As we look towards the future, we may find ourselves accosted by questions about our businesses or our ability to lead... Maybe we are wondering: How do we make our dreams a reality? How do we get others to trust us, follow us and support us in our new ventures? How do we gain loyal customers or clients? In the typical style of one who's better with books than people, I turned to the renowned Simon Sinek and his international bestseller, Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action.

Start With Why is a book about leadership. In it, Sinek outlines the difference between incentivizing a following through common manipulations and inspiring a following through commitment to purpose.

Sinek uses a variety of different real life examples to bolster his argument for inspiration over manipulation, for a world in which leadership starts with the question of why we do what we do, rather than what specifically we do or how we do it. These examples range from Apple to the Wright brothers to Southwest Airlines and many more, and in each case, we can see the ways in which this sense of purpose has made people better leaders.

Maybe you haven't read Sinek's book but would like a condensed and helpful version of what it's all about. Well, that's what I'm here for. As was the case with Zero to One, I read this book so you don't have to. Read on for key takeaways to inspire you to be a better leader in the new year.

When it comes to being an inspiration leader, the key is to inspire people to follow you so that the connection is personal and you can earn people's loyalty. This is true in the case of trying to sell a product as much as it is in hiring and retaining your best employees. As Sinek writes:

"Those who truly lead are able to create a following of people who act not because they were swayed, but because they were inspired. For those who are inspired, the motivation to act is deeply personal."

If I am inspired by the message of Apple to lead an unconventional life - if that's something that resonates with me - I'm more likely to want to purchase an Apple computer than a similar computer made by Dell or HP, even if Apple is twice the price.

We make decisions based on what we think we know - our perceptions - erroneous though they may well be. Often, there may be something we are missing - the possible key ingredient to success - but we won't necessarily notice it or figure out what's absent.

In the opening of Start With Why, Simon Sinek tells the story of a group of American automobile executives who traveled to Japan to see the assembly line of a certain Japanese car manufacturer. They discovered that one role was missing - that of the person with the hammer who made sure that the car doors fitted properly. When they asked why this person was not present, they discovered that the Japanese car manufacturers made sure that the door fitted from the start - back at the design phase - so they didn't need this role at all. It was something the Americans hadn't considered, and without this new information, they wouldn't have realized the flaw in their own system. Sometimes, the trick is to find a new perspective.

We make decisions based on what we think we know - our perceptions - erroneous though they may well be.

When it comes to selling a product, many businesses fall for the appealing trap of manipulation. Manipulation is an easy sales trick and it need not be treated as a pejorative. However, there's a better way to sell products.

Typical manipulations include:

Just because manipulation works doesn't mean it's the way to go. Maybe you'll snag a few extra customers with your Black Friday special but they won't necessarily be the ones who will remain loyal to your brand. That's really the key.

For loyalty, you need to move past manipulation to inspiration. And, yes, you guessed it - that means starting with why.

In order to understand why Sinek is so focused on inspiration in business, we need to look at how humans are wired to make decisions. The limbic brain is the part of the brain responsible for making decisions. But it cannot use language. The so-called "gut feeling" or "following your heart" is actually located neither in the gut nor the heart; it's in the limbic brain.

The limbic brain is where we make our so-called "gut" decisions, and these decisions are based on feeling, not rationality. If you're protesting now that you're a very rational person and have a rational explanation for every decision you've made, that's all fine. People have a tendency to rationalize their decisions after the fact, but even so, the decisions based on the limbic brain aren't rational.

Someone might tell you they bought the latest iPhone because they wanted better features, but they really wanted a sense of belonging, shared values, and something that makes them feel good. Perhaps a sense of prestige. Whatever it was that their limbic brain was attracted to, they found it in the marketing of that iPhone.

The limbic brain is where we make our so-called "gut" decisions and these decisions are based on feeling, not rationality.

Sinek uses the example of laundry detergents attempting to find what exactly their customers were after to illustrate the way we make decisions. In the case of laundry detergent, researchers found that although consumers said they wanted detergents that made their whites whiter and brights brighter, what they really wanted was a detergent that made them feel clean - something that smelled fresh and inviting. With advertising focused on the smell of freshness, detergents were likely to do better than with any advert showing just how white their white sheets were after washing.

Why isn't a practical, rational thing. Why precedes rationality. We can try to rationalize why we like something, why we exclusively use Apple Macs, or even why we married the person we did, but we can never fully articulate this in logical terms. The limbic brain is good at making decisions but not expressing these decisions linguistically.

Sinek focuses a lot on the need for businesses to build trust with their consumers. In this way, selling is a lot like going on a first date. In both instances, you are trying to make a case for why this person should be interested - in your product or in yourself. And many sales pitches and first dates flop for similar reasons, such as making a bad first impression or coming across as insincere.

When selling your product, you need to make a good first impression. Before your first date, you'll take a shower, brush your hair, and pick out a nice outfit. When selling, you want to be well turned out too. Not just in terms of looks but in terms of how you present your company and your product.

