Start With Why

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    First published in the United States of America by Portfolio, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. 2009 This paperback edition with a new preface and new afterword published 2011
     

     
Copyright © Simon Sinek, 2009 All rights reserved
     
    “The Sneetches” from The Sneetches and Other Stories by Dr. Seuss. Trademark TM and
copyright © by Dr. Seuss Enterprises, L.P. 1953, 1954, 1961, renewed 1989. All rights reserved.
Used by permission of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc. and
International Creative Management, Inc., agents for Dr. Seuss Enterprises, L.P.
     
    Sinek, Simon.
    Start with why : how great leaders inspire everyone to take action / by Simon Sinek. p. cm.
    Includes bibliographical references and index.
    ISBN : 978-1-101-14903-4

    1. Leadership. I. Title.
    HD57.7.S549 2009
    658.4’092—dc22
    2009021862
     

     
     
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For Victoria,
who finds good ideas
and makes them great

There are leaders and there are those who lead.
Leaders hold a position of power or influence.
Those who lead inspire us.
     
    Whether individuals or organizations, we follow those
who lead not because we have to, but because we want to.
We follow those who lead not for them, but for ourselves.
     
    This is a book for those who want to inspire others and
for those who want to find someone to inspire them.

PREFACE
    THE POWER OF WHY
    When I first discovered this thing called the WHY, it came at a time in my life when I needed it. It wasn’t an academic or intellectual pursuit; I had fallen out of love with my work and found myself in a very dark place. There was nothing wrong with the quality of my work or my job, per se; it was the enjoyment I had for that work that I’d lost. By all superficial measurements, I should have been happy. I made a good living. I worked with great clients. The problem was, I didn’t feel it. I was no longer fulfilled by my work and I needed to find a way to rekindle my passion.
    The discovery of WHY completely changed my view of the world and discovering my own WHY restored my passion to a degree multiple times greater than at any other time in my life. It was such a simple, powerful, and actionable idea, that I shared it with my friends. That’s what we do when we find something of value, we share it with the people we love. Inspired, my friends started making big life changes. In turn, they invited me to share this idea with their friends, the people they loved. And so the idea started to spread.
    It was at this point I decided to turn myself into the guinea pig. It didn’t seem right that I would share or promote a concept that I didn’t practice myself. So I was going to practice it as wholly as I could. The only reason I am where I am today, this