Simon Sinek

There are no genuine new ideas in this managerial self-help screed. Rigorous adherence to advertising principles of repetition makes the book a chore to read, no matter how engaging some of the individual anecdotes might be. The main theses are more concisely expressed in the TED Talk version, where author Simon Sinek nevertheless comes off almost as a parody of a motivational speaker.

While Thelemic doctrine uses "Why" to indicate rationalization, Sinek wants to use it to mean purpose, aim, show more or will. Alas, often enough in his various case studies of corporate business CEO heroism, he accepts the self-serving rationalizations of such figures as their genuine aims. For example, he praises Bill Gates as embracing "a higher cause" summarized as "A PC in every home and on every desk" (194)--as if Gates were interested in empowering people with personal computers, as opposed to seeking 100% market share for MS-DOS and Windows by means of the notorious anti-competitive strategies that distinguished Microsoft among its rivals. Sinek also adulates Sam Walton as a salt-of-the-earth type who "talked about building stores in rural communities so that the backbone of America's workforce didn't have to travel to the urban centers," which is rich. Walmart's willingness to set up shop in small towns, drain off the local economies, pull up stakes and move on is cast as a virtuous service to consumers.

Sinek's "Golden Circle" is a model that he asserts is bolstered by neurobiological findings, but there's little consequence to that justification, which is largely rhetorical. It does attempt to integrate the fact that effective decision-making can be pre-verbal and non-rational. In light of models and nomenclature I prefer, I found his WHY-HOW-WHAT anatomy opaque and muddled. For my purposes, the three-part formula would be better expressed as Will-Work-Result (cf. CCXX I:44). But I did think that the corresponding sequence of clarity-discipline-consistency was well formulated.

Near the end of the book, Sinek supplies a conversion account, in which he was saved by the power of "WHY," brought through an entrepreneurial dark night of the soul to behold the power of the Golden Circle. This evangelical narrative helps to demonstrate his motive for identifying "WHY" with "belief," which is again at odds with the ways in which I constellate these symbols or the ways in which I would seek to help others use them.

"If Will stops and cries Why, invoking Because, then Will stops & does nought. If Power asks why, then is Power weakness." (CCXX II:30-31) show less

From my Cannonball Read 6 review...

During a training on equity and social justice, the leader showed a bit of Simon Sinek’s talk on “Starting with Why”. She only showed a couple of minutes, but I was intrigued enough to buy his book.

The Good
The underlying concept is interesting and I think pretty useful. While the book is focused on success in the business world, I think the concept is sound when applied in other sectors and even one's personal life. The theory is this: most companies show more can say what they do (build computers), and most can communicate how they do it (using great technology, sturdy resources, intelligent staff), but the truly successful companies can say WHY they do what they do. ‘Starting with Why’ means looking beyond the traditional 'I do it to make money' concept to pinpoint what your real reasons are for doing something. Once that’s been identified, you should make choices that align with your 'Why.' The big examples he uses to illustrate this are Southwest Airlines, Apple, and Wal-Mart (before the founder died). As far as concepts go, it's not bad.

The Bad
But the bad is so bad. On my e-reader version, the book is 246 pages long. It wasn't until page 108 that a woman appeared. All of Mr. Sinek’s examples were of cis men who started businesses or were leaders; the vast majority of them were also white men. Martin Luther King Jr. does get discussed, but other than him? It's like a nightmare – a bunch of white dudes talking about how awesome they are.

The first mention of a woman is a woman in the military, too. So he didn't find a woman who had started a company that fit his theory; he had to look in the military. Hmmm. His second reference to a woman comes another fifty pages later, and it's not even a reference to an actual human. You know how sometimes authors alternate the generic pronouns they use when illustrating a point? "If someone wants to do x, he should..." or "If someone wants to do y, she should..."? Well, only once did I catch Mr. Sinek using a female pronoun ... and it was in a situation describing being emotional. REALLY?! Dude. It’s like satire at this point. Very few women mentioned, and when mentioned it's focused on non-business work or on emotion.

There are also some fairly white-savior moments, like when he was describing an organization founded to 'help' kids in the Middle East 'realize they can do more.' Um, hmmm. Perhaps that organization was different than described, but in reality it sounds like a pet project a rich white kid decided to do without really looking at what the community needed. Not exactly something to shout about. He also uses such demonstrably false phrases as "Working hard leads to winning." Sometimes is does lead to winning, but sometimes (many times, depending on where you start in life) it does not.

Overall
As I said, the concepts aren't bad, and I actually plan to apply them to my working life. But I definitely do not recommend the book. Watch the Ted talk. Maybe see if he has an article out there you could read. But save yourself the headache of plowing through an unintentionally whitewashed, male-centric version of history as told by Mr. Sinek. show less

I love this book because it reframes leadership and motivation in the simplest, yet most profound way. Start with Why by Simon Sinek explores the idea that the most successful leaders and organizations inspire others by focusing on why they do what they do, rather than just what they do or how they do it. Sinek’s “Golden Circle” framework is both elegant and actionable, making the principles of inspiration accessible to anyone in business, entrepreneurship, or personal projects.

What I show more found most impactful is how Sinek connects purpose to action, showing that people are naturally drawn to leaders who communicate a clear vision and authentic beliefs. His examples of iconic organizations and leaders, from Apple to Martin Luther King Jr., illustrate how starting with why creates loyalty, trust, and lasting impact. The book encourages reflection, helping readers identify their own why and align it with their goals, career, or company mission.

If there’s a critique, it’s that some case studies feel familiar or repeated, and the message can feel slightly idealistic for certain corporate environments. Nevertheless, the core concept is timeless and transformative. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to lead with purpose, inspire others, and create meaningful impact in their personal or professional life. show less

Good overview of "leader psychology" and how humans in groups relate to leaders. The Sinek TED talk is probably better than this book overall, as the book was padded (in true business book fashion) with lots of filler about neurotransmitters and such, but there were some great core concepts in both.

One of the main ones is that leaders are given power and benefits under social contract to protect the group, and that people are generally fine with what they see as deserved benefits accruing show more to their leaders, but that they get very upset when they see undeserved benefits -- and that at some point in the 70s/80s leadership became basically rent-seeking rather than self-sacrificing and thus largely unjust.

Another solid point was that abstraction (necessary at large scales) is the enemy of a lot of psychology -- the old Stalin quote about one death being tragedy and a million being a statistic yet again. There are actually some solid solutions to deal with large groups through abstractions and then exemplars (the "user stories" model in product management) which he didn't address.

Unfortunately a lot of the filler was ALSO pseudoscience or scientism. And basically nothing in it is original, but it's a decent presentation of the ideas of others. show less