two books: the global best seller, Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action and his newest book, the New York Times and Wall Street Journal best seller, Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t.

Fascinated by the leaders and companies that make the greatest impact in their organizations and in the world, those with the capacity to inspire, he has discovered some remarkable patterns about how they think, act and communicate and the environments in which people operate at their natural best. He has devoted his life to sharing his thinking in order to help other leaders and organizations inspire action.

He is best known for popularizing the concept of Why and for the talk he gave on the subject that became the second most watched talk of all time on TED.com.

Episode 107: Simon Sinek – Leadership: It Starts With Why

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The Learning Leader Show

“If You Care To See Others Succeed, That’s Why You Lead”

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

• Having courage to stick to your values leads to sustained excellence
• Lt. General George Flynn, USMC is a great example to follow
• Leadership is a choice – Everyone has the capacity to lead
• If you have a desire to see others succeed, that’s why you lead
• Why mass layoffs never used to happen and why they do now
• The great leaders don’t believe in headcounts… They believe in heart counts
• Unfortunately… Bad leaders don’t have the courage to sacrifice
• Why Gary Ridge (CEO of WD-40) is a great leader – He puts his people first
• Learn Simon’s process for learning new things
• How to be a great public speaker? Only talk about things that you care about and understand
• Being a learning leader means approaching every day with the curiosity of a little kid

“Leadership is a choice – Everyone has the capacity to lead”

Continue Learning:

• Watch Simon’s Legendary TED Talk: How Great Leaders Inspire Action
• Follow Simon on Twitter: @simonsinek
• Read: Start With Why - How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone To Take Action
• Read: Leaders Eat Last - Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't
• To Follow Me on Twitter: @RyanHawk12

You may also like these episodes:

Episode 001: How To Become A Master Connector W/ Jayson Gaignard From MasterMind Talks

Episode 078: Kat Cole – From Hooters Waitress To President of Cinnabon

Episode 082: Dan Pink – The Science of Motivation, Legendary Writer & Ted Talk

Episode 086: Seth Godin – How To Become Indispensable & Build Your Tribe

Did you enjoy the podcast?

If you enjoyed hearing Simon Sinek on the show, please don’t hesitate to send me a note on Twitter or email me.

Episode edited by the great J Scott Donnell

Bio From StartWithWhy.com

Simon Sinek is an unshakable optimist. He believes in a bright future and our ability to build it together. Described as “a visionary thinker with a rare intellect,” Sinek teaches leaders and organizations how to inspire people. With a bold goal to help build a world in which the vast majority of people go home every day feeling fulfilled by their work, Sinek is leading a movement to inspire people to do the things that inspire them. A trained ethnographer, he is the author of two books: the global best seller, Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action and his newest book, the New York Times and Wall Street Journal best seller, Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t. Fascinated by the leaders and companies that make the greatest impact in their organizations and in the world, those with the capacity to inspire, he has discovered some remarkable patterns about how they think, act and communicate and the environments in which people operate at their natural best. He has devoted his life to sharing his thinking in order to help other leaders and organizations inspire action.

He is best known for popularizing the concept of Why and for the talk he gave on the subject that became the second most watched talk of all time on TED.com.