our special guest is simon Sinek there’s
no one quite like a motivational speaker
ethnographer and the author of three new
york times bestsellers start with why
how great leaders inspire everyone to
take action leaders eat last why some
teams pull together and some don’t and
his latest book together is better a
little book of inspiration Simon’s TED
talk on the concept of why is the third
most watched of all time his website is
start with wide calm and when I was a
kid no one want that would be an
ethnographer I didn’t none of my guys in
Brooklyn ever said boy what I love to be
an ethnographer I mean I tripped over it
in college I didn’t know I didn’t know I
didn’t know anthropology existed when I
was in college I had a professor who was
inspiring and then I was an anthro major
and and where my my colleagues were
interested in sort of the Bongo Bongo
and dying Amazonian tribes my interest
was Western urban culture and because I
live in western urban culture it was it
was a good technique to learn how to
interview people and listen and auto
ethnography make money I don’t well
there’s actually there’s a huge group of
them now who work in advertising
marketers have really gone down to
ethnographers and anthropologists so
that they’ve actually found a living in
the commercial world believe it or not
so you chose your route was writing
right I again I fell into it
I’d never aspired to be a writer I had
never really written anything a
particular length but I had this idea a
bunch of years ago which even that was
something I discovered it was it came
and appeared in my life where I had a
lot of pain
I’d fell out of love with my work I lost
my passion and it was a really dark time
and superficially everything was good
and so I pretended that I was happy all
of my energy when it’s pretending that I
was happier more successful and more in
control than I actually felt you knew
you were yeah and and it was a hard way
to live and it wasn’t until a very close
friend of mine came to me concerned that
I wasn’t myself did that give me the
courage to find a solution and the
solution was that I found was this
naturally occurring biological pattern
every single one of us knows what we do
you mean you can tell me what you do I
can tell you what I do
some of us know how we do it the things
that make us stand out or distinguish us
from our competition but very very few
people can clearly articulate why they
do what they do that purpose calls our
belief that underlies our work when we
are passionate and I didn’t know why I
did what I did and so I set out to
answer that question upon answering that
question it restored my passion to level
I’ve never experienced before and people
just kept inviting me to talk about this
thing and it’s at some point somebody
said you should write about it I said
okay I somebody introduced me to Adriene
Zach Heim who’s the god of business
publishing the original publisher from
good to great I had a twenty nine minute
meeting with Adrian and three days later
he offered me a book deal and so I wrote
because I had a contract that told me I
had to write so that’s how I wrote a
book he gave you 30 minutes and you use
29 oh yeah he gave me 30 minutes I use
29 all right so the idea is to be
fulfilled by your work i I think
fulfilment is a right and not a
privilege you you know it’s so common
that we go out for dinner with our
friends and somebody the dinner table
will say I love my job and the rest of
us go oh you’re so lucky like they won
sort of Lauder at some sort of lottery I
think it’s I think feeling fulfilled and
loving our work is a right and not a
privilege that we should demand it of
our leaders that they provide an
environment that we enjoy coming to work
to every day and if we are the leaders
that we should be providing those
environments can this apply to an
assembly-line worker or General Motors
Oh 100% puts a car together all day
it has nothing all he does is do the
wrenching on a tire that I can give you
lists of companies barry-wehmiller based
in Saint Louis is a multi-billion dollar
manufacturing company where I’ve walked
the factory floor and you meet people
who just who glow with the love for
their job and their fellow and their
fellow colleagues there’s a company
called the luck companies based in
Dulles and they own quarries these guys
smash rocks I mean that’s what they do
they put a stick of dynamite in a hole
it blows big boulders and they smash
them into little rocks
that’s their job and I sat down with
them and I said so tell me you know what
makes working at luck so wonderful and
one of them you know every stereotype
that you have in your head is you know
that’s exactly what he looked like this
big guy with a baseball cap and dip
and he looks at me he goes well I’ve
really learned to connect with my
feelings and Express you know to both my
colleagues and my family how I feel it
just is amazing and they again they love
their work and I know plenty of people
in white-collar jobs and bankers and
doctors who who hate their jobs and take
pills to get through the day so you know
let us not judge without somebody’s
