What Simon Sinek accidentally missed…

Posted on: Friday, June 8, 2018 Category: Blog (57)
2 min read

By Emily Kucukalic

In 2009, Sinek burst into our modern marketing psyche when he presented his golden circle.  The TEDx talk of the easy-on-the-eye Brainiac has, to this day, had more than 38 million views and is the third most watched TEDx talk of all time (after Sir Ken Robinson on education and Amy Cuddy on power posing).

He redefined how we thought about taking our products and services to market.  And he reminded us that there was a greater reason to go to work than to just to make money.

He said that his discovery ‘profoundly changed the way I thought the world works’.  He reminded us of the ‘What, How and Why’.  And then he reversed them.  We rediscovered purpose again and pretty soon, everyone was building that into their leadership training.

Sinek’s golden circle translates beautifully into personal branding. What you do is less interesting than why you do it.  That is the basis for many traditional interview questions – tell me about what motivates you?  Why do you want to come to this organisation?

If you think about the functional side of your personal brand – that is what you do.  And the emotional side is why you do it.  But it is not just that.  It is not enough to be able to define why you want to be the person you would like to be. The piece that Sinek missed is …

How do you make others feel? 

Trust and loyalty does not come from purpose, it comes from how you make others feel. People are loyal to brands they know. When we truly know someone, we can trust them. We are loyal to those we believe in.

Trust is facilitated through feeling. So, add this to the golden circle:

• How do I make people feel?
• Why do I do what I do?
• How do I do what I do?
• And what is it that I actually do…?

 

“He who has a why can bear almost any how.”

Friedrich Nietzsche 1844-1900