an entrepreneur sees what they want and
they set out to get it an entrepreneur
sees the things that prevent them from
getting what they want and that’s the
difference that’s the difference at the
end of the day an entrepreneur is a
problem solver they are not turned off
by long lines they are not turned off by
things that will get in the way they are
not turned off by things that will make
things difficult they see what they want
and they find a way to get it they don’t
do it in a way that hurts anybody they
don’t do it in a way that denies anybody
else their desire to get what they want
they don’t judge others for doing it the
other way they might make them
uncomfortable but they don’t judge them
but they get what they want but first
they have to know what they want and the
question is what do you want you want to
build a business you need employees if
you have employees you have people are
gonna help your business think about it
at the end of the day you’re asking them
to help build your dream you’re asking
them to come on board and help you get
what you want even if they’re not
employees they’re just friends support
is why should they help you this is what
it means to be a leader so let’s define
a leader what is a leader a leader is
just that it’s one who leads but a
leader to be a leader must have
followers you’re not a leader unless
there are those who volunteer to follow
you you cannot force someone to follow
you they have to choose to follow you
whether they’re customers or employees
friends investors supporters they choose
they volunteer to help you get what you
want why should they why should they
bother what leaders do is they inspire
people to be a part of what they’re
doing they inspire people to follow in
the direction that they’re
at the end of the day there are only two
ways to influence human behavior
you can either manipulate it or you can
inspire it those are your options we all
know how manipulation works the
manipulation in business right you drop
your price low enough people will do
business with you this is the concept
behind a sale things a price to move it
works its manipulative promotions two
for one free toy inside or if you in the
b2b space we call it value added same
idea its promotion it’s giving stuff
away for free to reduce someone’s risk
so they’ll choose you over the
competition we see manipulation a lot in
marketing fear wonderful manipulator any
parents on the audience you know exactly
what I’m talking about
fear is a wonderful manipulator you can
get people do all kinds of things we’re
often told you have to be aspirational
yes it’s good to be positive but it’s
still a manipulation I like to joke that
you can get people to join the gym with
an aspirational message but to get them
to go three days a week that requires a
little bit of inspiration or what a lot
of organizations like to call innovation
it’s really novelty right because real
innovation changes the course of
industries of not society the fax
machine the microwave the light bulb
iTunes that’s real innovation adding a
camera to your cell phone wonderful
feature not an innovation
it is stressful to be a consumer these
days it is stressful to try to decide
what to buy when you are bombarded day
after day with manipulation from all
kinds of organizations which TV should I
buy which cell phone company should I go
with with which IT solution should I get
from my office it’s called stress
stressful to be a seller as well however
in the face of bombardment of
manipulation and manipulation
manipulation is that that’s that’s the
market place how do you get your message
to stand out how do you get your message
heard why should anyone listen to you
this is the world we live in today it’s
called stress again I cannot dispute
that every one of those manipulations
work they do that’s why companies use
them the problem is none of them breed
loyalty there’s an alternative
it’s called inspiration and there are a
few leaders and a few organizations that
rely vastly more in inspiration the
manipulation I’ll talk about some of the
big ones we know who they are Apple
computers Southwest Airlines Harley
Davidson virgin every single one of
these organizations these leaders those
with the ability to inspire they have
the most loyal employees they have the
most loyal customers they can charge a
premium if they want to they’re more
profitable they’re more innovative my
definition and most importantly they can
sustain all these things for the long
term what I discovered is that
regardless of their size and regardless
of their industry every single one of
these organizations with the capacity to
inspire they all think act and
communicate the exact same way and it’s
the complete opposite to everyone else
all I did was write it down and it’s
probably the world’s simplest idea I
call it the Golden Circle
imagine if you will three concentric
circles a bull’s-eye in the middle is
the word y in the center ring is the
word how and the outside ring is the
word what it’s this little idea that
distinguishes those with a capacity to
inspire versus everyone else will need
to find the terms really quickly
starting from the outside in every
single organization on the planet knows
what they do these are the products you
sell or the services you offer some know
how they do it
whether you call it your differentiating
value proposition or your USP or your
proprietary process it’s the things that
you think make you special or different
or better than your competition but very
very few people in very very few
organizations can clearly state why they
do what they do
and by why I don’t mean to make money
that’s a result by why I mean what’s
your purpose what’s your cause what’s
your belief why does your company exist
why did you get out of bed this morning
and why should anyone care as a result
the way we think the way we act the way
we communicate is from the outside and
it’s obvious we go from the clearest
thing to the fuzziest thing we tell
people what we do we tell them how we’re
different or how we’re better and we
expect some sort of behavior a purchase
a vote support but not the inspired
leaders not the inspired organizations
regardless of their size regardless of
their industry every single one of them
thinks acts and communicates from the
inside out they all start with Y let me
give you an example I use Apple a lot
because they’re easy to understand and
we all get it if Apple were like
everyone else piece of marketing from
them for example would sound like this
they would say what they do we make
great computers how do they do it
they’re beautifully designed simple to
use and user friendly want to buy one
that’s normal
that’s how most organizations talk to us
here’s our new car it’s got tinted
windows get great gas mileage leather
seats choose us here’s our law firm our
lawyers went to all the best schools we
want to love our cases choose us but not
the inspired leaders not Apple they
start with why here’s how they actually
communicate everything we do they say we
believe in challenging the status quo we
believe in thinking differently the way
we challenge the status quo is by making
our products beautifully designed simple
to use and user friendly we just happen
to make great computers wanna buy one
totally different totally different no
trickery no manipulations no celebrity
endorsements all I did was reverse the
order of the information what it starts
to show us is that it’s not what you do
that matters it’s why you do it people
don’t buy what you do they buy why you
do it and what you do simply serves as
the tangible proof of what you believe
this is the reason why every single
person in this room is perfectly
comfortable buying a computer from Apple
we’re perfectly comfortable with the
idea that Apple makes mp3 players and
phones and DVRs newsflash Apple is just
a company that’s all they are it’s a
corporate structure they have some good
products and some bad ones all of their
competitors have equal and open access
to the same resources the same agencies
the same consultants the same media the
same talent it is a zero-sum game every
single one of their competitors is
equally qualified to make every product
that Apple makes and yet how is it that
this one company has an unbalanced
amount of influence an unbalanced
ability to innovate an unbalanced amount
of profitability an unbalanced amount of
loyalty amongst their customers and
their employees the difference is they
haven’t defined themselves by what they
do they’ve defined themselves by why
they do it and what they do simply
serves the tangible proof of what they
believe Dell is a good company that
makes good products and as every little
bit qualified to make every product that
Apple makes a few years ago they came
out with PDAs and mp3 players and nobody
bought one why would we buy an mp3
