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Start With Why is a book for those who want to learn to inspire others and for those who want to find someone to inspire them. Start with Why is available now at your favorite book seller.
Special Promotion: Buy two copies, give one away and we can inspire even more people...
Republicans are completely
befuddled by Obama’s “star power” and don’t seem to have a clear or effective
strategy to compete. Though they are able to coordinate their messages better than
Democrats, absent a leader who can clearly articulate a Republican vision for
America, the only thing they can do is attack, attack, attack.
Democrats have a leader who defies all the political odds. Obama became
president with little experience, he’s making headway reforming health care, and
won a Noble Peace Prize which, even he admits, he probably didn’t deserve. But
as a party, they bicker, they can’t coordinate messages and they seem more
obsessed with “setting the record straight” than advancing their vision for
America. Absent the ability to focus, the best they can muster is defend,
defend, defend (and sometimes, maybe, if it’s not too harsh – attack).
Leadership is not derived from having the loudest voice or the biggest base.
Leadership isn’t about having all the answers or having all your i’s
dotted and t’s crossed. Leadership doesn’t necessarily even come from simply
having your name on the door. True leadership comes from inspiring people to
focus on where they are going, not fighting against whatever is happening now.
This is what it means to offer a “vision for America.” This is what it
means to inspire.
Democrats are flummoxed by
Republicans ability to stall or redirect progress. No matter the message
Democrats develop, Republicans almost always come up with a better sound bite
for the headlines. The Democrats response throughout the healthcare debate?
Give the people more statistics.
Republicans are perplexed how Obama’s star shines so brightly. No matter how
much they attack, Obama seems to keep moving forwards. Just this week, we
learned the Senator Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) supported the health care bill in
the finance committee. The Republican response? Attack Olympia Snowe.
But neither party does a good job of contextualizing why they have the opinions
they do in the first place. Both care about America, both believe in upholding
the values laid down by our forefathers. Both are deeply patriotic. And
both know why America exists – it’s all about life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness. The difference lies in how they think we should deliver on that
American Dream. Though both parties know why America exists, neither party can
tell you why they exist.
Republicans are the party of “I”. They believe the responsibility of government
is to support those who pursue the American Dream – which is why their policies
have historically favored the rich and businesses. Buried in the pages of their
newly designed website, the RNC hints at why the Republican Party exists, “The
Republican Party is inspired by the power of ingenuity of the individual to
succeed through hard work, family support and self-discipline.” Instead of
opening their website with their cause, with their Why, there is a video about
how bad America is doing and how bad Obama is. It’ll make you angry, it may
rally a crowd…but it’s not inspiring. It’s not leadership
Democrats are the party of “we.” They believe the responsibility of
government is to try to help everyone pursue the American Dream – which is why
their policies have historically favored labor and the poor. Buried in
the pages of the DNC website they also hint at why the Democratic Party exists,
“The Democratic Party is committed to keeping our nation safe and expanding
opportunity for every American.” Instead of leading with their cause, with
their Why, one of the first things is a section called “Call ‘em out” devoted
to correcting the lies being spread by Republicans.
Instead of trying to plan the next attack strategy, it may benefit the
Republican Party to try to understand why Obama's star shines so brightly.
After all, it is this “star quality” that Republicans attribute to Obama’s
winning the Nobel Peace prize last week – an observation that would be entirely
correct. I understand why Republican leadership invests so much money and
energy trying to dim his star, but the benefit to trying to understand it and
even learn how to turn up the wattage of one of your own is not only better for
the Republican Party, it’s better for the country. A strategy of attack, attack,
attack – from either party – inhibits progress and divides us as a nation.
Though he's not always perfect at expressing it, Obama has a vision for
America, one born out of optimism, that comes out whenever he gives big
speeches. Sadly, that’s the only time
it does. He believes that any people,
no matter how divergent their differences, can always find common ground to
advance a common cause. He believes America can work together to mend its
economy. “Yes we can.” He believes that America can come together to reform
healthcare. “Yes we can.” He believes the nations of the world can come
together to find common understanding. “Yes we can.” And it is his optimism in
this belief that inspires and gives him his star quality. Democrats need to
focus around Obama’s vision and focus their message and energy on drafting legislation that will breath life into the vision.
Republicans don’t need to look to Obama to learn how to make a star. Go back and
study Ronald Reagan – a visionary leader who confounded Democrats at the time
with his own star quality. Reagan spoke about “morning in America” – he oozed
an optimism for what America could
be. Reagan had an undying belief that each American has the ability to make
their own lives better if they put our minds to it. In stark contrast, the
modern Republican Party defines itself by what it’s not rather than what it is.
Republicans need an optimistic leader who can present an alternative
vision for America’s future instead of just rallying against Obama’s vision of
it.
The way the two party system
is supposed to work is that both parties present their vision for America and
then the people will choose which they believe best suits them based on the
challenges they face at the times. Sometimes we want to celebrate the
ingenuity of the individual – like in the booming ‘80s and sometimes we feel
the need to band together and work to support those who can’t support
themselves – like in times of war, economic crisis and when the social security
and health care systems are ailing.
