Simon O. Sinek is an author best known for popularizing the concept of “the golden circle”, described by TED as “a simple but powerful model for inspirational leadership all starting with a golden circle and the question “Why?”‘. He joined the RAND Corporation in 2010 as an adjunct staff member, where he advises on matters of military innovation and planning. His first TEDx Talk on “How Great Leaders Inspire Action” is the 7th most viewed video on TED.com. His 2009 book on the same subject, Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action (2009) delves into what he says is a naturally occurring pattern, grounded in the biology of human decision-making, that explains why we are inspired by some people, leaders, messages and organizations over others.
In this video, Sinek notes that,
When we are in the right conditions, human beings are naturally trusting and cooperative. Think about how after a natural disaster, people all rush in to help strangers. However, in the wrong conditions, we become cynical, paranoid and selfish. The best organizations create conditions in which we naturally work together and help each other, whereas the worst do the opposite. The best part is that these “best conditions,” seem to mimic the conditions in which we lived 50,000 years ago. Simon will explain what it takes to create a culture in which we want to do our best to see our colleagues succeed.