player from a computer company it
doesn’t make sense but we do it every
day
the difference is Dell has defined
themselves by what they do and Apple has
defined themselves by why they exist for
this little idea to work you have to
have three things one you have to know
why you do what you do if you don’t know
why you do what you do how will anyone
else – you have to have discipline of
how you have to hold yourself and your
people accountable to your values and
your guiding principles
and thirdly you have to have consistency
of what everything you say and
everything you do everything must prove
what you believe at the end of the day
why is just a belief that’s all it is
house are the actions we take to realize
that belief and what’s are the results
of those actions the things we say the
things we do our products and services
and marketing etc and if what you say
and what you do doesn’t show what you
believe that no one will know what you
believe this is the concept behind
authenticity I’m tired and bored of
people standing on stages telling us all
we have to be authentic how do you
implement authenticity if you would when
you go back to your office a little more
than testing everything you do
appreciate it thanks no clue what
authenticity means is that the things
you say and the things you do you
actually believe this is caveman stuff
the reason the human race is so
successful is not because we’re the
strongest it’s not even because with a
smartest it’s because we’re social
animals it’s because we have the ability
to form cultures and communities what’s
a culture what’s a community it’s a
group of people with a common set of
values and beliefs
what’s a company it’s a group of people
with a common set of values and beliefs
our need to be amongst people who
believe what I believe what we believe
is essential our survival depends on it
we cannot survive our arts by ourselves
out in the wilderness
it is our communities that protect us
and look after us and are the reason the
human race succeeds when you are
surrounded by people who believe what
you believe something remarkable happens
Trust emerges make no mistake of it
trust is a feeling it is a human
experience simply doing everything you
promised your going to do does not mean
people will trust you just means you’re
responsible we all have friends were
total screw-ups and yet we still trust
them
Trust is a feeling and it comes from
that common set of values and beliefs
and when you are surrounded by people
who trust you and you trust them more
likely to take a risk you’re more likely
to explore you’re more likely to
innovate you’re more likely to leave the
cave to go hunting saber-toothed Tigers
with the confidence that those and your
community will look after your stuff and
protect your children while you’re gone
your survival depends on your ability to
form trust and trust can only be formed
when you’re surrounded by people who
believe what you believe and you can
only be surrounded by people who believe
what you believe if you know why you do
what you do how many of you either love
your macintosh computer or know somebody
who loves their macintosh computer ok
good bunch of you you can always tell
people who love their Macs
because when you try and convince them
that they actually bought substandard
computers they start foaming at the
rationally speaking apples are
substandard they are they’re at least 25
percent more expensive sometimes double
the price of their PC counterparts
there’s less software there’s fewer
peripherals and I know because I
switched to a Mac they are absolutely
slower than PCs substandard and yet
people who buy them don’t even compare
to the competition
they don’t do market research and try
and figure out which is the best
computer they’ve decided they’re only
gonna get a Mac and they buy them over
and over and over again and there are
young kids living on cup of noodles
because they can’t afford anything more
and yet it’s totally ok to spend $2,000
on a laptop this doesn’t make sense
there’s something deeper there’s
something deeper happening here Apple
stands for something the people who are
drawn to Apple the people who believe in
the same things that Apple believes do
so not because the computers rationally
better it’s because it becomes a symbol
one of the things that they do that
reflects their own beliefs every
decision we make in our lives as
individuals or organizations is a piece
of communication it tells the outside
world something about who we are it’s
the way we get the word out there are
people who walk around with
harley-davidson logos on their bodies
it’s a corporate logo some of them don’t
even own the product but it’s no longer
a logo because Harley is so clear and
why they do what they do and what they
believe and they’re so disciplined on
how they do it and they’re so consistent
in what they do what ends up happening
is everything they say and everything
they do their products their logos
become symbols symbols of a set of
values and beliefs and the person who
puts that Harley logo there it’s nothing
to do with the motorcycle they’re
telling you something about who they are
this is the reason why people with Apple
laptops love opening their laptops on
airports they want everybody to see and
you’ll never see somebody with an Apple
laptop put a big tiger print sticker
over the top of their computer it’ll
never happen
take a PC we don’t care what computer
you’re using and you put stickers all
never it’s a piece of communication the
clearer you are about what you believe
the more disciplined you are about how
you do things and the more consistent
you are and what you do everything you
say and everything you do then becomes a
symbol for that set of values and
beliefs it’s biology it’s biology if you
look at a cross-section of the human
brain looking from the top down
the human brain evolved into three major
areas that corresponds with this little
idea the outside area the what level is
our newest brain our homo sapien brain
called our neocortex the neocortex is
responsible for all of our rational and
analytical thought and language the
middle two sections wine how make up our
limbic brains our limbic brains are
responsible for all of our feelings like
trust and loyalty it’s also responsible
for all human behavior all
decision-making and it has no capacity
for language in other words you can’t
ask your customers why do you do
business with us they can’t tell you the
part of the brain that controls behavior
does not control language and so we
rationalize price service quality
features right but if you invest all
your money and price service quality
features how come you don’t win all the
customers and how come sometimes when
you’re not the best price service
quality features you still have loyal
customers there’s something deeper going
on this is the reason when you ask those
people who love their max why do you
love your Mac they can’t tell you what
you see I’m the kind of person who likes
to challenge the status quo and so it’s
very important for me to surround myself
with the people and the products and the
brands that prove to the outside world
who I believe I am biologically that’s
what happened but it happened in the
part of the brain that controls feelings
but not language the part of the brain
that controls decision-making
and so they rationalize it’s the
user-interface
it’s the simplicity it’s the design I’m
a creative person whatever that means
it’s the same for us it’s the same for
in other circumstances why do you love
your husband why do you love your wife
that’s a difficult question why do you
love your wife I don’t know that’s
usually where most people start right
and then they start rationalizing she’s
fun she’s always been there for me I can
count on her it sounds like a Golden
Retriever and those aren’t necessarily
the conditions for marriage my sister
says of my brother-in-law I love this
it’s supposed to be a compliment
this is my brother-in-law I never
imagined I’d marry a guy like him what
she’s saying is when I was younger and I
made a checklist of all the things that
I wanted my future husband what what
what he has none of them but I love him
and I want to have children with him and
I want to spend the rest of my life with
him it’s not rational we just think it’s
rational and again the part of the brain
that controls behavior and
decision-making and feelings doesn’t
control language this is where gut
decisions come from this is why we say I
don’t know it just felt right why do we
use the verb to feel to describe a
decision it’s because the part of the
brain that controls feelings controls
decision-making that’s why there is no
part of your stomach that controls
decision-making and it didn’t happen in
your blood and it’s not in your bones
and you’re not following your heart we
ascribe it to all different parts of the
body because we can’t find the words it
just feels right and we all know that
those are higher quality decisions
anyway when all you can give her the
facts and figures as to why you should
or shouldn’t do in some do something the
highest level of confidence you can give
is I think this is the right decision
that would be biologically accurate but
we all know
they work up there are decisions we make
in our lives that I know the facts and
figures say that we should do that just
doesn’t feel right though and you asked
the most successful entrepreneurs in the
world what’s your secret they all say
the same thing
trusted my gut trusted my gut and when
things didn’t go well I knew I should
have trusted my gut problem is it’s not
scalable not scalable we all have the
innate ability to find people who
believe what we believe our survival
depends on it we are human animals we
know how to do this if I ask you to go
out in the street and find all the
people who believe what you believe you
know exactly what to do you’re gonna go
up to somebody and you’re gonna strike
up a conversation maybe you have good
chemistry right maybe you have to talk
them a little longer and you’ll get a
feeling for the minute I’ll either be
right or wrong right it’s called dating
it’s called making friends it’s called
interviewing we know how to do this we
know how to do this it’s not scalable
but if I ask you to go out on the street
and find all the people wearing red hats
easy there’s one there’s one there’s one
there’s one there’s one instantaneously
you can find the people who believe what
you believe because they’re putting out
symbols of their own beliefs you people
who love your Apple computers don’t lie
to me I know when you’re walking through
the airport you see some 16 year old
sitting on the floor you know on her Mac
laptop you walk past you go okay
some stranger just said hi to me tweet
[Applause]
it’s because when you see that symbol
that Apple that glowing Apple you’re
like oh how many of you are from the Las
Vegas area anybody couple of you okay
are you friends with everybody from Las
Vegas why not but when you go to Texas
and somebody says I’m from Las Vegas
you’re like hey hey I’m from Las Vegas
and your best friends and when you were
in France on your own vacation and you
happen to hear an American accent and
you go hey away from we’re from Texas
we’re from Las Vegas and you’re best
friends and the reason is is because the
most basic human desire on the planet is
to feel like we belong our survival
depends on it and when we are in an
environment where we know we don’t
belong we seek out anyone who may have
some of the same values and beliefs that
we have so we can form trust we can rely
on each other watch each other’s backs
simply because we share the same values
and beliefs and as you get closer and
closer and closer you want to find those
people who believe what you believe
knowing what you believe means that you
can look for the symbols that Apple logo
says something that harley-davidson logo
says something and you’re either drawn
leadership
is when you have the ability to stand on
the street corner and put on your own
red hat and simply stand there and go I
got a red hat I got a red hat I got a
red hat and all the other people walking
past even though they can’t see their
own red hats even though they don’t know
their why they’re eerily drawn to you
they’re really drawn to you
there’s an inextricable link between
leadership and communication those who
lead are the ones who can clearly
communicate what they believe and those
who can clearly communicate what they
believe are the ones who lead and the
reason is simple is because when you
talk about what you believe and you put
your beliefs and your values and clear
words or symbols consistent enough
authentic enough that I know that
everything you say and do represents
what you believe I will be drawn to you
for myself for my own survival doing
business with you working for you being
your friend
says something about Who I am the goal
is not to do business with everybody who
needs what you have the goal is to do
business with people who believe what
you believe people who believe what you
believe will work for you with blood and
sweat and tears people who don’t believe
what you believe work for your money the
same is true for customers those who
believe what you believe will go out of
their way to do business with you those
who don’t believe what you believe just
want a cheaper there’s a huge difference
between repeat business and loyalty
repeat business means I’m willing to do
business with you over and over and over
again
loyalty means I’m willing to turn down a
better product at a better price maybe
even suffer inconvenience to continue to
do business with you
the ones who you just happen to meet
some price standard you happen to meet
some rational objectors that they’re
looking for they’ll do business with you
anyway if you happen to meet them why
would you ever focus on trying to
appease them they come and go
it’s the loyal ones the people who
believe what you believe the ones who
stick with you through thick and thin
because doing business with you says
more about them than it does about you
those are the ones that matter most and
the reason is simple it’s because of
something called the law of diffusion of
innovations the bell curve if you don’t
know the law of diffusion you definitely
know the terminology if you look at the
Bell when it says the first
two-and-a-half percent of our population
are our innovators the next 13.5 percent
of our population are our early adopters
the next 34% our early majority the next
34% are a late majority and the last 16%
at the end of the bell are our laggards
the only reason the laggards by
touch-tone phones is because you can’t
buy rotary phones anymore we all fit at
various times for various reasons across
the scale what the law of diffusion
tells us is that early adopter an
innovator population the left side of
the bell right the early adopter an
innovator side of the population they’re
very comfortable trusting their guts
they’re very comfortable making
intuitive decisions and they’re willing
to pay premiums and suffer inconvenience
and be a part of something that reflects
their beliefs these are the people that
bought that stood in line for six hours
to buy iPhones when they first came out
even though you could just walk into the
store the following week and just buy
one off the shelf these the people who
spent 40 or 50 thousand dollars on
flat-screen TVs when they first came out
even though the technology was
substandard and had nothing to do with
the technology it had to do with them
they wanted to be first people who
bought iPhone fours why couldn’t they
just keep their phone in their pocket
when the phone rings onto the phone when
they’re off the phone
put it away no I got one did you get one
you didn’t get one I got one they have
to show you the reason they have to show
you is cuz they’re telling you something
about who they are and other people who
got one first and they’re like oh you
got one – me – look isn’t it cool look
you both have one why’d you have to
compare it’s because they’re common set
of values and beliefs you found somebody
like you this is good this is good right
that’s that early adopter and innovator
population they’re willing to pay a
premium or suffer inconvenience to be a
part of something that reflects their
beliefs now the rest of the world the
majority is absolutely more cynical and
more practical absolutely
they absolutely care more about things
like price and quality and service and
features absolutely the problem is
according to the law of diffusion you
cannot have mass market success or mass
market acceptance for an idea until
you’ve achieved 15 to 18 percent market
penetration that is the tipping point
and the reason is is because the early
majority that first 34 percent will not
try something until someone else has
tried at first this is the reason we
have to drop our price and offer
promotions and offer value added because
we have to reduce their risk to do
business with us the innovator in the
early adopters happily pay premiums and
suffering convenience to do business
with you
the goal is to get to that tipping point
it’s easy law of averages so you says
you can get 10% I promise you right now
you have 10% who are loyal how do we
describe them they just get it don’t
know what that means
get what what’s it oh you know that
those other guys that guy he doesn’t get
it that’s how we describe them it’s like
gut feelings get what how do you find
the people who get it before you do
business with them how do you identify
the it’s how do you find the people
wearing the red hats before you waste
all your time and energy
you talk about what you believe I’ll
