How great leaders inspire action

In this 2010 TED talk, Simon Sinek, author of Start With Why, presents a simple but powerful model for how leaders inspire action, built on what he calls the Golden Circle and the question “Why?”

The Golden Circle asks three fundamental questions: why, how and what. Sinek argues you should ask why first. Your why is your purpose, cause and belief: why does your organisation exist, why do you get out of bed in the morning, and why should anyone care? Inspired organisations think, act and communicate from the inside out.

His examples include Apple, Martin Luther King and the Wright brothers, with TiVo, which at the time appeared to be struggling, as a counterpoint. The question he leaves with viewers is whether they communicate from the inside out or from the outside in.