Book Review – Start With Why by Simon Sinek

February 3rd, 2012 by Diane Conklin under Diane's Book Reviews. 8 Comments.

There hasn’t been a book that has affected me in the way Simon Sinek’s book “Start With Why” has in a very long time…maybe ever, and I read a lot, so that’s saying something.

Sinek – it was his Ted talk, and was mesmerized. I was so enthralled by his words that I think I watched the video 4 or 5 times and I have it on my phone and watch it often – as of this writing I have probably watched it 15 times, maybe more – it has had that much of an impact on me.

“Start With Why” is more than just a book – it’s a way to run your business and your life.

Simon Sinek is more than just an author or an entrepreneur or a speaker, he’s a scientist and a guy who gets it, gets his why, on a whole different level than most other people – at least any that I have ever met before.

I first learned of Simon Sinek when a mentor started talking to me about my why and then she asked me what I believed. After a short conversation she recommended I go to YouTube and watch an 18 minute video by Simon

So, when I saw Simon Sinek had written a book called “Start With Why” I knew immediately I had to read it. To say it didn’t disappoint would be an understatement!

The book is really based on a powerful idea Sinek calls The Golden Circle and through it he explains that most companies tell us what they do and they might even know how they do it, but very few tell us, or know why they do what they do.

There are a few exceptions – they are companies like Apple and people like Martin Luther King and the Wright Brothers who exemplify exactly what Sinek is talking about and he uses them in his examples a lot.

Think about most of the marketing you see, and maybe even the kind you do yourself, does any of it really set one company apart from the other? Most of it doesn’t because we always tell people what we do and not why we do it.  The whole premise behind what Simon Sinek teaches is that nobody cares what you do until they know why you do it.

And, once people know why you do what you do, if they believe what you believe they will not only follow you, they will spread the word.

I took 3 full pages of notes in this book, have 15 sticky notes marked for places to go back to, too many dog-eared pages to count and more red underlines and yellow highlights than I’ve had in a book since college.

If you want to know how great leaders inspire people to take action, or if you want to be a leader who inspires others, this book is a must read. As a matter of fact, I think it’s so important that it should be a must read for every high school student in the world, and certainly for every business owner and anybody who wants to inspire.

Here is the really cool thing about the information in “Start With Why” – it’s not Simon Sinek’s opinion – he’s actually been able to prove all of this with science, so if you’re one of those people who need to “see” it to believe it, you get that too.

To say that this book has changed me and the way I do business today would be a massive understatement.

Read this book and come back and tell me what you think – I’d be really interested and would love to start a conversation.

As somebody who believes we can change the statistic of only 6% of small business making 6 figures and beyond to 95%, this topic alone is an important part of making that change.

To purchase this book click here: Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action

Tags: action, advertising, Apple, business, Communication, Complete Marketing Systems, Dell, Diane Conklin, inspiration, iPad, IPhone, iPod, leadership, Macintosh, Marketing, Martin Luther King, money, passion, Persuasion, Power, Purpose, service, Simon Sinek, Small Business, Start With Why, Steve jobs, structure, systems, The Golden Circle, The Wright Brothers, why do you do what you do.