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 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 are going
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 it’s manipulative promotions two
for one free toy inside or if you’re in
the b2b space we call it value added
same idea it’s a promotion it’s giving
stuff away for free to reduce someone’s
risks 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 3 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 and 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 let me define 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 of 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 and very very few
organizations can clearly state why they
do what they do
and by Y I don’t mean to make money
that’s a result by Y I mean what’s your
purpose what’s your cause what’s your
belief why does your company exist why
did you got 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 and 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 wanted all of
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 in 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 to see 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
you’re 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 in 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
mouth 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
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 and 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
over it make it pretty 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 is 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 whine 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 in 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 if my brother-in-law I love this
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 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 were cut 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 have good chemistry right maybe
you have to talk them a little longer
and you’ll get a feeling for them in it
will 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 and you see some 16 year old
sitting on the floor you know on her Mac
laptop you walk past you go okay why’d
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 how many of you are from the Las
Vegas area anybody a 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 you’re best friends and when you’re
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 eerily 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 happened to meet
some price standard you happen to meet
some of rational objectives 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 and a
half percent of our population are our
early adopters the next 34% are our
early majority the next 34% are our 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 and 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 to 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
they wanted to be first people who
bought iPhone fours why could they just
keep their phone in their pocket when
the phone rings on to the phone when
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 that come instead of values and
police 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 it 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 and 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 there’s
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 little blips has never traded
above ten dollars TiVo is a commercial
financial failure and the reason is
because when they launched this
brilliant product they attempted to tell
the mass than what 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 which already said I
don’t need it I don’t like it
I don’t believe you you’re scaring me is
it in my one a few did few early
adopters did ten percent 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
imagining 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 it 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 seven 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 and 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 for
eight hours 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
it build a multi-million dollar
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 gonna 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 it we’re building a
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 it’s the leaders of this
organization that are describing that
world a world in which we are in control
of our own 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 90
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 of
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 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 are going
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 it’s manipulative promotions two
for one free toy inside or if you’re in
the b2b space we call it value added
same idea it’s a promotion it’s giving
stuff away for free to reduce someone’s
risks 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 3 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 and 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 let me define 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 of 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 and very very few
organizations can clearly state why they
do what they do
and by Y I don’t mean to make money
that’s a result by Y I mean what’s your
purpose what’s your cause what’s your
belief why does your company exist why
did you got 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 and 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 wanted all of
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 in 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 to see 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
you’re 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 in 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
mouth 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
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 and 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
over it make it pretty 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 is 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 whine 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 in 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 if my brother-in-law I love this
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 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 were cut 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 have good chemistry right maybe
you have to talk them a little longer
and you’ll get a feeling for them in it
will 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 and you see some 16 year old
sitting on the floor you know on her Mac
laptop you walk past you go okay why’d
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 how many of you are from the Las
Vegas area anybody a 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 you’re best friends and when you’re
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 eerily 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 happened to meet
some price standard you happen to meet
some of rational objectives 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 and a
half percent of our population are our
early adopters the next 34% are our
early majority the next 34% are our 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 and 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 to 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
they wanted to be first people who
bought iPhone fours why could they just
keep their phone in their pocket when
the phone rings on to the phone when
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 that come instead of values and
police 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 it 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 and 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 there’s
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 little blips has never traded
above ten dollars TiVo is a commercial
financial failure and the reason is
because when they launched this
brilliant product they attempted to tell
the mass than what 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 which already said I
don’t need it I don’t like it
I don’t believe you you’re scaring me is
it in my one a few did few early
adopters did ten percent 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
imagining 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 it 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 seven 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 and 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 for
eight hours 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
it build a multi-million dollar
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 gonna 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 it we’re building a
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 it’s the leaders of this
organization that are describing that
world a world in which we are in control
of our own 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 90
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 of
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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