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 manipulation
in business right you drop your price
low enough people will do business with
you this is the concept behind a sale
things are priced 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 and 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 lightbulb
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 an emulation
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 and the center ring is the
word how and the outside ring is the
word what it’s this little idea that
distinguishes those with the capacity to
inspire versus everyone else we 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
of a 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
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 why 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
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 that 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 of 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 then 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
authenticity of 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 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% 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 trying
to 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
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 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
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 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 of my brother-in-law I love this
supposed to be a compliment my sister
says my brother-in-law I never imagined
I’d marry a guy like him what she’s
saying is when I was younger and he made
a checklist of all the things that I
wanted my future husband
what what 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 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
ask the most successful entrepreneurs in
the world what’s your secret they all
say the same thing
trusted my gut trust 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 and 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 you see some sixteen year
old sitting on the floor you know on her
Mac laptop you walk past you go okay
it’s because when you see that symbol
that Apple that glowing Apple you’re
like ah 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 early 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 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 and 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 thirty four
percent are our early majority the next
thirty four percent are a late majority
and the last 16 percent 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 and 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 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 it 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
[Music]
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 do you have to compare it’s
because that 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
suffer inconvenience 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 TiVo if you ask most
companies
why did your product fail or why’d at
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 had 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 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 practicum which already
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 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
ask
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 and told people I believe I
believe I believe and people who believe
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 believe 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
and 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 know 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 who these two stone
layers write you go to the first one 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 contributed
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 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 scale
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
[Music]
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
[Music]
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 manipulation
in business right you drop your price
low enough people will do business with
you this is the concept behind a sale
things are priced 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 and 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 lightbulb
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 an emulation
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 and the center ring is the
word how and the outside ring is the
word what it’s this little idea that
distinguishes those with the capacity to
inspire versus everyone else we 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
of a 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
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 why 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
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 that 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 of 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 then 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
authenticity of 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 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% 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 trying
to 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
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 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
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 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 of my brother-in-law I love this
supposed to be a compliment my sister
says my brother-in-law I never imagined
I’d marry a guy like him what she’s
saying is when I was younger and he made
a checklist of all the things that I
wanted my future husband
what what 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 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
ask the most successful entrepreneurs in
the world what’s your secret they all
say the same thing
trusted my gut trust 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 and 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 you see some sixteen year
old sitting on the floor you know on her
Mac laptop you walk past you go okay
it’s because when you see that symbol
that Apple that glowing Apple you’re
like ah 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 early 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 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 and 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 thirty four
percent are our early majority the next
thirty four percent are a late majority
and the last 16 percent 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 and 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 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 it 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
[Music]
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 do you have to compare it’s
because that 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
suffer inconvenience 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 TiVo if you ask most
companies
why did your product fail or why’d at
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 had 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 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 practicum which already
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 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
ask
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 and told people I believe I
believe I believe and people who believe
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 believe 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
and 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 know 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 who these two stone
layers write you go to the first one 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 contributed
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 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 scale
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
[Music]
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
[Music]
thank you very much [Music]
Please follow and like us: