On Monday's 'Glenn Beck Program', author Simom Sinek joined Glenn to discuss his theory behind ‘the golden circle’ and his book Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t.
"There's a new era coming and things aren't going to be the same, at least if you want to be successful," Glenn said introducing Sinek.
How is one successful? In his book, Sinek details examples where companies transcend doing what is legally required and do what is morally right. He told Glenn the story of the Titanic, where the law only required that there be enough lifeboats for a quarter of the passengers on board. What happened? The Titanic hit an iceberg and 75% of the people onboard died because the owners decided to do what was legally required, not what was morally right.
Sinek also discusses companies that are culturally weak because they treat people as a disposable resource. Take a company that undertakes mass layoffs as a means of balancing the books.
"Now, forget about the people who have lost their jobs. Think about the people who kept their jobs. Think about the environment that that creates that every single person comes to work every single day knowing that they are disposable if the company doesn’t make its numbers. And what that does to us biologically, it actually makes us paranoid, cynical, mistrustful, and self-interested. And this is what you start to see in a lot of these organizations where self-interest trumps altruism or just service," Sinek said.
So what is a business supposed to do when it is trying to find the balance between financial solvency and accomplishing its larger goals?
"This is the importance of having vision in the world, which is when we know what we’re building towards, we understand that every single sort of quarter or year is purpose built. It’s in pursuit of, in service to, this higher purpose or higher calling or this greater vision that we have. Absent of vision, the only thing that we can see are the quarterly or the annual numbers, so we work towards the thing we can see," Sinek explained.
Coming back from a break, Glenn asked Sinek to talk about his past work and the importance of businesses finding their "Why" rather than a profit.
"What should your expectation be if it is to really change the world? Why is that better than somebody who would say to you to create this widget and make a bazillion dollars?" Glenn asked.
"Money is always a result, and the fact of the matter is as human beings, we want to feel like we belong to something bigger than ourselves. And what we find is that the greatest leaders are actually the best followers because as leaders, they see themselves in service to a purpose or a cause or a belief larger than themselves. And so all of their behaviors and all of their decisions are guided by this cause that they’re on, this pursuit, this journey. And so starting with why is an essential component of leadership because it’s the reason we would show up in the first place," Sinek said.
Watch the full interview below:
Part 1:
Part 2: