™Marketing Magazine Issue 6 | Page 11

THE GOLDEN CIRCLE
no one would ever start a business. Faced with an overwhelming
chance of failure, no rational person would ever take either of
those risks. But we do. Every day. Because how we feel about
something or someone is more powerful than what we think
about it or them.
There’s just one problem with feelings. They can be tremendously
difficult to express in words. That’s the reason we so often resort
to metaphors and analogies, like “our relationship feels like a
train heading at high speed toward a rickety bridge” or “when I
get to the office, I feel like a little kid on the playground again.”
Even though communicating our feelings is hard, the payoff is
big. When we align emotionally with our customers and clients,
our connection is much stronger and more meaningful than any
affiliation based on features and benefits. That’s what starting
with WHY is all about.
BONUS MATERIAL
TM.MEDIA/TM107
GO HERE TO WATCH THE WHY DISCOVERY
WEBINAR AND THE WHY DISCOVERY Q & A.
SIMON SINEK - My WHY is to inspire people to do
what inspires them so that, together, we can change
our world for the better.
And here's the best part, this whole concept of WHY is grounded
in the tenets of the biology of human decision making. How the
Golden Circle works maps perfectly with how our brain works. Simon Sinek is an unshakable optimist who believes
in a bright future and our ability to build it together.
He discovered remarkable patterns about how the
greatest leaders and organizations think, act and
communicate.
The outer section of the Golden Circle—the WHAT—corresponds
to the outer section of the brain—the neocortex. This is the part
of the brain responsible for rational and analytical thought. It
helps us understand facts and figures, features and benefits. The
neocortex is also responsible for language. Simon may be best known for popularizing the
concept of Why in his first Ted Talk in 2009. It rose
to become the third most watched on TED.com,
with over 37 million views and subtitled in 46
languages.
The middle two sections of the Golden Circle—the WHY and
HOW—correspond to the middle section of the brain, the limbic
system. This is the part of the brain responsible for all our
behavior and decision making. It’s also responsible for all our
feelings, like trust and loyalty. But unlike the neocortex, the
limbic system has no capacity for language. This is where “gut
feelings” come from. It’s not our stomach. It’s a feeling we get
about a decision we have to make that we struggle to explain.
That separation of powers is the biological reason we sometimes
find it difficult to put our feelings into words (“I love you more
than words can say”), explain our actions (“The devil made me do
it!”) or justify our decisions (“I don’t know ... it just felt right”).
We can learn, however, to put words to those feelings. And those
who do are the ones who are better able to inspire action in
themselves, among their colleagues and with their customers.
THE WHY EFFECT
Once you understand your WHY, you’ll be able to clearly
articulate what makes you feel fulfilled and to better understand
what drives your behavior when you’re at your natural best.
When you can do that, you’ll have a point of reference for
everything you do going forward. You’ll be able to make more
intentional choices for your business, your career and your life.
You’ll be able to inspire others to buy from you, work with you
and join your cause. Never again should you have to play the
lottery and act on gut decisions that are made for reasons you
don’t really understand. From now on, you can work with
purpose, on purpose. From now on, you can start with WHY.
Simon is the author of multiple best-selling books
including Start With Why (global best seller),
Leaders Eat Last (New York Times and Wall Street
Journal best seller), Together is Better (New York
Times and Wall Street Journal best seller) and Find
Your Why and The Infinite Game (Coming Soon.)
STARTWITHWHY.COM
This is an edited excerpt that
first appeared on Linkedin
from "Find Your Why: A
Practical Guide for Finding
Purpose for You and Your
Team" by Simon Sinek with
David Mead and Peter
Docker. Copyright © 2017 by
Sinek Partners, LLC.
THE GOLDEN CIRCLE:
If we want to feel an undying passion for our work, if we want to
feel we are contributing to something bigger than ourselves, we
all need to know our WHY.
Discover your WHY at startwithwhy.com/p/why-discovery.
TULIPMEDIAGROUP.COM | 11