Simon Sinek Interview: How to Find Joy in Work and Be a Great Leader l Changemakers Book Club

hi I'm Beth Comstock thanks for joining us here for this latest edition of the change makers book club Simon thank you so much i'm here with simon Sinek I probably don't even need to introduce you but let's do it for those maybe the one person who tuned in and doesn't know know you so let me just do a little bit set up first of all thank you for taking Thank You Beverly an honor everybody's been very excited to have you seeing a lot of conversation and engagement about you doing this so thank you for being so accessible of course what why Simon why are we talking about this Simon is an author a creator a motivator the author of several books I decided to focus on start with why but we're going to talk about all of your books why this looked why now part of the partner we're trying to do is just talk about change and how help people sort of navigate their way through change and I feel like start with why is an essential for business but it's a real essential for change if you don't know why you have to change why are you going to do anything so that's just a bit of the context and to set the stage for everybody who's participating now we want to hear from you so please you know TF questions I've got my iPad here will will bubble up questions for Bowman and several people gave us questions in advance so I'll ask you some of those so so you know let's get started with though you wrote start with why and it's about leadership and you had inspirational leadership you wrote it almost a decade ago yet it's a blockbuster still why did you write why why why so all my work is semi autobiographical I reached a point in my own career where I fall out of love with my own work and people gave me stupid advice like you know find your passion follow you know love what you do you know find your bliss it's all accurate but what am I supposed to do in one day and I found it was accurate but on actionable and and in this sort of dark period I was also very embarrassed you know superficially my life was it was good and so I didn't want to admit to anybody that I didn't want to wake up and do it again and so I spent a lot of days lying hiding and faking you know investing a lot of energy pretending that I was happier more successful and more in control than I felt it's not a good way to live a life and so the journey that I went on to sort of solve my own problem that I made this discovery based on brain decision-making up not from some management theory that every single one of us every single organization on the planet functions on three levels what we do how we do it and why we do it and I knew what I did and I knew what made me stand out in the marketplace or in the crowd but I couldn't tell you why I was doing it and I realized until I answered that question I was I would be out of balance they were troubled that you you couldn't figure out the why I was troubled that I that I didn't epiphany was it a gradual gnawing at you that just is like I got to do this I mean I mean I reached a point where I really hated I really hated my work and yet I was doing the same thing that I've been doing what we're doing I had a marketing consultancy at the time and we had good clients with great a clients GE was one of them back in the day huh G silicon yeah we now know why it doesn't even know definitely exists anymore and we did great work but I could find no joy in it which was really a sad sad way to be so yeah it wasn't it wasn't it was much more than evolution I was but it was it was so powerful and so effective in my life at restoring my passion that I immediately shared with my friends and my friends wanted me to share with their friends and people just kept inviting me to help them find their why and I just kept saying yes and that it's literally been a completely organic journey when you were a kid did you ask your parents why why why I was I they're like yeah we knew you were gonna yeah your life I was that kid what we liked when you were a kid uh curious little I was curious I'm nerdy I I had a lot of diverse interests and I I was creative I like tinkering things I like I was one of those kids who liked to take apart my toys I used to play in my head more than in real life you know some people would take toy soldiers ago you know I didn't do that I would lay them out in these elaborate scenes mimicking what was going on in my head that come down the next day and move it slightly because the game had advanced and money in my imagination I noticed in doing some research about you that you studied anthropology has that inspired you in any way do you think a hundred percent I studied cult anthropology in college and learned about ethnography which is about the researcher putting themselves in the environment that they're studying rather than bringing people into a focus group in artificial environment like that immersive research and my interest was always Western urban culture my colleagues were interested in sort of Amazonian tribes and I was interested in the world around me but I learned a discipline and and I mean remain curious about the world around me I think I think it's interesting how you put this two together I studied biology but I secretly was a closeted anthropologist I took as many classes in school as I could it was good stuff I love there's something about understanding the line right I mean it really is why do people behave how they do that's a young social science and it's less less established than psychology and sociology so there aren't the same fixed schools of thought you don't have to declare yourself a young per union or a Freudian you just and you can make words up and it's a pretty you know you can study the individual or the group and justified all within anthropology have a favorite those kind of thinkers who inspired you over over the years no no really it's the discipline of anthropology that I appreciate and it's the learning how to ask questions and learning how to pay attention to the world around me that that but I learned the