I’ve studied great leaders and great organizations, those with the ability to
inspire. And they all have something in common. Regardless of their party or
their politics, unrelated to their business or their industry – they all think,
act and communicate the exact same way, and it’s the complete opposite to
everyone else. In all cases, the “stars” clearly communicate an
optimistic vision of the future, they tell us why they do what they do. It is so clear that the rest of us know
why they do what they do also, even if we disagree with the specifics of how
they aim to do it. When there is clarity of Why, those who believe the same
will take it upon themselves to join the cause. A following, by its definition,
are those who share a common set of values and beliefs.
This is the reason great leaders command a loyal following.
Democrats have a leader with
a vision, but lack focus. Republicans are focused but lack a leader with a
vision. Perhaps, in a day-and-age when both parties can only point at
each other and define themselves as “not that,” we need a president who can
find their common ground. Yes he can.
To learn more about how great leaders lead, read Simon's new book Start With Why: How great
leaders inspire everyone to take action, available for pre-order now
and on shelves Oct 29th.
I am often asked "how do people know when your WHY is clear?" The wonderful thing about a WHY is when it's clear, you know it...and so does everyone else. Sounds suspicious right? What you just read is a manifesto, a statement of belief, from the home page of a company called Yoga To The People. Do you know what they believe?
Even if you've never been to there, you probably have a very clear idea of what the experience would be like? It might not surprise you that they charge $7 for a class...or that on same days, the cost is just a donation. Their goal is to get back to the essence of yoga - to relax. As they say, "Yoga is meant to help strengthen and stretch your arms and legs, not cost you one!"
This manifesto is a statement of WHY they exist. WHY they do what they do. What they believe wasn't buried deep in some "about us" page - it was right on the home page. Because Yoga To The People starts with WHY, anyone who comes to their site knows exactly how they see the world and already has some level of expectation of what their products and services will be like. And they didn't have to read a single brochure.
When people believe what you believe, it piques their interest to either learn more or buy from you without much "selling" required. If people don't believe what you believe, they will either turn away or do business with you anyway because you meet some other requirements. In other words, you won't lose those customers, but you will gain some very special, high quality ones. Start with what you believe, start with WHY, and you can instantly filter and attract the customers most likely to be loyal.
Surf around the web, look at some other companies and you'll quickly see websites with home pages filled with details, prices, facts, photos - everything to "attract" new customers. But none of it really does. And of course, your IT professional will tell you the importance of filling your homepage with more instead of less. All that does is attract more people but it doesn't inspire them to do business with you.
The best part is, if you have the discipline to start with WHY and if someone believes what you believe, even if they don't buy your product, they may talk about you to their friends...or blog about you. And that blog may attract more new customers than the one you think you lost.
p.s. let me know if you visit their studio because of this blog.
Most Sundays throughout the year, the New York Road Runners organizes races in Central Park. They range in distance from a mile or two to distances just shy of half-marathon length. Though there are medals for the winners, hundreds even thousands of New Yorkers take part simply for fun or to try to beat their own times.
One Sunday morning, a friend and I ran in a 4-mile race together. My friend is a decent runner. He is more disciplined about keeping a regular running schedule than I am. And because of it, he's generally a little faster than I am too. Though he works for a large bank down on Wall Street, on more than one occasion he has mentioned a desire to start his own business one day. Given his discipline, I assumed that he was well suited to be an entrepreneur.
That was...until we got to the end of the race.
Sometimes they give away free stuff to the runners at the finish line. On this day - free bagels. There were boxes of bagels sitting atop 2 or 3 of those long, brown fold-up lunch tables, like in high school. One one side of the tables were volunteers giving out the bagels. On the other side of the tables was a long line of runners waiting to get a free bagel. A long line of runners.
I turned to my friend and said, "lets get a free bagel." He turned, looked at the line and said, "nah, forget it, line's too long."
I looked at him, puzzled. Pointed to the bagels and said, "lets just get a bagel - they're free." He pointed to the line and said, "yeah, but I don't want to wait."
And it was at that point, I realized he could never be an entrepreneur.
Entrepreneurs see the thing they want or need then try to figure out a process how to get it. People who shouldn't be entrepreneurs see the standard process they need to go through to get the thing they want or need then decide if they want to go through that process. My friend didn't want to stand in line, so he opted to abandon the bagel. I wanted the bagel, so I opted to avoid the line.
I could see that he would rather not have a bagel than break the rules. So I pushed him, "come on, we don't need to stand in line, lets just get a bagel." He refused. He pushed me back, "come on, lets just go...the line's too long."
Realizing we saw the world differently, I walked up to the tables, leaned through the line, put my hand in one of the boxes, pulled out two bagels and walked back to him with our breakfast. Not a single person in the line said anything to me or even seemed to care.
Entrepreneurs smile when I tell this story. Non-entrepreneurs like to tell me that I shouldn't do things like that, because if everyone did things like that, we'd have anarchy. And they'd be right...IF everyone had what it took to be an entrepreneur. But everyone doesn't. Which is why most people don't start their own businesses and why most people are perfectly fine to stand in line.
And this is why the whole system works. Because the two mindsets need each other. If no one ever broke the rules, then we'd never advance. But if a few people were willing to take the bagel, to break the rules in order to find or create a better process for the majority to follow...that's called progress.
The most successful entrepreneurs all start with WHY. Do you know your WHY? Pre-order Start With Why and find out WHY. And if you do, please order two and give one away to another entrepreneur you want to inspire.