talk give you two examples a famous
failure and a famous success first the
famous failure Tebow if you ask most
companies
why did your product fail or why did
your company fail they usually give you
some combination of the same few reasons
right undercapitalized didn’t have
enough money that’s a big one
bad market conditions we have the wrong
people
poorly executed that pretty much
explains every failure there is some
combination of those those factors which
means if you have all of those that
means you should be instantaneously six
successful right okay so TiVo TiVo was
introduced into marketplace about nine
or ten years ago from the date was
introduced to this current day it is the
single best quality product on the
market hands-down undisputed his
technology’s way beyond any other DVR
system the best execution flawless
venture-capital up the wazoo
money no problem brilliant engineers on
board and had good people market
conditions remarkable the unaided
awareness of TiVo’s through the roof we
have t-bo’s a verb my Tivo stuff on my
piece of junk cable DVR right and if you
want to throw in first mover’s advantage
throw that into because they had that as
well
TiVo is a commercial and financial
failure they’ve never made money and
when their stock went public it launched
about forty or fifty dollars very
quickly plummeted and except for a
couple of little blips has never traded
above ten dollars TiVo is a commercial
and financial failure and the reason is
because when they launched this
brilliant product they attempted to tell
the mass the but the majority what their
product does they said to the majority
we have a product that pauses live TV
skips commercials memorizes your viewing
habits and records on your behalf
without you even asking and the cynical
practical majority said I don’t need it
I don’t like it
I don’t believe you you’re scaring me so
didn’t buy one a few did few early
adopters did 10% you know to this day
they love their TiVo’s but it wasn’t
enough to make the system tip you see
now imagine if TiVo had told that left
side that there’s early adopters and
those innovators that they had just
talked about why the product even exists
imagine a hey they have said if you’re
the kind of person who likes to have
total control over every aspect of your
life boy do we have a product for you it
pauses live TV it skips commercials it
memorizes your viewing habits and
records on your behalf without you even
asking in this instance what the product
does serves as the tangible proof of why
it exists is not the reason you use to
convince people to do business with you
in the first place people don’t buy what
you do they buy why you do it and what
you do serves is the tangible proof of
what you believe your company is one of
the things that you’re doing in your
life that proves who you are the more
you talk about what you believe the more
you talk about what you actually believe
the more likely you are to attract
people who believe what you believe
and they will help you because they want
to because they trust you here’s another
example my favorite one in the summer of
1963 250,000 people showed up on the
mall in Washington to hear dr. King give
his famous I have a dream speech there
were no invitations sent out there’s no
website to check the date how do you do
that how many emails did you get just to
show up here today I got 7 dr. King was
not the only man in America who knew
what had to change to bring about civil
rights in this country dr. King didn’t
have all great ideas some of his ideas
were bad he was not the only man who
suffered in a pre-civil Rights America
in fact he suffered a little less than
some because he was off at university
and he wasn’t the perfect man he had his
complexities but we just don’t talk
about those things
the difference is dr. King didn’t go
around telling people what we need to do
what we need to do what we need to do he
went around told people I believe I
believe I believe and people who
believed what he believed took his cause
and they made it their own
and they told people what they believed
and those people who believe what they
believed they took that same cause and
they made it their own
and they told people they believed and
some built structures to get the word
out more efficiently and lo and behold
on the right day on the right time a
quarter of a million people showed up to
hear him speak how many of them showed
up for him
zero they showed up for themselves it’s
what they believed about this country
it’s the country that they wanted to
live in it’s the country that they
wanted to raise their children and that
inspired them to get on a bus travel to
a towers and stand in the Sun in the
middle of Washington simply to hear dr.
King speak simply coming to the rally
was one of the things they did in their
lives to prove what they believed by the
way he gave the I have a dream speech
not the I have a planned speech it’s not
what you do that matters it’s why you do
it you cannot change the world to build
and build a multi-million dollar a
multi-billion dollar business by
yourself unscalable remember you and
your gut you can do very well not
scalable the only way to really grow is
to find those who believe what you
believe in are willing to work with you
with blood and sweat and tears to help
you get there do you know the story of
the two Stone layers these two stone
layers right you go to the first one to
say how do you like your job he says I
mean I like my job I’ve been working on
this wall for as long as I can remember
the stones are heavy the work is
back-breaking it’s monotonous I stand in
the scorching hot Sun all day and I
don’t even know if I’m going to finish
this wall in my lifetime it’s a job that
pays the bills
you go up to the second guy and say how
do you like your job he says I love my
job I’m building a cathedral sure I’ve
been building this wall for as long as I
can remember sure the stones are heavy
and the work is back-breaking and I
stand on a scorching hot Sun all day and
it’s monotonous and I don’t even know if
I’m gonna finish this wall in my
lifetime but I’m building a cathedral
what they do is exactly the same this
guy might even be a champion stone layer
the only difference is that only one of
them knows why he shows up to work every
day
and the guy who knows why does not see
himself as any more or less important
than the architect or the guy doing the
stained-glass windows a landscaper they
are all contributing to building
something that they believe in that’s
bigger than themselves a leader is
somebody who can put into words that
which does not exist yet the leader is
the one who stands there and says in
beautiful crystal-clear words and he
describes that cathedral that hasn’t
been built in words so clear that others
can take that image and they can pass it
on to others why are you working so hard
because I believe in that we’re building
a cathedral what Cathedral let me tell
you are you describing your Cathedral
you’re just telling people the wall at
your building the reason everybody
showed up here is because together we’re
gonna build a cathedral we are all
contributing to a world that we would
rather live in if the leaders of this
organization that are describing that
world a world in which we are in control
of our lives a world in which we live
the life that we believe we deserve
shouldn’t we all get that it’s the
reason I showed up here here’s a
statistic for you over 90 percent of
people go home feeling unfulfilled by
their work that’s a real statistic
ninety percent don’t feel fulfilled when
they go home at the end of the day
I want to live in a world in which the
vast majority of people love what they
do I want to live in a world in which
the vast majority people do business
with companies that they trust and love
they work with people that they trust
and love and they go home happier
because of it people who go to work and
love what they do
come home happier people and happier
people treat their spouses better and
they treat their kids better and they go
back to work happy the next day and they
treat their colleagues better and they
treat their customers better and those
people go home happier and they treat
their kids better and their spouses
better it’s called world peace and it
happens because of the likes of all of
us this is called scale this is called
there are leaders and there are those
who lead leaders hold a position of
power or influence but those who lead
inspire us and whether they’re
individuals or organizations we follow
those who lead not because we have to
but because we want to we follow those
who lead not for them but for ourselves
this is for people who want to inspire
those around them or who want to find
somebody to inspire them I can say
without a doubt you inspire me thank you
very much [Music]
