Purpose and leadership
Made the case that people respond to why an organisation exists before they respond to what it sells.
Photograph: Lance Cpl. Brendan Mullin · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Sinek's Golden Circle is the idea most people know: start from why, then how, then what — on the argument that purpose is what actually moves people, and that most communication starts at the wrong end.
It became one of the most-watched business talks ever given, and it is genuinely useful as a communication discipline. It is also frequently over-claimed, including by people selling it.
The strong version — that purpose explains commercial success — does not hold up well. The weaker, more useful version is that leading with the reason you do something makes your message land harder than leading with the specification.
Most websites open with what the company does. Opening instead with the problem you exist to solve gives the reader a reason to care about the specification that follows.
'We care about our customers' is not a why, it is a hygiene statement. A real one explains a choice you have made that costs you something — which is why generic purpose statements convince nobody.
His leadership work is largely about small repeated behaviours rather than grand gestures. The manager who does what they said they would every week beats the one who does something dramatic once a quarter.
These links go to their own work. We summarise and point — we do not republish it.
Anyone writing a website, a pitch or a recruitment advert who keeps starting with what they do.
Treat the causal claims sceptically. It is a strong communication framework and a weak theory of why companies succeed.