most from that so speaking of asking questions you encourage everybody to ask the question what gets you up in the morning yeah why does your organization exist and how do you know and those are the two fundamental questions I'm sure though so give us your why why do you get up every morning for how you got to why sure why do you get up every morning and and most importantly maybe what inspires you daily sure so my why is crystal clear and it has been since I was able to put words to it I wake up every single day to inspire people to do what inspires them so that they and we can change our world for the better and do it together and I have a vision of the world that does not yet exist I imagine a world in which the vast majority of people wake up every single morning inspired to go to work feel safe when they're there and return home fulfilled Athena's daddy I think it's so power so to say inspired to go to work in the morning feel safe when they're there and return home fulfilled at the end of the day which means they have to be something that calls us we it's not a job it's a calling it literally calls us to work in the morning that our leaders have created environment in which field in which we feel that people have our backs that people want to see us grow that we can take responsible risks that we can that we can admit when we've made mistakes we don't have to hide them and wait for them to compound we can admit with their gaps in our training and ask for the company to fill those gaps and that we can compete with each other rather than against each other this is what it this is what work should be like the irony is it's actually the way capitalism is designed to work and the companies that are able to create these kinds of cultures are more innovative that they they outperform their competition over the long term they're much more stable they have lower churn numbers with their employees they tend to be higher functioning organizations that's the great irony of my work which is though it's idealistic it's actually it's actually good for business it's so interesting the way you put those together because it doesn't seem like a lot to ask for yet at the same time it's such a great vision and I read a statistic recently a couple of studies I think more than 40% of people who are asked in the UK in the u.s. they are doing meaningless work yeah III and I and other numbers are higher and higher you know 80 to 90 percent of people say that they're not doing work that they love those are depressing numbers command um you know it's none of the things that I and those like me are difficult I think the reason companies don't do it quickly you know that's the big question why don't they do it because it's not brain surgery it must be entire it well it's the same discipline as being a parent which is it's a it's a practice it's the same discipline as getting into shape or eating healthy you know you you cannot go to the gym for nine hours and get into shape but if you work out every single day for 20 minutes you will get into shape this is the same thing yeah building a strong corporate culture is not as more about consistency than intensity and because of external pressures and sometimes internal pressures companies just prefer to apply intensity to solve problems so layoffs for example on an annualized basis or just easier because I can I can commit the action and I can show you the savings the next day as opposed to actually building strong corporate culture which is a discipline and I can't tell you like going to the gym or eating healthy exactly which day you're going to be in shape but I know for a fact it's going to work and the other problem is is companies like to solve problems and then go on to the next thing again intensity versus consistency like going to the gym like eating healthy once you're in shape you actually have to keep going to the gym and keep eating healthy you don't get to stop because a daily practice forever yeah like being a good parent like I don't know what day your kids are going to turn out great I just know you have to be a good parent every day of your life and you you can screw up but on balance the consistency is more important than intensity taking your kids to Disneyland once doesn't make your kids grow up with strong a strong set of values and strong confidence and I think companies even external pressures and and how goals are become more and more short-term they choose the expedient of the responsible so getting lots of questions so a reminder send us your questions for simon Sinek we're going to talk about anything you want to talk about I highlighted to start with wire but um so um so this is from Nick keeping and he said Simon how can I stay constantly motivated I found my passion hmm but sometimes things get on top of me I feel like I never have time no I think a lot of people feel this I get USANA have time to follow my why my mind why follow my passion sure well I mean there's the forest and there's the trees right we have to be able to see the forest which is the why but sometimes we do get lost in the in the daily grind I am the same I think what's really important is to be reminded constantly of the context in other words the daily grind is not in a vacuum and it is it serves a higher purpose and we must be reminded of that so I've surrounded myself with pictures and stories and quotes and people around me who are constantly reminding me there's some wonderful Studies on this that when we connect with human beings who are the recipients of whatever it is we're trying to advance in the world we're more likely to stay inspired to to to commit to that cause in other words when it becomes less abstract it's not about words on the wall for example there was a Wharton did a study where there was a group of a volunteers who worked in a to raise money for a scholarship so they work the phone bank and it you know they brought in any number of consultants to rewrite the script for them as minor impact and what the researchers did is they brought in one of the recipients of the scholarship to talk to