Simon Sinek’s groundbreaking TED Talk, How Great Leaders Inspire Action, and his seminal book, Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action, introduced a powerful concept to the business world: the Golden Circle, with ‘Why’ at its heart. This ‘Start With Why Simon’ mantra resonated deeply, sparking a global movement focused on purpose-driven businesses. Sinek’s work emphasized that understanding and communicating your ‘Why’ – your purpose, cause, or belief – is crucial for inspiring employees and customers alike.
While Sinek’s influence is undeniable, and his emphasis on purpose is valuable, is ‘Why’ truly the starting point for building a thriving business? While Start with Why ignited a purpose revolution, his later work, The Infinite Game: How Great Businesses Achieve Long-lasting Success, further explored how businesses can achieve enduring success by adopting an infinite mindset. However, even within this expanded framework, the fundamental question remains: is ‘Why’ the ultimate foundation?
Great Leaders and the Power of Purpose
The idea that businesses with a strong sense of purpose are more likely to flourish is well-documented. Numerous thought leaders and studies reinforce this notion, highlighting how purpose can fuel growth and cultivate a stronger company culture. David Hieatt, in his book ‘Do Purpose – Why Brands with a Purpose Do Better and Matter More’, and in various interviews, echoes this sentiment. The belief that purpose shapes company culture is widely held, and the transformative potential of a clearly defined purpose is evident. Even Simon La Fosse, founder of La Fosse Associates, a recruitment firm, demonstrated how a purpose centered around treating people well can lead to better business outcomes.
However, while purpose is undoubtedly a powerful force, the question remains whether it should be the starting point. Many businesses struggle to articulate their ‘Why’, often defaulting to ‘What’ they do instead. This difficulty in defining purpose highlights a potential gap in the ‘start with why simon’ approach.
Deciphering Simon Sinek’s Core Message
Sinek’s central question in Start with Why is compelling: What distinguishes companies like Apple from their competitors, even when resources are comparable? His key finding is that less successful companies typically begin with ‘What’ they do, then consider ‘How’, and often neglect the ‘Why’. Remarkably, some companies lack a clear understanding of their ‘Why’ beyond profit generation.
This lack of purpose often correlates with business mediocrity. Conversely, companies like Apple, leading with a strong ‘Why’, forge deeper connections with their audience, fostering loyalty and driving innovation. This concept is powerfully illustrated in Sinek’s video, Most Leaders Don’t Even Know the Game They’re In, where he contrasts the finite game mindset, focused on short-term gains, with the infinite game, centered on long-term vision and purpose. Sinek argues that embracing the infinite game is key to building enduring and successful businesses.
The Golden Circle: Start With Why Framework
Sinek defines a ‘why statement’ as:
“The compelling higher purpose that inspires us and acts as the source of all we do.”
In his TED Talk, Sinek uses Apple as a prime example, suggesting their success stemmed from starting with ‘Why’. This ‘Why’ was central to Apple’s marketing and operations, attracting customers who resonated with their core beliefs and values.
From this observation, Sinek developed his ‘Golden Circle’ theory, a framework for building strategy.
Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle model illustrating the ‘Start With Why’ concept.
While insightful, the Golden Circle might be missing a crucial element. Apple’s dominance, capturing a significant share of handset industry profits and revenue, wasn’t achieved by targeting everyone. They focused on a specific value proposition for a select group of customers for whom the Apple ecosystem aligned with their self-perception and aspirations.
Even with the iconic ‘Think Different’ campaign during Steve Jobs’ return, Apple’s products weren’t necessarily superior. However, Apple identified a specific segment – creatives, misfits, dreamers – for whom owning a Mac became a statement of identity. This illustrates that a ‘Why’ is effective only when it resonates with a clearly defined ‘Who’.
This is where the fundamental disagreement with the ‘start with why simon’ approach arises. Starting with ‘Why’ might not be the most effective initial step for building a successful commercial enterprise.
Prioritize ‘Who’: Understanding Your Core Customer
The common belief is that people won’t buy from you until they understand your ‘Why’. However, a more nuanced perspective is that they won’t buy from you until they realize they are the reason you do it.