happy or unfulfilled based on what they
do but it’s are you saying it all begins
at the top it doesn’t have to it’s more
efficient when it does and leaders are
responsible for setting the conditions
inside the company but when there’s
substandard leadership which
unfortunately is more common than I’d
like it to be then there can be good
pockets of leadership within the
organization so you have you have
pockets of people who are fulfilled but
if I can’t answer the question I just
have always lovely lady I like one I
mean call it work I think it’s the years
the last time I worked was a helper on a
United Parcel truck I was 22 and and so
from my perspective that you love your
job and you love your work and you don’t
consider it work isn’t it horrible that
work is is pejorative that you say I
don’t even consider it work
my interest is understanding the
underlying motivation that you happen to
have found the thing that connects to
what naturally inspires you never wanted
to do anything it’s wonderful you and
that’s a gift right now from somewhere I
think there’s a bit of luck in there is
– oh oh yeah yeah right turn yeah yeah
that I wanted it yeah and and that you
knew at a young age is is really special
but you know people can can find that
direction at any point in their life a
lot of your wonderful book than it is a
wonderful well thank you talks about
togetherness and teamwork the great
Michael Jordan was told was when he was
scoring forty five points again there is
no I in the word team and his response
was there is in the word win did you
contradict that there are always stars
but I and I think that any star would be
foolish to think that they got there by
themselves whether it was supportive
family supportive coaches whether it was
the teammates willing to pass
the ball as opposed to keep the bowl to
themselves you know if you have somebody
who’s naturally good at a job then we
want to put them in a position of
strength and so you want to surround
them with people who will all shine
together so yeah I mean we all statement
both things are right I think this is
one of the paradoxes of being human
right which is we are at all times both
individuals and members of groups and at
all times every single day we have to
grapple with do I do this for me I do I
do this for the group and and I think
they’re both right the question is the
balance
I guess this Simonson Act up next what’s
his taped on the Millennial Generation
is it different from any other and the
key to strong leadership the book is
together is better stay with us simon
Sinek
together is better a little book of
inspiration illustrations by Ethan
Aldridge yep he’s wonderful there’s even
a page where you scratch the page and it
makes you feel better
it smells like optimism hard to be an
optimist I don’t think so I think when
you look at the world I think the world
is OK you know the world has its issues
like everyone of it like we have our
issues but I think so much of the world
is is what we choose to see in the
perspective we choose to have well love
is going on in America right now what
about people who are so disappointed in
the election hmm that it affects them
every day so one of the things that I
think that’s really fantastic that’s
come out of this election is that we now
have people getting involved not like
they ever have probably not since
Vietnam you know when the first travel
ban was announced across the whole
nation people’s inclination was to get
in a train get in the car get in a taxi
and go to the airport blacks whites
Asians Jews Muslims Christians and they
showed up in the airport together in
support of of acceptance and it was I
have to say it brought a tear to my eye
to see Americans actually like get out
and do something as opposed to sit
tweeting something you know which is
what we’ve become we’ve sort of become a
nation of slacked Avista kind of nice to
see America spend the energy to
physically show up and do something that
represents what they stand for
Millennials get a bad rap
being entitled unfocused you say that’s
not true
there every single generation is
affected by whatever’s going on in the
world during their formative years so if
somebody grew up during the Great
Depression or the Second World War they
may grow up to be miserly for example or
frugal you know wanting to squeeze every
drip of toothpaste out of the tube well
of course it’s because they grew up
during you know rations of course
they’re gonna be like that well slike
wise this generation that grew up during
the turn of the millennia they came of
age at the Millennium grew up in a time
of technology that we didn’t have and
it’s had an effect on how they view the
world some of it positive some of it
more challenging my biggest concern is
is the unfettered access to to social
media and cell phones quite frankly
because there’s a biology to these
things that are as addictive as alcohol
nicotine and gambling I noticed that
therefore I don’t have a cell phone I
have a flip phone which is wonderful
it’s all I use it forced to talk yeah I
like the sound of the voice why has it
