Thursday, June 21, 2018

Book Review - START WITH WHY - How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone To Take Action - by Simon Sinek


If anything, you can call me an impulsive reader – it catches my attention and I pick the book up – and can read almost anything. But self-help or management or such genres were never on my list. The first time I heard Simon Sinek was in a small video clip forwarded in one of the WhatsApp groups where he talks about the millenniums in the workplace. I just loved it. It had hit it right on the head. Then I got to see a few more video clips, courtesy WhatsApp, and by then I was utterly impressed with the ideas of this person. What I liked most was its simplicity. The things he said did not need us to be a qualified rocket scientist. Au contraire, all it needed is we be true to our beliefs and not delude ourselves. So, when I chanced upon this book by him, there was no way I was going to give it a miss.

Start With Why starts on a very basic premise – which is most often ignored or overlooked – that we start with the WHY. Every action, every gesture, every thought has a reason for being generated, for coming into existence. So, if we want to do justice to it, we must not ignore the Why. Simon’s examples are such that we can relate to it. Martin Luther King Jr., Apple (as in an organization) and Southwest Airlines. All well-known and famous for their philosophies or thoughts; each one an inspiring leader in its own right. Each was clear about WHY they were doing WHAT they were doing. Dr King knew that for making the civil rights movement a success, his single vision to change the country, he had to inspire people to change not just for the colored but for everyone; Wozniak envisioned the personal computer as a way for the regular man to have access to modern technology and Jobs marketed it as an affordable and simple personal computer; the guiding principles of Southwest Airlines was to make air travel accessible to the common man. They all knew WHY they were doing WHAT they were doing.

Simon feels that only if one has a clarity about the WHY can he be a true leader, an inspiration for the others to follow and emulate. On the other hand, manipulation only leads to short term achievement of goals with no loyalty. He has clearly explained the concepts of WHY, WHAT and HOW using his now-famous theory of the Golden Circle. The Golden Circle helps to locate order and predictability in the otherwise assumed unpredictable human behavior. This concept could be used in a multitude of business and organization scenarios; it could also be applicable to one’s life. He has used this principle to explain some case studies of famous organisations. From Walmart to Costco, from United Airlines to Southwest Airlines, from Apple to Microsoft. Reading about these examples and how they either lost their way up or how they reinvented themselves to stay true to what they believed in, makes it an insightful read. He has not shied away from using himself as an example, which gives the whole principle a lot more credibility and acceptability.  

There’s no deficiency of inspiration, or of people who inspire. But it’s how the message is conveyed that creates the maximum impact. For one to inspire, one has to be clear about their own beliefs, their WHY, and only then can they inspire others to do their WHAT and teach them HOW to do it. In his words, “WHY is just a belief.…HOWs are the actions you take to realize that belief. And WHATs are the results of those actions.” The effortless flow of the narrative is what made reading this book a pleasure; it was almost like a conversation – a knock-on-the-head kind of conversation. A must read for all those who seem to be stuck and can’t figure out what they are doing wrong. Truly inspirational. 

Some memorable lines/quotes from the book are – “The role of a leader is not to come up with all the great ideas. The role of a leader is to create an environment in which great idea can happened.”
 “Money is never a cause, it is always a result.” 
“Achievement is something you reach or attain, like a goal…. Success, in contract, is a feeling or a state of being.”

Touching lives

Had an amazing day yesterday. Yes, it was Sunday, but that was not the only reason. After spending a near perfect day, I got busy getting things organised for the week ahead. When I went down to the market, I had the most happy encounter with an unexpected family. I met the parents of one of my earliest students. I had worked part time at a play school for a couple of months. My students were toddlers, ages ranging from 2 to 3 years. It was the most amazing 6 months of my life. I learnt more than I taught, was happiest during those 3 hours. That little girl was all grown up now and had started formal school from this academic year. How time flies!

When I joined the play-school, I was not very sure how it would be. I mean I am a no nonsense mother of two, with clearly defined dos and don'ts at home. Would I be able to apply the same set of rules here? Anyways I decided to plunge head on and deal with the situation as it came along. My class started of with just 3 kids. Oh, quite manageable I thought. But with each day I realised it was not that easy. These were babies, leaving the security of their homes and the comfort of their mothers' presence for the first time. I know I cried the day my little one left for play school. Its a pain only a mother can understand. That empty feeling inside, the conflict of emotions. Pride at watching them become independent yet sad that they are growing up so fast. You are happy to see them make new friends and evolve into individuals. But somewhere there's a tug at the heart strings, whispering into your unaccepting mind that you are no longer their world. Your little explorer is hungry to march into the world and discover it by herself.

Teaching is a noble profession, they say. I say, teaching the little children is your way saying thank you for this life that you have. You are actually not teaching; you are nurturing and laying the foundation of a better tomorrow.

Here's to all the teachers out there. Thank you.


Book Review - START WITH WHY - How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone To Take Action - by Simon Sinek

If anything, you can call me an impulsive reader – it catches my attention and I pick the book up – and can read almost anything. But self-h...