the the volunteers you ready for this for five minutes Wow and the the numbers improved 300% Wow because I could connected every time I could connect my work to a human being yeah Wells Fargo gave it a try where there's a loan department a small business loan department on somewhere them in the south or Midwest and they brought in recipients of small business loans to come and talk to the loan officers and again the the dramatically increased numbers because it wasn't about the script it was about the sales numbers it was about being up being able to connect my work to a human being which gives my work meaning and value and and they focus less on the monthly numbers and more on the people and lo and behold the numbers know it's so counterintuitive I mean I think you're in company you see this in companies all the time you know who gets out of bed for a number very few people I mean even if you're the CFO of a company in finance you do it there are some people who do it for the short-term selfish games and though they may get the numbers it doesn't breed joy it doesn't bring fulfillment and at the end of the day doesn't greed love or loyalty and you know it becomes a transactional relationship wittich which is not a fulfilling one frame so I was thinking if I went back and reread the book getting ready for today almost a decade ago and the companies you highlight in the book then are still very relevant I don't need to talk about that so it was southwest yummy Apple on the man and a few others yet stood out and so let me talk about why you think they they still stood the test of time and then yeah else would be if you were to rewrite this book to any other company yeah you think we could look to for inspiration why I think if so long as they focus on the why and continue to focus on the why they will remain relevant because it keeps the people inspired we've seen blitz inside companies where they went off when they went off the rails we saw Microsoft under Steve Ballmer become much more focused on the short term numbers and really undermine the culture and now that such is there it's really starting to restore its luster that see things it's such a widely he's such a white leader and we saw the same thing at Walmart you know Sam Walton was such a people focused person and people's to rally to get Walmart to come into their communities to come in and let them into industries and then they become they became detested you know by the time you got to Mike Duke who is so short-term focused and so concerned about growth over anything else it really broke the culture internally and externally Doug McMillon is in there trying to restore the luster go back to the why I think he's making a good run of it Doug Park over at American Airlines I think he's also making a run of it here's a company that's been plagued by mistrust and cynicism for years whether people just don't even trust each other and he's working very hard to to make it a highly functioning high you know strong culture which has that scale if Doug Parker can do it anyone can do it I mean because that committee hundreds of thousands deep yeah challenge so a question from Jim Prowler he says he is asking a question of Simon what is it what if the company culture doesn't flow well with your general vision and philosophy do you leave or do you fight fight the good fight make a difference in your current order see a lot of people can really yeah so look leading is always an option but the good news it's not the only option and it's not only the best option we get this this question a fair bit to be honest with you which is I'm in middle management senior management doesn't get it you know what do I do and the answer is you be the leader you wish you had don't worry about what senior leadership does you can't control them worry about the things you can control wake up every single morning with a single focus a single purpose to inspire the people to the left of you to inspire the people to the right of you to ensure that the people with whom you work even if it's your boss one level up to ensure that the people with whom you work love coming to work you commit yourself to being that leader and what you find is these little pockets of beauty that show up inside businesses and they tend to be higher performing they tend to have better retention they tend to be more innovative their numbers tend to improve and the people who work there tend to really love working there we saw this happen at Microsoft this is in the bomber days there was a small little operations group small budget ten or 20 million with a small team maybe 10 or 15 people and they committed to taking care of each other they committed to this leadership journey they say it out loud like thank Allah I became you became in point that they said like we got in trouble I went in I went in to work with the leader of that group to help them articulate their why to help them understand their house and how to build a culture around each other and around people and not only did they become something like a 90 or 100 million dollar unit with a hundred people that very quickly the thing that I found that none of us expected was word got out in the company and and the phone started ringing from all across Microsoft saying how do I get a job in your group because it turned out people will talk about how much they loved going to work and other people died jealous they wanted to work there too so that was something none of us expected that I'm actually really proud of you should be proud Joe so along those lines Ronda McBain's Afghan I think this seemed about leadership is really as resonating as you as you'd imagine when you're not in a leadership role in the office mm-hmm how can you still introduce positive change in an otherwise toxic work environment so again this same thing comes up how do i okay I gotcha Simon I'm supposed to inspire others how do I do that and it's even harder if it ties the environment toxic look if it's if it's that toxic then if there's if your health is is suffering and there are environments that the leaders are