Asking for Help as a Leader | Simon Sinek

14 Dec 2023 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

0:53

Transcript excerpt from a Simon Sinek talk describing his leadership evolution: he moved from being an all-controlling founder to accepting limitations, asking for help, and redefining leadership as enabling others rather than proving personal intelligence. The passage emphasizes letting go of the need to be the smartest person in the room and tying credibility to others’ growth.

Chapters

I had built a business out of force of personality. I was in every meeting, made every decision. I was chief cook and bottle washer. And when you start to have some success, even just a little bit of scale, that doesn't work. I reached a Peter principle where my ability to build structure capped out. The single best lesson I learned out of that whole experience was I don't have to know everything, and I don't have to pretend I do. And so I'm really good at saying I don't know and I need help now. And don't build anything by myself and don't feel I have to. I don't feel like I have to be the smartest person in the room. I don't feel like I have to have more credibility than anybody else. I don't mind any of those things. I let go of all of that baggage. And a lot of us still carry that baggage that we think if we're the leaders, we have to have all the answers. We have to be the smartest person. We have to be better at everybody else's job than they are, because that's what makes us a leader. And we falsely confuse. Our credibility as a leader is not tied to our intelligence. It's tied to our ability to see those around us rise. That's what it means to be a leader.