'Start with Why' by Simon Sinek
'Start with Why' by Simon Sinek

I read this book after having seen Simon Sinek’s TED talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action. It turns out, the TED talk is really all you need to watch. This book does little more than repeat that exact same message again and again.

Don’t get me wrong: that message is extraordinarily important. It’s something I keep in mind every single day as I build my company, as I work on talks, when I write blog posts, and so on. The talk conveys 99.9% of everything you need to know about this message in 20 minutes. The book tries to stretch it out across 250+ pages, and adds very little.

As always, I’ve saved my favorite quotes from the book:

“There are only two ways to influence human behavior: you can manipulate it or you can inspire it.”

“Happy employees ensure happy customers. And happy customers ensure happy shareholders—in that order.”

“Great companies don’t hire skilled people and motivate them, they hire already motivated people and inspire them.”

Rating: 3 stars