they set out to get it an entrepreneur
sees the things that prevent them from
getting what they want and that’s the
difference that’s the difference at the
end of the day an entrepreneur is a
problem solver they are not turned off
by long lines they are not turned off by
things that will get in the way they are
not turned off by things that will make
things difficult they see what they want
and they find a way to get it they don’t
do it in a way that hurts anybody they
don’t do it in a way that denies anybody
else their desire to get what they want
they don’t judge others for doing it the
other way they might make them
uncomfortable but they don’t judge them
but they get what they want but first
they have to know what they want and the
question is what do you want you want to
build a business you need employees if
you have employees you have people are
gonna help your business think about it
at the end of the day you’re asking them
to help build your dream you’re asking
them to come on board and help you get
what you want even if they’re not
employees they’re just friends support
is why should they help you this is what
it means to be a leader so let’s define
a leader what is a leader a leader is
just that it’s one who leads but a
leader to be a leader must have
followers you’re not a leader unless
there are those who volunteer to follow
you you cannot force someone to follow
you they have to choose to follow you
whether they’re customers or employees
friends investors supporters they choose
they volunteer to help you get what you
want why should they why should they
bother what leaders do is they inspire
people to be a part of what they’re
doing they inspire people to follow in
the direction that they’re
at the end of the day there are only two
ways to influence human behavior
you can either manipulate it or you can
inspire it those are your options we all
know how manipulation works the
manipulation in business right you drop
your price low enough people will do
business with you this is the concept
behind a sale things a price to move it
works its manipulative promotions two
for one free toy inside or if you in the
b2b space we call it value added same
idea its promotion it’s giving stuff
away for free to reduce someone’s risk
so they’ll choose you over the
competition we see manipulation a lot in
marketing fear wonderful manipulator any
parents on the audience you know exactly
what I’m talking about
fear is a wonderful manipulator you can
get people do all kinds of things we’re
often told you have to be aspirational
yes it’s good to be positive but it’s
still a manipulation I like to joke that
you can get people to join the gym with
an aspirational message but to get them
to go three days a week that requires a
little bit of inspiration or what a lot
of organizations like to call innovation
it’s really novelty right because real
innovation changes the course of
industries of not society the fax
machine the microwave the light bulb
iTunes that’s real innovation adding a
camera to your cell phone wonderful
feature not an innovation
it is stressful to be a consumer these
days it is stressful to try to decide
what to buy when you are bombarded day
after day with manipulation from all
kinds of organizations which TV should I
buy which cell phone company should I go
with with which IT solution should I get
from my office it’s called stress
stressful to be a seller as well however
in the face of bombardment of
manipulation and manipulation
manipulation is that that’s that’s the
market place how do you get your message
to stand out how do you get your message
heard why should anyone listen to you
this is the world we live in today it’s
called stress again I cannot dispute
that every one of those manipulations
work they do that’s why companies use
them the problem is none of them breed
loyalty there’s an alternative
it’s called inspiration and there are a
few leaders and a few organizations that
rely vastly more in inspiration the
manipulation I’ll talk about some of the
big ones we know who they are Apple
computers Southwest Airlines Harley
Davidson virgin every single one of
these organizations these leaders those
with the ability to inspire they have
the most loyal employees they have the
most loyal customers they can charge a
premium if they want to they’re more
profitable they’re more innovative my
definition and most importantly they can
sustain all these things for the long
term what I discovered is that
regardless of their size and regardless
of their industry every single one of
these organizations with the capacity to
inspire they all think act and
communicate the exact same way and it’s
the complete opposite to everyone else
all I did was write it down and it’s
probably the world’s simplest idea I
call it the Golden Circle
imagine if you will three concentric
circles a bull’s-eye in the middle is
the word y in the center ring is the
word how and the outside ring is the
word what it’s this little idea that
distinguishes those with a capacity to
inspire versus everyone else will need
to find the terms really quickly
starting from the outside in every
single organization on the planet knows
what they do these are the products you
sell or the services you offer some know
how they do it
whether you call it your differentiating
value proposition or your USP or your
proprietary process it’s the things that
you think make you special or different
or better than your competition but very
very few people in very very few
organizations can clearly state why they
do what they do
and by why I don’t mean to make money
that’s a result by why I mean what’s
your purpose what’s your cause what’s
your belief why does your company exist
why did you get out of bed this morning
and why should anyone care as a result
the way we think the way we act the way
we communicate is from the outside and
it’s obvious we go from the clearest
thing to the fuzziest thing we tell
people what we do we tell them how we’re
different or how we’re better and we
expect some sort of behavior a purchase
a vote support but not the inspired
leaders not the inspired organizations
regardless of their size regardless of
their industry every single one of them
thinks acts and communicates from the
inside out they all start with Y let me
give you an example I use Apple a lot
because they’re easy to understand and
we all get it if Apple were like
everyone else piece of marketing from
them for example would sound like this
they would say what they do we make
great computers how do they do it
they’re beautifully designed simple to
use and user friendly want to buy one
that’s normal
that’s how most organizations talk to us
here’s our new car it’s got tinted
windows get great gas mileage leather
seats choose us here’s our law firm our
lawyers went to all the best schools we
want to love our cases choose us but not
the inspired leaders not Apple they
start with why here’s how they actually
communicate everything we do they say we
believe in challenging the status quo we
believe in thinking differently the way
we challenge the status quo is by making
our products beautifully designed simple
to use and user friendly we just happen
to make great computers wanna buy one
totally different totally different no
trickery no manipulations no celebrity
endorsements all I did was reverse the
order of the information what it starts
to show us is that it’s not what you do
that matters it’s why you do it people
don’t buy what you do they buy why you
do it and what you do simply serves as
the tangible proof of what you believe
this is the reason why every single
person in this room is perfectly
comfortable buying a computer from Apple
we’re perfectly comfortable with the
idea that Apple makes mp3 players and
phones and DVRs newsflash Apple is just
a company that’s all they are it’s a
corporate structure they have some good
products and some bad ones all of their
competitors have equal and open access
to the same resources the same agencies
the same consultants the same media the
same talent it is a zero-sum game every
single one of their competitors is
equally qualified to make every product
that Apple makes and yet how is it that
this one company has an unbalanced
amount of influence an unbalanced
ability to innovate an unbalanced amount
of profitability an unbalanced amount of
loyalty amongst their customers and
their employees the difference is they
haven’t defined themselves by what they
do they’ve defined themselves by why
they do it and what they do simply
serves the tangible proof of what they
believe Dell is a good company that
makes good products and as every little
bit qualified to make every product that
Apple makes a few years ago they came
out with PDAs and mp3 players and nobody
bought one why would we buy an mp3
player from a computer company it
doesn’t make sense but we do it every
day
the difference is Dell has defined
themselves by what they do and Apple has
defined themselves by why they exist for
this little idea to work you have to
have three things one you have to know
why you do what you do if you don’t know
why you do what you do how will anyone
else – you have to have discipline of
how you have to hold yourself and your
people accountable to your values and
your guiding principles
and thirdly you have to have consistency
of what everything you say and
everything you do everything must prove
what you believe at the end of the day
why is just a belief that’s all it is
house are the actions we take to realize
that belief and what’s are the results
of those actions the things we say the
things we do our products and services
and marketing etc and if what you say
and what you do doesn’t show what you
believe that no one will know what you
believe this is the concept behind
authenticity I’m tired and bored of
people standing on stages telling us all
we have to be authentic how do you
implement authenticity if you would when
you go back to your office a little more
than testing everything you do
appreciate it thanks no clue what
authenticity means is that the things
you say and the things you do you
actually believe this is caveman stuff
the reason the human race is so
successful is not because we’re the
strongest it’s not even because with a
smartest it’s because we’re social
animals it’s because we have the ability
to form cultures and communities what’s
a culture what’s a community it’s a
group of people with a common set of
values and beliefs
what’s a company it’s a group of people
with a common set of values and beliefs
our need to be amongst people who
believe what I believe what we believe
is essential our survival depends on it
we cannot survive our arts by ourselves
out in the wilderness
it is our communities that protect us
and look after us and are the reason the
human race succeeds when you are
surrounded by people who believe what
you believe something remarkable happens
Trust emerges make no mistake of it
trust is a feeling it is a human
experience simply doing everything you
promised your going to do does not mean
people will trust you just means you’re
responsible we all have friends were
total screw-ups and yet we still trust
them
Trust is a feeling and it comes from
that common set of values and beliefs
and when you are surrounded by people
who trust you and you trust them more
likely to take a risk you’re more likely
to explore you’re more likely to
innovate you’re more likely to leave the
cave to go hunting saber-toothed Tigers
with the confidence that those and your
community will look after your stuff and
protect your children while you’re gone
your survival depends on your ability to
form trust and trust can only be formed
when you’re surrounded by people who
believe what you believe and you can
only be surrounded by people who believe
what you believe if you know why you do
what you do how many of you either love
your macintosh computer or know somebody
who loves their macintosh computer ok
good bunch of you you can always tell
people who love their Macs
because when you try and convince them
that they actually bought substandard
computers they start foaming at the
rationally speaking apples are
substandard they are they’re at least 25
percent more expensive sometimes double
the price of their PC counterparts
there’s less software there’s fewer
peripherals and I know because I
switched to a Mac they are absolutely
slower than PCs substandard and yet
people who buy them don’t even compare
to the competition
they don’t do market research and try
and figure out which is the best
computer they’ve decided they’re only
gonna get a Mac and they buy them over
and over and over again and there are
young kids living on cup of noodles
because they can’t afford anything more
and yet it’s totally ok to spend $2,000
on a laptop this doesn’t make sense
there’s something deeper there’s
something deeper happening here Apple
stands for something the people who are
drawn to Apple the people who believe in
the same things that Apple believes do
so not because the computers rationally
better it’s because it becomes a symbol
one of the things that they do that
reflects their own beliefs every
decision we make in our lives as
individuals or organizations is a piece
of communication it tells the outside
world something about who we are it’s
the way we get the word out there are
people who walk around with
harley-davidson logos on their bodies
it’s a corporate logo some of them don’t
even own the product but it’s no longer
a logo because Harley is so clear and
why they do what they do and what they
believe and they’re so disciplined on
how they do it and they’re so consistent
in what they do what ends up happening
is everything they say and everything
they do their products their logos
become symbols symbols of a set of
values and beliefs and the person who
puts that Harley logo there it’s nothing
to do with the motorcycle they’re
telling you something about who they are
this is the reason why people with Apple
laptops love opening their laptops on
airports they want everybody to see and
you’ll never see somebody with an Apple
laptop put a big tiger print sticker
over the top of their computer it’ll
never happen
take a PC we don’t care what computer
you’re using and you put stickers all
never it’s a piece of communication the
clearer you are about what you believe
the more disciplined you are about how
you do things and the more consistent
you are and what you do everything you
say and everything you do then becomes a
symbol for that set of values and
beliefs it’s biology it’s biology if you
look at a cross-section of the human
brain looking from the top down
the human brain evolved into three major
areas that corresponds with this little
idea the outside area the what level is
our newest brain our homo sapien brain
called our neocortex the neocortex is
responsible for all of our rational and
analytical thought and language the
middle two sections wine how make up our
limbic brains our limbic brains are
responsible for all of our feelings like
trust and loyalty it’s also responsible
for all human behavior all
decision-making and it has no capacity
for language in other words you can’t
ask your customers why do you do
business with us they can’t tell you the
part of the brain that controls behavior
does not control language and so we
rationalize price service quality
features right but if you invest all
your money and price service quality
features how come you don’t win all the
customers and how come sometimes when
you’re not the best price service
quality features you still have loyal
customers there’s something deeper going
on this is the reason when you ask those
people who love their max why do you
love your Mac they can’t tell you what
you see I’m the kind of person who likes
to challenge the status quo and so it’s
very important for me to surround myself
with the people and the products and the
brands that prove to the outside world
who I believe I am biologically that’s
what happened but it happened in the
part of the brain that controls feelings
but not language the part of the brain
that controls decision-making
and so they rationalize it’s the
user-interface
it’s the simplicity it’s the design I’m
a creative person whatever that means
it’s the same for us it’s the same for
in other circumstances why do you love
your husband why do you love your wife
that’s a difficult question why do you
love your wife I don’t know that’s
usually where most people start right
and then they start rationalizing she’s
fun she’s always been there for me I can
count on her it sounds like a Golden
Retriever and those aren’t necessarily
the conditions for marriage my sister
says of my brother-in-law I love this
it’s supposed to be a compliment
this is my brother-in-law I never
imagined I’d marry a guy like him what
she’s saying is when I was younger and I
made a checklist of all the things that
I wanted my future husband what what
what he has none of them but I love him
and I want to have children with him and
I want to spend the rest of my life with
him it’s not rational we just think it’s
rational and again the part of the brain
that controls behavior and
decision-making and feelings doesn’t
control language this is where gut
decisions come from this is why we say I
don’t know it just felt right why do we
use the verb to feel to describe a
decision it’s because the part of the
brain that controls feelings controls
decision-making that’s why there is no
part of your stomach that controls
decision-making and it didn’t happen in
your blood and it’s not in your bones
and you’re not following your heart we
ascribe it to all different parts of the