so bad it increases anxiety which increases the chances of heart disease and depression and and some cancers and I mean it's it's it's a real biological problem toxic environments can actually affect our health but if few and far between business is that toxic I'm a I'm a great proponent of having a leadership buddy leadership is very very leadership is very difficult and it often comes with great personal sacrifice speaking truth to power comes with risk putting yourself in between a toxic leader to protect your people means you could get in trouble or lose your job the risks are very real and just as a good family often has two people you know to help raise the family because it's easier so does good businesses have partnerships and good leaders there's a leadership buddy I strongly recommend that whether it's a colleague or a friend or some of the outside that you commit to seeing someone who you believe in becoming the great kind of leader that you know the world needs so it's not asking it's about giving it could be any example how that might happen so you may have a friend that you admire that you think really gets this stuff call them up and say I want to be by your side I want to be at your back I know that what you do is hard and sometimes it's lonely and sometimes you're frustrated call me at such a good point people don't often recognize that beautiful think they want friends you want someone efficient they're doing with you you know you don't go scuba diving by yourself you don't go hiking by yourself because dangerous thing is you need a buddy leadership is dangerous and difficult and hard and sometimes thankless and lonely and if you you have to do it with someone not to mention the fact that it makes us much more courageous you know a trapeze artist a world-famous trapeze artist would never try a brand new death-defying act without a net for the first time you be that net and that actually gives someone courage to difficult things and here's the best part if you commit yourself to seeing that someone else rises to become a great leader they will see that you become a great leader too it becomes it becomes a real partnership if you've got to have a leadership buddy I have leadership buddies we call each other up we ask for help we call each other up and we're angry and frustrated I get to vent to my leadership buddy not to my team you know I get it all out I hear you all the time a lot about trust and as an implied does an implicit trust this it's like safe space that's why they're your buddy and I tend to like it I tend to recommend this is where mentorship gets screwed up I think we often confuse mentors and champions you know if there is a good mentor has no control over your career a good mentor you can't call them for a favor to put in a good word with you for you to your boss that's a champion they're valuable a mentor has no vested interest in your career but to see that you as a human being do well and so a good mentor like a good buddy just gives you honest candid advice and you can go and vent with no fear that it's going to affect your career because they're not even that your company working out for you you're looking after each other that's you called your last book together together is better together is better you know we it's it's it's too hard to do these things by yourself so don't kid yourself so a couple of other questions Myers beard has a couple of questions on the Attar to condense them here but Myers is asking you know talk about big company and we talked earlier about Microsoft and American Airlines what he asked what suggestions do you have for aligning your why with successfully carrying out your why and a large innovation so I the way I interpret that is I mean I look at GE a big company we wrap ourselves around one brand and there's a certain y we listed the company each of our business students I get pointed you can I can talk to you about GE and we sort of move we bleep our bill moves cure the world to make the world work better at aviation they talk about lifting people up and bringing them home safely yet at an individual unit and team you still have maybe different why's yeah sure so is that how you'd advise people in big companies I mean where do I start sure you guys okay they're good okay the there's macaron there's micro right so here's here's the the analogy the United States of America has a why and it was beautifully codified for us in the Declaration of Independence we know why this country was founded all men are created equal or people are created equal endowed with inalienable rights and Matt sets sort of the culture of America now within America there are subcultures there is there is north and south there's east and west and their state Los Angeles has an entirely different culture from New York they are both distinctly American cities Los Angeles wouldn't work in France they're definitely American but they're different so once you decide you want to work for the company because you believe in their cause then the next question is where in the company there's subcultures that you will belong in one more than another and of course we have our own neighborhoods the Division I work for and it gets smaller and smaller and smaller and so to know your own personal y helps you as an individual navigate where you belong helps you understand where you're a good fit and more important it helps you understand your unique contribution to your neighborhood to your to your city to your state to your interior nation I mean it builds all the way up my second question is along those lines he's asking both of us what were wives early in the career and our careers and job they changed and you talked about that already I think for myself the why I started out with very different than now I I think experience allows you to be much more thoughtful about it I wish I had thought why early in my career do you do try well I would I would push you on that a little bit because yeah because you're our wise individuals are why is ostensibly an origin story for individuals or organizations so it's where