It's no surprise by now that the next tip Sinek gives us is to talk about why - your values. While the features you offer may be attractive initially, these don't create loyal repeat customers. And they don't build trust. What builds this is your sense of purpose. Save the bells and whistles till after your sense of why. (And save the boasts about your fancy car until after you've discussed what makes you tick.)

2021 was dubbed the "Great Resignation". After more than a year of lockdowns, working from home, and all the other upheavals of the pandemic, people began to see the world differently. They began to see their jobs differently, and for many, what they had was not enough. In the spirit of "carpe diem" or "YOLO", they quit their humdrum jobs in search of something more. This reality occurred nearly a decade after Sinek's book was published but it only reinforces his argument. What the "Great Resigners" are after now is not just something that'll put food on the table and pay the rent; they're looking for a sense of why.

Sinek recommends hiring people who share your values, your why. If your company is all about making an impact, hire people who want to leave a mark. By employing people who fit your company culture, you're more likely to maintain that clear sense of why, and you'll all be working with the same sense of purpose.

If you're an accountant, you may also want to read our article about tackling the accounting staffing problem.

Simon Sinek argues that the career paths people end up following are incidental. It doesn't really matter what you do, at the end of the day; what matters is why you do it.

Sinek recommends hiring people who share your values, your why.

The Golden Circle sums up the premise of Sinek's book. You start with why at the center of your circle and then move outwards to how and then to what. This works alongside the Law of Diffusion of Innovation, a law which speaks to the order in which consumers adopt new technology, products, or services.

First popularized by communications professor, Everett Rogers in his 1962 book, Diffusions of Innovations, the law of diffusion of innovations divides the consumer market into 5 sections according to their willingness to buy something new:

The innovators are those who are most excited to try new ideas and innovations, even if there's not yet any proof that they work. These are the kind of people who will stand in a queue for hours just to be among the first to buy the new Apple Watch - even if they're not sure it'll work.

The early adopters are happy to follow the lead of the innovators once they've seen that this product is valuable. You want early adopters on board with your new offering as they are opinion leaders with the status of go-to people in their area of interest. Early adopters are able to influence others' purchasing decisions.

The trick, according to Sinek, is to appeal to the loyalty of innovators and early adopters. Appeal to their sense of why and they will eventually influence others to follow suit. If you focus on the more conservative middle sections of the market, your new product is unlikely to gain traction.

You may need to start with why, but there's no use having a why without a how. Inspiring leaders wouldn't be able to achieve their wild ideas without the assistance of their more practical-minded peers.

"In every case of a great charismatic leader who ever achieved anything of significance, there was always a person or small group lurking in the shadows who knew HOW to take the vision and make it a reality. Dr. King had a dream. But no matter how inspiring a dream may be, a dream that cannot come to life stays a dream." - Simon Sinek

In the case of Dr. King, he needed the help of Ralph Abernathy, his one-time mentor, long-time friend, and financial secretary, to give people the steps they needed to take to fight for racial justice. In the case of Walt Disney, it was his older and more financially-minded brother, Roy. No leader, no matter how inspired, can go it alone.

Setting aside Sinek's book for a moment, I'd look closer to home at the case of Syft Analytics. Back in 2016, Vangelis Kyriazis was running his own accountancy practice and noticed that many of his small business clients were struggling to make good business decisions with their financial data. What Vangelis wanted to do was find a way to make financial data simple so that anyone could use it to make informed decisions.

He had a vision of software that could simplify accounting data, visualize it, and empower businesses to take action. But Vangelis couldn't build this software by himself. He had a sense of why it should exist and what it should result in but not all the details of how to get there. So, he approached an ex-colleague, Matt Stephanou, who worked in IT, and asked for help making the software a reality. Vangelis also approached his brother, Ele, for help making Syft a reality.

Between the three of them, Syft was transformed from a dream to a world-class app that helps businesses worldwide. They went from why - helping small businesses understand their accounting data - to how - through data analytics, machine learning, automation, and beautiful graphs and reports - to what - Syft Analytics.

Syft transformed from a dream to a world-class app that helps businesses all over the world.

We are more likely to trust a person than a corporation. The opinion of a good friend sways us more than the pizazz of a TV commercial. This is because people's values resonate with us and, when companies lose touch with the values people care about most, they lose touch with their audience.

We may not always have the words for why we choose to buy the things we do, what feeling connected us with a certain brand and not another. It's that limbic brain in action. We go with the option that feels right first and find logical justifications later.

When you have a clear sense of why you are doing what you are doing, you'll attract people that share that why. You make it personal to them. The key to success isn't simply money, skills, or a great idea. You need to have good leadership in place - leadership that inspires loyalty and action.

The whole book can be summed up as follows: To inspire others, start with why and then find the people who know how to get you to what you want. It's much easier to offer manipulations than inspiration. And manipulations work - in the short term. To gain loyalty and trust, you need to have a clear sense of purpose as the backbone of everything you do.

Which leads me back to why I wrote this article: to help you make better business decisions as an employer or employee. To work with inspiration in all you do, all you need is a little introspection, a little question of why.

*The cover image of this blog comes from here.