body because we can’t find the words it
just feels right and we all know that
those are higher quality decisions
anyway when all you can give her the
facts and figures as to why you should
or shouldn’t do in some do something the
highest level of confidence you can give
is I think this is the right decision
that would be biologically accurate but
we all know
they work up there are decisions we make
in our lives that I know the facts and
figures say that we should do that just
doesn’t feel right though and you asked
the most successful entrepreneurs in the
world what’s your secret they all say
the same thing
trusted my gut trusted my gut and when
things didn’t go well I knew I should
have trusted my gut problem is it’s not
scalable not scalable we all have the
innate ability to find people who
believe what we believe our survival
depends on it we are human animals we
know how to do this if I ask you to go
out in the street and find all the
people who believe what you believe you
know exactly what to do you’re gonna go
up to somebody and you’re gonna strike
up a conversation maybe you have good
chemistry right maybe you have to talk
them a little longer and you’ll get a
feeling for the minute I’ll either be
right or wrong right it’s called dating
it’s called making friends it’s called
interviewing we know how to do this we
know how to do this it’s not scalable
but if I ask you to go out on the street
and find all the people wearing red hats
easy there’s one there’s one there’s one
there’s one there’s one instantaneously
you can find the people who believe what
you believe because they’re putting out
symbols of their own beliefs you people
who love your Apple computers don’t lie
to me I know when you’re walking through
the airport you see some 16 year old
sitting on the floor you know on her Mac
laptop you walk past you go okay
some stranger just said hi to me tweet
[Applause]
it’s because when you see that symbol
that Apple that glowing Apple you’re
like oh how many of you are from the Las
Vegas area anybody couple of you okay
are you friends with everybody from Las
Vegas why not but when you go to Texas
and somebody says I’m from Las Vegas
you’re like hey hey I’m from Las Vegas
and your best friends and when you were
in France on your own vacation and you
happen to hear an American accent and
you go hey away from we’re from Texas
we’re from Las Vegas and you’re best
friends and the reason is is because the
most basic human desire on the planet is
to feel like we belong our survival
depends on it and when we are in an
environment where we know we don’t
belong we seek out anyone who may have
some of the same values and beliefs that
we have so we can form trust we can rely
on each other watch each other’s backs
simply because we share the same values
and beliefs and as you get closer and
closer and closer you want to find those
people who believe what you believe
knowing what you believe means that you
can look for the symbols that Apple logo
says something that harley-davidson logo
says something and you’re either drawn
leadership
is when you have the ability to stand on
the street corner and put on your own
red hat and simply stand there and go I
got a red hat I got a red hat I got a
red hat and all the other people walking
past even though they can’t see their
own red hats even though they don’t know
their why they’re eerily drawn to you
they’re really drawn to you
there’s an inextricable link between
leadership and communication those who
lead are the ones who can clearly
communicate what they believe and those
who can clearly communicate what they
believe are the ones who lead and the
reason is simple is because when you
talk about what you believe and you put
your beliefs and your values and clear
words or symbols consistent enough
authentic enough that I know that
everything you say and do represents
what you believe I will be drawn to you
for myself for my own survival doing
business with you working for you being
your friend
says something about Who I am the goal
is not to do business with everybody who
needs what you have the goal is to do
business with people who believe what
you believe people who believe what you
believe will work for you with blood and
sweat and tears people who don’t believe
what you believe work for your money the
same is true for customers those who
believe what you believe will go out of
their way to do business with you those
who don’t believe what you believe just
want a cheaper there’s a huge difference
between repeat business and loyalty
repeat business means I’m willing to do
business with you over and over and over
again
loyalty means I’m willing to turn down a
better product at a better price maybe
even suffer inconvenience to continue to
do business with you
the ones who you just happen to meet
some price standard you happen to meet
some rational objectors that they’re
looking for they’ll do business with you
anyway if you happen to meet them why
would you ever focus on trying to
appease them they come and go
it’s the loyal ones the people who
believe what you believe the ones who
stick with you through thick and thin
because doing business with you says
more about them than it does about you
those are the ones that matter most and
the reason is simple it’s because of
something called the law of diffusion of
innovations the bell curve if you don’t
know the law of diffusion you definitely
know the terminology if you look at the
Bell when it says the first
two-and-a-half percent of our population
are our innovators the next 13.5 percent
of our population are our early adopters
the next 34% our early majority the next
34% are a late majority and the last 16%
at the end of the bell are our laggards
the only reason the laggards by
touch-tone phones is because you can’t
buy rotary phones anymore we all fit at
various times for various reasons across
the scale what the law of diffusion
tells us is that early adopter an
innovator population the left side of
the bell right the early adopter an
innovator side of the population they’re
very comfortable trusting their guts
they’re very comfortable making
intuitive decisions and they’re willing
to pay premiums and suffer inconvenience
and be a part of something that reflects
their beliefs these are the people that
bought that stood in line for six hours
to buy iPhones when they first came out
even though you could just walk into the
store the following week and just buy
one off the shelf these the people who
spent 40 or 50 thousand dollars on
flat-screen TVs when they first came out
even though the technology was
substandard and had nothing to do with
the technology it had to do with them
they wanted to be first people who
bought iPhone fours why couldn’t they
just keep their phone in their pocket
when the phone rings onto the phone when
they’re off the phone
put it away no I got one did you get one
you didn’t get one I got one they have
to show you the reason they have to show
you is cuz they’re telling you something
about who they are and other people who
got one first and they’re like oh you
got one – me – look isn’t it cool look
you both have one why’d you have to
compare it’s because they’re common set
of values and beliefs you found somebody
like you this is good this is good right
that’s that early adopter and innovator
population they’re willing to pay a
premium or suffer inconvenience to be a
part of something that reflects their
beliefs now the rest of the world the
majority is absolutely more cynical and
more practical absolutely
they absolutely care more about things
like price and quality and service and
features absolutely the problem is
according to the law of diffusion you
cannot have mass market success or mass
market acceptance for an idea until
you’ve achieved 15 to 18 percent market
penetration that is the tipping point
and the reason is is because the early
majority that first 34 percent will not
try something until someone else has
tried at first this is the reason we
have to drop our price and offer
promotions and offer value added because
we have to reduce their risk to do
business with us the innovator in the
early adopters happily pay premiums and
suffering convenience to do business
with you
the goal is to get to that tipping point
it’s easy law of averages so you says
you can get 10% I promise you right now
you have 10% who are loyal how do we
describe them they just get it don’t
know what that means
get what what’s it oh you know that
those other guys that guy he doesn’t get
it that’s how we describe them it’s like
gut feelings get what how do you find
the people who get it before you do
business with them how do you identify
the it’s how do you find the people
wearing the red hats before you waste
all your time and energy
you talk about what you believe I’ll
talk give you two examples a famous
