Simon Sinek argues that human societies are naturally hierarchical and that leaders/influencers carry responsibility similar to a parent: to look after others. He contrasts historical paths to fame (contribution) with modern routes where one can gain influence without contributing. Sinek urges prospective influencers to identify a meaningful message and motivations beyond selfish gain if they want lasting influence.
Chapters
There's nothing wrong with hierarchy. I mean, human beings are naturally hierarchical animals. We're constantly organizing ourselves into hierarchies. You know, you, you sit in a meeting, you would judge who's more senior, who's the alpha. There's nothing wrong with that. But the problem is, is the responsibility that goes with being an influencer or an Alpha or a leader, which is, you know, biologically, anthropologically, anthropologically, our leaders are supposed to look after us. You know, it's like a parent, right? And so though people want the perks of influencer, they want the money, they want the fame, they want the recognition. The problem is, is what are you willing to give back? Are you doing these things just for yourself? You're doing these things? I get this question all the time. You know, hey, Simon, I want to be a public speaker. How do I get into the industry? And my question is, well, what's your message? Well, I don't know yet. So, so why do you want to be a public speaker? Like, I, I never wanted to be a public speaker, by the way. I still don't want to be a public speaker. What I want to do is spread a message, something that I desperately believe in. And so, you know, there used to be a time where people got famous because of their contribution. You were a political leader or you were a scientist, or you, you know, you climbed Mount Everest. Like we, we admired you and you got your alpha status. You became sort of an influencer because of your contribution to something.
And now we live in a world where you can become an influencer with no contribution whatsoever. You can hack the system, get more followers, all the, all the rest of it, even entertainers entertain us. And so, you know, the question is, why do you want to be an influencer? Great. You want to be an influencer. Why do you want to be an influencer? What is so important that you're willing to sacrifice all kinds of things to do something for someone else? And you choose to use YouTube or whatever.
Medium to spread your message. And I think you have to know what you stand for and you have to know why you're going into it. Otherwise it's totally a selfish pursuit and you may have some short term success, but eventually we'll move on to the next shiny object. If you want to have lasting influence, if you want to maintain the capacity to inspire people, you have to stand for something.