we come from yeah right so why the company was founded in our case were how we grew up so our wise individuals is fully formed by the time we're probably in our late teens the youngest person I've managed to do a why with with 16 years old it's some total of how we were raised our parents the experiences we had and made us who we are and the rest of our lives simply offers opportunities to live in balance with that or not you know it's just there's more data available and so your Y doesn't change ever it's simply are you are you living consistent and in balance with your Y or not and if you you know we've all had the experience throughout our entire careers at every age where we've been in the flow whatever you want to call it where we accidentally found ourselves in a position where this is wonderful and all cylinders are firing that's because we're allowing that balance to be achieved accidentally you know and sometimes it hits throw no spaghetti against the wall some of it sticks but to do it prescriptively knowing your Y allows those feelings and allows that kind of productivity and invention to happen more regularly because you're controlling the environments in which you naturally thrive as opposed to mean I feel like waiting you should be teaching this in every high school I wish I wish it were taught I wish it were taught in high school I wish we helped college I mean the high school juniors and seniors learn there why it would absolutely set them up where to go to college I wish I had I wish I knew - I have much smarter about choosing all of us it's the filter its the filter and and right now we pick and choose sometimes for the right you know I think about it our college guidance counselors our high school guidance counselors and college Dean's ask us this question what do you want to do with your life but they never ask us why why it's a lot of pressure or they say get a job but they never say get a job you love it is a different state help parents we talk a lot here G about the future of work where is it going and you know as parents the aptitude of their children they can better direct them along with their passion and their why and I think we may be lost some of that and we help people find a subject I went through a very personal experience when I was in high school that I think probably helped put me in this path which is all of my friends were all the nerdy kids who all had a subject one was brilliant at math another one was a brilliant historian another one was an amazing writer and I did fine in all of my classes I never was great in any one and so I had this huge stress as a kid which is I didn't know my subject you know and so I had to look beyond that I had to realize and try and figure that I had skills or abilities that didn't fit neatly in a high school curriculum and I think that's what the question why does is it allows us to have a broader view of who we are that 99 times out of a hundred won't correlate neatly yes with whatever textbooks we're reading at the time so I'm going to take a few more questions as well we're getting lots of questions and some people are complaining about I always checked it here hopefully we're working too it seems to be internet connection but we're also going to replay this later so a couple of things that are coming out we're talking about people learn thinking about this one there when they're young let's talk about Millennials you your latest book you're just coming you've just come out with a new version of lido you laughed and you you have really kind of the Millennial handbook of of sorts engine has the decennial yeah there's there is that we expanded one of the chapters the and you've got many questions about this by the way so people really want to talk yeah so I I was I get us this question everywhere I go everywhere I every meeting that I have any advice that I'm brought into offer every perspective even every speaking engagement someone will raise their hand and ask me the Millenial question that apparently this young generation is hard to lead and so I fashioned an answer and it came up in one of these interviews that I did and I gave the answer that I been giving and it went viral on the internet for a week which was astonishing to watch and a lot of that information came from the research that I did when I first wrote leaders so we felt the only responsible thing to do because it was already a few years old was to go back and update it and so that's what we did and I we did some more research found some new studies and updated the chapter which which I'm really proud of but we also added an appendix at the end where we give advice for parents advice for companies and advice for Millennials themselves actually how to lead Millennials or how to sort of function the world all very positive stuff what are a couple of keys yes so so one of the things that we encouraged from companies is is millenials yes like any generation there's positives and negatives that come just from you know the times in which they grew up millenials had a huge advantage over the rest of us which is they've grown up in a public sort of public facing social media world and there they haven't they have an instinct and a knowledge about personal branding they're very good at it they understand what it means they don't have to be taught what branding is they're just naturally good branders and I think older generations should really ask them for advice on branding they're they're naturally very good at it or push them in those kinds of jobs if they're interested because they're naturally very good at it I think people in power need to take more risks on millenials you know we keep telling them you're the future but you know you're the future liners use what we keep saying you're the future leaders but we're the leaders now and so the question is are we creating environments that allow them to take a healthy risk fall and be told to try again and unfortunately in too many organizations where layoffs have become such a normal way of doing business it creates environment where people aren't going