Short MSNBC interview (June 29, 2011) in which host J.J. Ramberg speaks with Simon Sinek about leadership from Sinek's book. Sinek distinguishes "leading companies" (market-share driven) from "companies that lead" (set industry direction), argues that companies that lead are grounded in a clear "why" (purpose/belief) originating with founders, and emphasizes authenticity—alignment between stated beliefs and actions—supported by examples (Apple, Virgin, Harley-Davidson, Southwest).
Chapters
There is a difference between being the leading company and a company that leads. Or so says our next guest. Simon Siddick is the author of the new book Start With How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action. He's here to tell us why entrepreneurs may be equipped to lead better than any other group. Hey, Simon, it's great to see you. It's been a long time. Good to see you, J.J. so explain to me the difference. A leading company, a company that leads.
So leading companies sell more than everybody else. You know, GM is a leading company. They sell more cars than everybody else, but they're not a company that leads. A company that leads is somebody that sets the pace, sets the direction for the entire industry. And there's a huge difference.
Don't you want to be the leading company and the company that leads?
They don't often go together, amazingly, because the leading companies are so driven about their market share and being number one that they forget that profits are actually more important. And, you know, in business, everybody's really a follower. And Apple, you hear me talk about them all the time. Virgin, Harley Davidson, these companies aren't the leading companies. Southwest Airlines doesn't have more routes than everybody else. They set the tone and they set the direction that everybody else follows.
And so when you say to be one of these leading companies, one of the things you need to have is a clarity of why. What do you mean by that?
Absolutely. Every single company that leads knows why they do what they do. And by why, I don't mean to make a profit. That's always a result. I mean, what's your purpose? What's your cause? What's your belief? Why was your company founded? And very often, when you look at entrepreneurs, the most successful entrepreneurs, it was some sort of personal experience that had them start their company in the first place. Their parents couldn't get good home care, and so they started a home care business. You know, I couldn't get a good burger, so I started my own burger. You see this all the time.
And so it's important for the founder to understand that or for the company to understand that.
Well, if the founder doesn't understand it, then no one in the company will understand it.
Right.
So absolutely it starts with the founder. And there's a huge importance in the ability to communicate what you believe. You know, it's very closely linked. You know, those people who have the ability to communicate what they believe clearly are the ones who lead. And it's an inextricable connection between leadership and communication.
It's about passion Then. And other people sharing your passion. Then you say they get their why. Then they have to have the discipline of how. So that's how you get your product out there or your service out there.
I think it's deeper than that. Every company has guiding principles and values. The question is, how do you hold yourself accountable to them? Very often you hear companies talk about, we believe in customers first, but then when you go look at the way they actually do business, you very often see that they don't put customers first. A lot of promotions, for example, are designed to trick the customer. You fill out all of this crazy paperwork and we'll send you a rebate. And they know that most people aren't going to fill it all out. That's a trick. How customer focused are you if you're tricking your customer to do business with you? You have to really hold yourself accountable to those things.
Then the third thing you talk about is the what, which is interesting because I often in our conversations have said, well, when you say, what does your company do? I would say, what my company does. You say, I should say why they do it, but then hear what is important as well.
Absolutely. We live in a tangible world. Why you do what you do is just a belief. That's all it is. It's intangible. And if the most important thing is what you believe, then the things you say and the things you do, you have to believe in. In other products, your packaging, your marketing, your people, they all have to embody what you believe. Otherwise, no one will know what you believe.
In essence, you draw people in and then you deliver.
Well, this is the concept behind authenticity. Everybody says you have to be authentic, but what does that mean? It means the things you say and the things you do, you actually believe.
Well, congratulations on the new book.
Thank you.
And thank you so much for coming by to tell us about it.
