south africa

usiness
what makes you grow, inspired and alive is a
significant step toward creating meaning.
The word “creating” is used deliberately
because people don’t have to go out and
find meaning, rather they make meaning.
The big epiphany with Siddartha is that
“enlightenment” or understanding is
achieved through internalising experience or
comprehending your journey in life rather than
through external pursuits.
It is one thing creating meaning for yourself,
but if you are a leader, how do you begin to craft
meaning for those who have chosen to work for
you? Anthropological student-turned-author
(“Start with Why”) Simon Sinek says four years
ago he made a profound discovery and that this
changed his view about how he thought the
world works and how he operates in the world.
“All the great and inspiring leaders and
organisations and people in the world, whether
it is Martin Luther King, or Apple or the Wright
Brothers, they all think, act and communicate
in the exact same way and it is the complete
opposite of everyone else,” says Sinek.
“Everyone on this planet knows what they
do. Some know how they do it, whether you call
it your differentiating value proposition or your
proprietary process or your USP. But very few
organisations know why they do what they do.
And by ‘why’ I don’t mean to make a profit, that
is a result, it is always a result. By ‘why’ I mean
what is your purpose, your cause, your belief?
Why does your organisation exist? Why do you
get out of bed in the morning and why should
anyone care?”
Sinek says most people operate from the
outside in, going from the clearest thing (what
we do) to the fuzziest thing (why we do what
nomadic leadership
There are leaders,
and there are those
who lead. leaders
hold a position of
power or authority.
but those who lead
inspire us.
we do). He says what distinguishes the Martin
Luther Kings, the Wright Brothers and the
Apples of this world are that they do this the
other way around. The greats always start with why.
“There are leaders, and there are those
who lead. Leaders hold a position of power or
authority. But those who lead inspire us. We
follow those who lead not because we have to,
but because we want to. We follow those who
lead not for them, but for ourselves,” says Sinek.
“And it is those who start with why that have
the ability to inspire those around them, or find
others that inspire them.”
read more:
1. How great leaders inspire action in The Guardian
2. Watch Simon Sinek’s TED talk “How great leaders inspire
action”
3. Simon Sinek’s site Start With Why
4. Is a Well-Lived Life Worth Anything? by Umair Haque at
Harvard Business Review
5. How great leaders inspire action in The Guardian
6. Watch Umair Haque talking on A Better Path to Prosperity
tuesDAY - 4 october 2011