to take healthy risk they growl to take the safe road because they don't find themselves short and you can't you can't blend people you can't blame people I don't blame any particular generation for that I blame leaders for that of any generation um talk about some of the best leaders you've learned from you know a lot of the leaders that I've learned the best lessons from are not people that are famous or well-known most of them never will be many of them wear uniforms I've had the I didn't come from a military family but I've had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with folks in military and I because mistakes are so high I found there's a there's a humanity that I struggle to find in business I've hugged more people in uniform than I've ever hugged in suits I cried with more people in uniforms with every crevice I've said at dinner tables with generals and we just started talking and telling stories and all of us were crying I've never sat around a room in a room of CEOs where we started crying - it's never happened and and so I've learned a lot and there's a there's a bunch of friends that I've made over the years who I go to when I'm stuck I can tell you a very personal story when I was writing leaders elast it was the most difficult book to write because every single chapter could have been its own book it was just a Pandora's box just when I started writing it just went in every direction and I couldn't understand why none of the biologists hadn't written this book prior you know take the biology of how we are and overlay on corporate cultures it's because it was impossible to organize and so I reached the point where I actually gave up where I couldn't I couldn't write anymore and I remember distinctly the image isn't clear I was so defeated and and and couldn't solve this problem that I got up from my desk and went for a long walk and I was planning my exit literally I was planning my extraction I figured out that I have to give the publisher back their advance because I'd be in breach of contract without a book that I would suffer humiliation for not finishing this book but I'd get over it and there's literally planning emotionally and functionally my exit because I'd given up I couldn't do it had bested me I don't know why I called a friend of mine who at the time was in the Air Force Special Forces used to flood helicopters pea blows I called him up I don't even think I said hello when he picked up the phone and I asked him the question what do you do when you can't do the mission and as is his nature he just started telling me a story he said he started talking about a mission that they had where is that in Afghanistan and all of the intelligence said that this was going to be a suicide mission and it wasn't like a kill Hitler yeah it wasn't like a kill Hitler mission where we were all going to die but we'd kill Hitler it's like we're all going to die and the mission will fail right the intelligence was crystal clear and they were preparing their helicopter and his wingman turns to him and says what do we do like do we refuse to go they all had wives and kids like and they all knew the intelligence and my friend turns to his wingman it says this is what we signed up for we go and so he said to me you say this book the thousands of books come out every year no one will miss yours because that's what I told him is this more or less powerful than start with why I said it has affected me greater than start with what he says okay let me tell you a story he says before I met you I became disillusioned with the Air Force and I was going to leave and I read this crazy little book called start with Y and it really and I've never been happier he says if you're telling me this book is more powerful you have to do this great and he says this is what you signed up for you have no choice now his mission was scrapped thank goodness and they never went on the mission but I turned around went back to my desk and never and stuff right that's right thanks for sharing pretty inspirational so what's it like to have the third most popular TED talk I mean that's saying something and I don't know how many copies of your book you sold but yeah I mean what do you take from all of this what why why do you think this resume saga - you're a great orator you're touching people as you go but why do you think this these topics resonate well I think of their human you know I joke that I I'm embarrassed that I have a career you know there should be no demand for my work I talk about trust and cooperation no one should be reading my books or listening to my talks you know and and so I think what it means is that trust and cooperation are missing and in high demand and so I think the reason my work resonates is because we want to be treated like humans we want to feel like humans we spend more time at work than we do at home and this whole work-life balance nonsense you know it's not it's not based on how much yoga we do or how many days off we have but whether we can disconnect from our technology the imbalance is that I feel safe at home and I don't feel safe at work that's the imbalance no amount of yoga will fix that good corporate culture strong leadership fix of that and we and I believe that fulfilment is a right and not a privilege we treat it like a privilege we treat it like some sort of lottery where we go out to dinner with our friends and if someone will say I love my job and the rest of us will go you're so lucky like they won some fun Yeah right no we are entitled it is a it is a right not a privilege it is something we we don't earn we are given and and the irony is it's better for business and another for the native so what we said earlier imagine okay so everybody's watching you they're so inspired okay but I don't work for someone who inspires me yeah company but I hear you say it starts it so be the leader you wish you had it start write it so these are you watching right now what what's your homework assignment for anyone what I think is all great leaders at every level the ones who are just starting their leadership