overtaken us I know is I deliberately
yeah will not have it because I know I’d
be addicted you know it’s about balance
it’s not that they’re inherently bad and
it’s it’s not that texting or social
media is inherently bad but it’s when it
gets out of balance if somebody carries
their phone wherever they go like they
physically feel anxiety if they if they
put it down when they with their friends
and have to have it up the entire time
looking at the phone while they’re with
their friends you know when they wake up
in the morning and check their phone
before they say good morning to the
person sleeping next to them these are
problems this is out of balance what do
they do for though are they are there
there’s their centers where you go for
drug addiction and alcohol addiction is
their center now for they’re starting to
be but it’s not yet officially
recognized as an addiction in this
country and so we don’t treat it as an
addiction we don’t even recognize it as
an addiction so we accuse spent more you
know all generations but it’s it’s
exaggerated in the millennial generation
for being entitled or whatever other
well we have to do
we’ll withdraw all yes I mean that’s
just like any addiction you’re gonna go
through withdrawal before you find
health again what a good leaders have in
common they have the courage to do the
right thing they’re people of high
character and high integrity but for me
the big one is courage it’s it’s very
hard to be a leader it’s hard to speak
truth to power very often you might be
the one that gets in trouble or lose
your job it’s hard to do the right thing
it’s much easier to do the expedient
thing and and it’s also a huge
undertaking to be a leader every every
moment of every day it’s kind of like
being a parent you think president Trump
has leadership skills obviously was
successful in one area he has the
ability to rally people for sure and I
think it’s an open question his ability
to inspire a nation whether versus just
rallying parts of us but to inspire a
nation and bring us together and empower
us to take responsibility and take care
of each other leadership styles yeah
I’ll mention some people I’ve
interviewed these people Steve Jobs he
was a hard man but he gave people the
opportunity to be a part of something
much bigger than themselves and though
people who worked at Apple in those days
said that it was hard to work for Steve
I don’t think anybody regretted working
for Steve I think they should branch to
me a wonderful great guy definitely a
visionary I had the opportunity to ask
him how should we judge you when you die
I said you know what did you build at
virgin that we should remember you by
like what are you proudest of and he
said simply don’t ever judge me by
anything that I’ve built at a virgin he
said judge me by the quality of my
children Sheryl Sandberg again has a
vision understands what it what it means
to take a vision and carried into the
future and is people focused which I
love Oprah I mean I think we we all love
Oprah why why do we all love we all love
Oprah because Oprah again in in in good
leadership fashion is inclusive and
gives us something to belong to she sets
clear vision and optimism
and she encourages us to take care of
ourselves in each other it’s not about
following her but rather how she can
clear a path that we can take care of I
said men and women lead differently
we’re discussing the gender gap and
that was simon Sinek the book together
is better should men and men and women
leave in different ways they do lead in
different ways we’re gonna become more
leaders conscious yeah then when I was a
kid yeah I don’t think it’s that we need
more female leaders it’s that we need
more leaders who act like females and
women just happen to be better at that
for too long we’ve we’ve focused our
attention but we force leave that all of
leadership is about aggression and
decisiveness which are traditionally
male attributes
whereas true leadership also includes
things like empathy patience caring
which are traditionally female
characteristics so you need a balance of
both the great leaders have have both
it’s not one or the other but I think
the the great thing is that is we live
in a day in an age where women don’t
have to pretend to be like men anymore
they can they can be feminine and be the
leaders and I love that you said we need
a new industry called help others
industry that’s true how does that work
we have it in we have an entire section
in the book shop called self-help and
there’s no section in the book shop
called help others and we’ve become a
very selfish society preoccupied with
ourselves you know how do I lose 10
pounds how can I find the job of my
dreams how do I find the perfect mate
yet human beings thrive and succeed
because we’re social animals and we need
each other and so we have to learn to
actually take care of each other to find
the fulfillment and joy that we want
ourselves in life so it’s not how can I
lose 10 pounds it’s how can I help my
friend live a healthy life how can I
help my friend find the job of their
dreams how can I help my friend find
fall in love and it’s the act of service
