Simon Sinek and Ted Talks

Strategy As Sinek (2010) explains, “people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.” What this means for leaders in an organization is that vision is what matters most. Giving people a reason to understand why an organization is operating is paramount to fostering a connection with them. People act according to reason and when they are given a “why” they are given that reason upon which they can act.

An organization that simply approaches people and tells them what they do and how they do it is an organization that’s intended strategy will not match its realized strategy. In order to have one’s realized strategy correlated with one’s intended strategy, the organization must communicate to stakeholders from the inside-out rather than from the outside-in.

In other words, it must explain the “why” before it explains the “what” and the “how.” In my own life I can see that in different times I have engaged in both types of approaches: when I have been inspired by an idea and felt motivated to act on it and to share it with others, I have always begun the conversation with the “why”—I might identify a need for a change in my life and explain it to friends and family and through this explanation I could always count on their support and consideration.

I would be empowered by the reason within myself and would communicate that reason to others. They could then get on board with it and give me the support I needed to make the change effectively. I did this when I made up my mind to go to school. I recognized the need and I understood the “why” and I communicated it to those around me so that they too could understand. Following that, they supported my decision and encouraged me to continue on with my education.

My intended strategy (going to school) was the same as my realized strategy (I went to school). Without the support and encouragement that I received from friends and family I would not have been able to make this journey so far.

The reason I obtained their support was that I gave them a reason to believe in me: I presented them with the “why” instead of simply the “what.” Had I only told them that I was going to school and that I was going to do it by taking out a loan, they still would have been left with the question of why—why was I doing it.

They would have withheld their support because of their suspicion that I really had no clear reason for wanting to go to school and that I was most likely wasting my money. But by giving them my vision, I showed up front why it was important—and thus they were on board. Other times when I myself have not known the reason, my realized strategy has not met my intended strategy.

For instance, one year I decided I wanted to work so I applied for the first job I came across and was invited for an interview. The first question I was asked was, “Why do you want to work here?” I said I wanted to make money and that I would work hard to do it—but this was not the right answer because it did not really tell them what they wanted to know.

When they asked, “Why do you want to work here,” I heard, “What do you want from this job?”—i.e., I gave them the “what” but they wanted the “why.” I was communicating from the outside-in rather than from the inside-out. As Sinek (2010) shows, that is the wrong way to approach a stakeholder if you are expecting to positively impact.