journey to the ones who are well advanced on their journey every single one of them is a student of leadership it is a practice it is not a rank it is not an expertise it is a daily practice like eating healthy or going to the gym you can always get better and and this is a different way and everyone is the capacity to really it's like being a parent everyone has the capacity to have a child it doesn't mean everybody should rate us raise a child and doesn't mean everybody wants to raise a child right having the kid is the fun part raising the kid is the hard part getting the promotions wonderful being the leader really really hard work everybody is the capacity but you have to want to be a leader it is the first criteria and like I said you you never will be an expert and although the people I know we talk about this we talk about the subject we are both interested in the subject we're both asking each other questions telling each other stories we all read books we read articles we watch talks and documentaries we are absolutely consumed and fascinated by the subject which is why we want to be on this journey and so anybody who wants to be a leader needs to start being a student of it so let's I think we're getting tons of good questions I want to try to wrap up a mindful of timing everyone everyone else's what we've talked about passion inspiration like what do you like to do for fun I love my work I mean to you there's not a difference no the fact that we call it work you know is really sort of a shame I struggle to differentiate between weekdays and weekends and I genuinely genuinely like it's very very common my team will make fun of me that we will leave a meeting or an event or whatever it is and the first words that will come out of my mouth after we walk out and I'll say well that was fun not that that will lead to more work you know that was a good investment but I say that was fun and you know and there it's the same so now what do I do outside of my professional world I'm I'm very active in the art world and I love art and I love creative people I try and spend a lot of time at any sort of good recommendations or anyone you're you're following yeah I mean I tend to be a nut from modern dance that's my that's my thing and there's a few few dancers and dance companies that I absolutely adore stay near both some of them very successful and some of them really small I go to museums I'm an active artist myself I'd like to be around people who see the world differently you're an active artist no I think what okay and you share your photos sometimes sometimes I like to be around creative people who challenge me who see the world differently to me and more than more than anything who were so devoted to their passion that they they know that they won't get rich and yet they do it anyway and they struggle and yet they do it anyway and it's thankless and yet they do it anyway and I'm so inspired by people who are so they just can't imagine doing anything else rather than create I just I'm a sucker for that kind of sacrifice well thank you I think it's very powerful the message you're giving to all of us you've got a new book you're working on can you yes about it at all yeah sure it's called the infinite game it's all about game theory what I find so fascinating is there are ways the world works and if you understand the scenarios in which we we operate we have become better at making decisions and the amazing thing is the vast majority of companies do not understand the game they're in which means they're all racing to zero and if you think about it right something like 80% of the Dow index are companies that are 35 years or younger and even many of the old companies aren't really old companies like JPMorgan Chase for example it's such a mish-mosh of conglomerations and Hubbell together and the names they choose they could have picked any name but they pick the old name another way he's probably pretty accurate in 30 years old is it really the company that Thomas Edison founded maybe maybe but the point is is de la morra the number of old company is really small and so my question is why are there no old company you know the railroads went out of business they were the biggest most successful companies of the day why there no well companies and it's because most organizations are leaders of organizations don't actually understand the rules of the world the rules of business in which they operate and so if you play by the wrong rules you eventually lose so provocative so when might we catch this well assuming that I write it in a timely fashion it'll probably come out sometime next year great well Simon thank you so much I thank you we've had lots of engagement as people have been checking in um thank you where can people learn more stay I know you're active yeah I mean all the usual places you know your Twitter's your instagrams your link names and Facebook's and fine and not fine bookstores everywhere and collecting stuff and I want to sort of close with this I mean we're talking about change but really today we're talking about great leadership you and and it starts with you anybody can be a leader and you will not a rank that you are in your organization anyone can be a leader amen starts from knowing your wife it does and it starts from inspiring others and understanding that what it means to be a leader like being a parent has nothing to do with being in charge but rather it's about taking care of those in your charge welcome Simon thank you so much thank you so my can't you have a joy don't lie

Channel: Beth Comstock

Views: 47,884

Rating: 4.7378435 out of 5

Keywords: Simon sinek top 10, Simon sinek 10 rules, sinek success, Simon sinek success, Simon sinek, Simon sinek millennial, millennials, Simon sinek (author), find joy, find your passion, be a great leader, how to find your passion, how to be a great leader, leadership simon sinek, simon sinek leadership, simon sinek leaders eat last, leaders eat last, start with why

Id: hMpDvhkTJ4Q

Length: 40min 37sec (2437 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 30 2017