failure and a famous success first the
famous failure Tebow if you ask most
companies
why did your product fail or why did
your company fail they usually give you
some combination of the same few reasons
right undercapitalized didn’t have
enough money that’s a big one
bad market conditions we have the wrong
people
poorly executed that pretty much
explains every failure there is some
combination of those those factors which
means if you have all of those that
means you should be instantaneously six
successful right okay so TiVo TiVo was
introduced into marketplace about nine
or ten years ago from the date was
introduced to this current day it is the
single best quality product on the
market hands-down undisputed his
technology’s way beyond any other DVR
system the best execution flawless
venture-capital up the wazoo
money no problem brilliant engineers on
board and had good people market
conditions remarkable the unaided
awareness of TiVo’s through the roof we
have t-bo’s a verb my Tivo stuff on my
piece of junk cable DVR right and if you
want to throw in first mover’s advantage
throw that into because they had that as
well
TiVo is a commercial and financial
failure they’ve never made money and
when their stock went public it launched
about forty or fifty dollars very
quickly plummeted and except for a
couple of little blips has never traded
above ten dollars TiVo is a commercial
and financial failure and the reason is
because when they launched this
brilliant product they attempted to tell
the mass the but the majority what their
product does they said to the majority
we have a product that pauses live TV
skips commercials memorizes your viewing
habits and records on your behalf
without you even asking and the cynical
practical majority said I don’t need it
I don’t like it
I don’t believe you you’re scaring me so
didn’t buy one a few did few early
adopters did 10% you know to this day
they love their TiVo’s but it wasn’t
enough to make the system tip you see
now imagine if TiVo had told that left
side that there’s early adopters and
those innovators that they had just
talked about why the product even exists
imagine a hey they have said if you’re
the kind of person who likes to have
total control over every aspect of your
life boy do we have a product for you it
pauses live TV it skips commercials it
memorizes your viewing habits and
records on your behalf without you even
asking in this instance what the product
does serves as the tangible proof of why
it exists is not the reason you use to
convince people to do business with you
in the first place people don’t buy what
you do they buy why you do it and what
you do serves is the tangible proof of
what you believe your company is one of
the things that you’re doing in your
life that proves who you are the more
you talk about what you believe the more
you talk about what you actually believe
the more likely you are to attract
people who believe what you believe
and they will help you because they want
to because they trust you here’s another
example my favorite one in the summer of
1963 250,000 people showed up on the
mall in Washington to hear dr. King give
his famous I have a dream speech there
were no invitations sent out there’s no
website to check the date how do you do
that how many emails did you get just to
show up here today I got 7 dr. King was
not the only man in America who knew
what had to change to bring about civil
rights in this country dr. King didn’t
have all great ideas some of his ideas
were bad he was not the only man who
suffered in a pre-civil Rights America
in fact he suffered a little less than
some because he was off at university
and he wasn’t the perfect man he had his
complexities but we just don’t talk
about those things
the difference is dr. King didn’t go
around telling people what we need to do
what we need to do what we need to do he
went around told people I believe I
believe I believe and people who
believed what he believed took his cause
and they made it their own
and they told people what they believed
and those people who believe what they
believed they took that same cause and
they made it their own
and they told people they believed and
some built structures to get the word
out more efficiently and lo and behold
on the right day on the right time a
quarter of a million people showed up to
hear him speak how many of them showed
up for him
zero they showed up for themselves it’s
what they believed about this country
it’s the country that they wanted to
live in it’s the country that they
wanted to raise their children and that
inspired them to get on a bus travel to
a towers and stand in the Sun in the
middle of Washington simply to hear dr.
King speak simply coming to the rally
was one of the things they did in their
lives to prove what they believed by the
way he gave the I have a dream speech
not the I have a planned speech it’s not
what you do that matters it’s why you do
it you cannot change the world to build
and build a multi-million dollar a
multi-billion dollar business by
yourself unscalable remember you and
your gut you can do very well not
scalable the only way to really grow is
to find those who believe what you
believe in are willing to work with you
with blood and sweat and tears to help
you get there do you know the story of
the two Stone layers these two stone
layers right you go to the first one to
say how do you like your job he says I
mean I like my job I’ve been working on
this wall for as long as I can remember
the stones are heavy the work is
back-breaking it’s monotonous I stand in
the scorching hot Sun all day and I
don’t even know if I’m going to finish
this wall in my lifetime it’s a job that
pays the bills
you go up to the second guy and say how
do you like your job he says I love my
job I’m building a cathedral sure I’ve
been building this wall for as long as I
can remember sure the stones are heavy
and the work is back-breaking and I
stand on a scorching hot Sun all day and
it’s monotonous and I don’t even know if
I’m gonna finish this wall in my
lifetime but I’m building a cathedral
what they do is exactly the same this
guy might even be a champion stone layer
the only difference is that only one of
them knows why he shows up to work every
day
and the guy who knows why does not see
himself as any more or less important
than the architect or the guy doing the
stained-glass windows a landscaper they
are all contributing to building
something that they believe in that’s
bigger than themselves a leader is
somebody who can put into words that
which does not exist yet the leader is
the one who stands there and says in
beautiful crystal-clear words and he
describes that cathedral that hasn’t
been built in words so clear that others
can take that image and they can pass it
on to others why are you working so hard
because I believe in that we’re building
a cathedral what Cathedral let me tell
you are you describing your Cathedral
you’re just telling people the wall at
your building the reason everybody
showed up here is because together we’re
gonna build a cathedral we are all
contributing to a world that we would
rather live in if the leaders of this
organization that are describing that
world a world in which we are in control
of our lives a world in which we live
the life that we believe we deserve
shouldn’t we all get that it’s the
reason I showed up here here’s a
statistic for you over 90 percent of
people go home feeling unfulfilled by
their work that’s a real statistic
ninety percent don’t feel fulfilled when
they go home at the end of the day
I want to live in a world in which the
vast majority of people love what they
do I want to live in a world in which
the vast majority people do business
with companies that they trust and love
they work with people that they trust
and love and they go home happier
because of it people who go to work and
love what they do
come home happier people and happier
people treat their spouses better and
they treat their kids better and they go
back to work happy the next day and they
treat their colleagues better and they
treat their customers better and those
people go home happier and they treat
their kids better and their spouses
better it’s called world peace and it
happens because of the likes of all of
us this is called scale this is called
there are leaders and there are those
who lead leaders hold a position of
power or influence but those who lead
inspire us and whether they’re
individuals or organizations we follow
those who lead not because we have to
but because we want to we follow those
who lead not for them but for ourselves
this is for people who want to inspire
those around them or who want to find
somebody to inspire them I can say
without a doubt you inspire me thank you
very much [Music]
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