Simon O. Sinek (born October 9, 1973) is a British-American author, motivational speaker and marketing consultant. He is the author of four books, including Start With Why (2009).
Those who fear the new are the ones who have mastered the old.
Leaders, whatever the size of their organizations, are those willing to put the interests of other people before their own.
People who believe I'm an idiot don't hire me and they don't call.
Some good leaders are rough around the edges and some leaders are difficult. Some have difficult personalities and some are really nice to be around, but those are not the qualifications. The qualifications are their desire to see us achieve more, their desire to push us to be the best we can be. Not for their selfish gain, but because they believe that we have something to offer.
Your work is your own private megaphone to tell the world what you believe.
Very few people or companies can clearly articulate WHY they do WHAT they do. By WHY I mean your purpose, cause or belief - WHY does your company exist? WHY do you get out of bed every morning? And WHY should anyone care?
All organizations start with WHY, but only the great ones keep their WHY clear year after year. Those who forget WHY they were founded show up to the race every day to outdo someone else instead of to outdo themselves. The pursuit, for those who lose sight of WHY they are running the race, is for the medal or to beat someone else.
Never opt for change simply to leave something you don't like. Change works best when you go toward something, even if it is the unknown.
Great leaders don’t try to be perfect. They try to be themselves. And that’s what makes them great.
Walt Disney had a very clear sense of why. He was about happiness. Remember when Disney was founded, it was during war. People said that life sucked. And he said, "No. " He was an eternal optimist who said: "Life is beautiful. It's about giving. It's about family. " Look what happened. His cause grew and people committed themselves to helping him grow the Disney why and it was hugely successful.
I'm interested in the innovator and the early adopter.
The bad leaders are the ones that push hard so they can gain, who brow beat us so that they can receive the benefit of our hard work, not so we can enjoy the success
The rank of office is not what makes someone a leader. Leadership is the choice to serve others with or without any formal rank.
You have to be careful what you think you know.
Every one of us has the capacity to lead
There is no decision that we can make that doesn't come with some sort of balance or sacrifice.
Babe Ruth was not afraid to strike out. And it was this fearlessness that contributed to his remarkable career.
Leadership is about empowering others to achieve things they did not think possible.
The worst leaders are the once that think they have to know as much or more than the people who work with them. The best leaders are the once who know that their employees know hell of a lot more than what they know and willing to admit it whilst expressing the value of their employees.
My concern is that we live in an economy in which stabbing someone and waiting for them to complain before we remove the knife has become the normal way of doing business. When did we lose sight of the fact that it's not nice to stab people in the first place?