The Golden Circle
Consciously or not, the leaders who truly inspire people do so by following a naturally occurring pattern that Simon calls The Golden Circle.
The Golden Circle provides compelling evidence of how much more we can achieve if we start everything we do by first asking a simple question: “Why?”
It finds order and predictability in human behavior. Put simply, The Golden Circle helps us understand why we do what we do.
The Golden Circle can be used as a guide to vastly improve every aspect of your business or organization—from leadership and hiring, to product development, sales, and marketing.
It even explains loyalty and how to earn more. And it all starts with WHY.
Let's define the rings of The Golden Circle, starting with WHY (of course!) and moving outward.
WHY
Very few people or companies can clearly articulate WHY they do what they do. When Simon asks WHY, he's not referring to making money—that's a result. Your WHY is your purpose, cause, or belief. WHY does your company exist? WHY do you get out of bed every morning? And WHY should anyone care about the work you do?
When most organizations or people think, act, or communicate, they do so from the outside in (from WHAT to WHY). We say WHAT we do, we sometimes say HOW we do it, but we rarely say WHY we do it. But the WHY is the most crucial part of any endeavor or communication.
For example, the WHY of The Optimism Company is to inspire people to do the things that inspire them so that, together, each of us can change our world for the better.
HOW
Companies and people know HOW they do what they do and can typically communicate these processes clearly. HOWs are often utilized to explain that a product or service is better than a competitor's—but HOWs can be so much more than that.
Our HOWs are the actions we take when we are at our natural best and are living out our WHY. It's HOW you bring your WHY to life that makes you and your company unique. As a result, the combination of your WHY and HOWs is like your organization's fingerprint.
Revisiting our example, these are the HOWs of The Optimism Company: keep our offerings simple, adopt an infinite mindset, try to see things from unconventional perspectives, and always find the silver lining.
WHAT
Every single company and organization on the planet knows WHAT they do. This is true no matter how big or small, and no matter what industry. Everyone is easily able to describe the products or services a company provides or the job function they have within that system. WHATs are easy to identify and important to have, but are less impactful than the WHY.
To round out our example, the WHATs of The Optimism Company are our classes, courses, keynotes, podcast episodes (and so much more) that encourage people to learn and grow their human skills of leadership, communication, and trust.
The inspired leaders—every single one of them, regardless of their industry—think, act, and communicate from the inside out.
People don't buy WHAT you do,
they buy WHY you do it.
Interested in bringing The Golden Circle to your whole company?
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