Building a successful commercial enterprise necessitates a different starting point. Contrast Sinek’s ‘start with why simon’ view with Jim Collins’ Hedgehog Concept. Collins, another influential business thinker, posits that a successful strategy emerges from the intersection of:
- What you are deeply passionate about (your ‘Why’).
- What you can be best at in the world.
- What best drives your economic engine.
This third point, the commercial imperative, is arguably less emphasized in Sinek’s Golden Circle, yet it is crucial for sustainable business success.
Identifying Your Ideal ‘Who’
Ultimately, the goal is to cultivate a tribe of customers who are not only satisfied but also feel a sense of belonging when interacting with your company. This process should begin internally, by ensuring your employees feel valued and aligned with the company’s mission. Following this, focus on your existing customers – do they feel confident in their choice to do business with you? Attracting new customers effectively becomes possible only after establishing these foundational elements.
This approach inverts traditional marketing strategies that often prioritize acquiring new customers, potentially overlooking the importance of customer retention and alignment. Avoid building a recruitment process, whether for employees or customers, that attracts the wrong individuals, leading to dissatisfaction and churn.
To build a loyal customer base, laser focus on identifying your ideal customer is paramount. The guiding question should be: Who are the customers who will buy from us at maximum profit? Many companies lack this clarity, having accumulated a diverse customer base over time, making it challenging to pinpoint the ‘Core Customer’ who will drive sustainable growth.
Focusing on the Core Customer to Create a Niche
At the heart of every successful business lies a dedicated tribe of loyal customers who appreciate your offerings and feel a genuine connection with your company. Before focusing externally, ensure your internal team feels valued and aligned with your company’s values. Then, assess your existing customer base – are they confident in their decision to choose you? Only after solidifying these internal and existing customer relationships can you effectively attract new customers.
This approach reverses conventional marketing strategies that often prioritize new customer acquisition, sometimes at the expense of customer experience and retention. Avoid creating a recruitment process that attracts the wrong people – be it employees or customers – who will ultimately leave due to unmet expectations.
To cultivate a devoted customer tribe, you need to precisely identify them. The guiding principle should be: Who are the customers who will buy from us at maximum profit? Many businesses overlook this, attracting a wide range of customers with diverse needs over time, hindering their ability to pinpoint the Core Customer who will fuel long-term growth.
When assisting clients in defining their Core Customer, the starting point is often those who purchase at maximum profit – typically those who utilize the most comprehensive suite of services or have the potential to do so. From there, refine the focus to a single customer archetype representing your ideal target. Give this archetype a name, such as ‘Andrew’. Then, delve into profiling Andrew – his business objectives, challenges, role as a change agent, background, and insights.
Next, analyze Andrew’s buying journey and how your company fits into it. Crucially, determine the desired emotional response Andrew should have upon becoming a customer. This emphasis on ‘Who’ precedes defining your ‘Why’. Without this ‘Who’ focus, you risk disconnecting the emotional connection you aim to create with your customers from your company’s purpose. These elements must seamlessly integrate for your business to deeply resonate with your target audience.
A significant realization for businesses is that attracting a small number of these Core Customers, perhaps just 10 or 20, can potentially double their business within three years. Shifting focus from average customers to tailoring their brand and approach to the specific needs of their Core Customer group can be transformative.
At Peer 1 Hosting, despite having 13,400 global customers, only 500 were high-value. Realizing they only needed to add 100 net new high-value customers annually to achieve their growth targets, they laser-focused on identifying and understanding these Core Customers and their specific value proposition needs. This focus profoundly impacted their core values and purpose, aligning them with the needs of their Core Customers and guiding every decision, including recruitment and leadership choices.
Utilizing NPS® (Net Promoter Score) effectively means ensuring your score is higher among your Core Customers than competitors. This is about differentiation, not striving to be everything to everyone. Identify the attributes your Core Customer values most and excel in delivering them to gain a competitive edge.
This targeted approach is how you create a niche. By deeply understanding a small segment of high-value customers, you can dominate that segment. Think small, focus on feelings, and prioritize building relationships with your ‘Who’ – this will be far more effective than constantly pushing product features and benefits.
So, while Simon Sinek’s ‘start with why simon’ message is valuable, consider starting with ‘Who’, not ‘Why’. By understanding your Core Customer first, you can discover a profitable purpose that effectively drives your business’s economic engine. After all, while passion is important, sustainable profit is also essential.