that actually helps us find joy in our
lives and I think we’ve become a little
a little selfish the balance is a little
tipped one-way empathise think it too
gets tossed around now and it’s a good
thing you know
you’ve interviewed over the years you
know people in uniform soldiers sailors
airmen and Marines and some of the the
ones that I’ve had the privilege to meet
ones that you and I would call heroes
who did risk their lives they will tell
you that the greatest asset that they
have is not their training or their
ability to use the weapons that they
have but it’s empathy that’s love and
care for each other I had an opportunity
to spend some time with the Navy SEALs
and what I learned about the seals is
that core to being a seal is the ability
to care for each other with an intensity
that others cannot muster that’s what
makes a seal it’s not it’s not bravado
and brawn it’s it’s the intense intense
empathy and love they have for each
other Marines you know my friend
Lieutenant General George Flynn he says
that the strength of the Marines comes
from love love of country love of Corps
love of your fellow marine it’s it’s
these very sort of sort of flowery
things that actually the core of of
greatness
that’s very true I interviewed him when
you do a lot of interviews you forget
but this guy won the medal of honor
personnel oh he attacked a German nest
of machine guns
he was AWOL while in the army he was
demoted from corporal to private he was
a terrible soldier and the guy said you
will never amount to anything they were
trapped he picked up – good – rifle to
guns and attacked this German thing
because his friends were in trouble
and he wiped out a whole division hazing
he didn’t know why he did it
but you hear it all the time you know
it’s not it’s not God in country it’s
got at a left a guy to the right and and
you risk your life for guy to the left
and guy to the right so how do you
define success
I think successes is is seeing those
around you work to their natural best
and creating a momentum for a vision
towards a vision that will last beyond
yourself so a guy is driving a bus for
20 years got to retire he’s on Madison
New York packed every day as people
getting on that bus and getting off
mm-hmm
he has two kids wife lives in Queens hmm
he might call himself successful another
guy might be vice president of that
company who call self unsuccessful so is
success what you make of it so it’s so
this success is defined its successes of
feeling it’s not it’s not a series of
check marks and goals
I think people define success as as
finish lines you know they well I ran a
marathon I’m successful the question is
a why did you run the marathon and what
happens after you’ve completed the
marathon do you just keep running
marathons what happens if you break your
leg and you can no longer run marathons
you know we said a lot of people set
financial goals unsuccessful when they
make my first million okay now I have to
make my second million its success is a
feeling and it’s the feeling of
contribution so you were bus driver in
Queens if he has decided that his job as
a bus driver is to ensure that everyone
who gets on his bus feels better about
themselves because they got on his bus
and not another bus and so he greets
them with a smile he says good morning
he says good bye that people remember
that that that that ride that they took
with him versus the this vice president
of the company who’s made it about
himself and his financial goals
he’s the one who’s unhappy as opposed to
seeing those around him succeed and
those around him go home with a love of
their their day you know because they
come to work in his company every day so
I still believe success and and good
leadership are about service to others
how do you work through fears everybody
has fears right I know you you you’re an
optimist I am but I still most fair
thing of course I fear things of course
I fear things and the way you manage
fear is is again it’s it’s having the
having someone near you who you can turn
to and say I’m scared
it’s when we bottle things up and
pretend that we’ve got everything under
control
that it starts to to eat away at us you
know this is what a healthy corporate
environment is a healthy corporate
environment is one in which people feel
safe enough to raise their hand walk
into their boss’s office and say I’m
scared
or I feel under qualified or and
ill-equipped for this job that you’ve
given me or I made a mistake that’s one
that we don’t like to do for fear that
we’re going to be put on the chopping
block but it’s also the best way to gain
the moment to gain the moment I made a
mistake oh yes oh yeah
the kid in through the baseball through
the neighbor’s window if he tells his
father
I threw a baseball to the neighbors it’s
a lot better than the neighbor coming in
to say your kids will vase ball to the
window and we learn lessons when things
go wrong that when things go right Simon
will answer some of your social media
questions in our final segment plus the
game of if you only knew the book
together is better the guest is simon
Sinek we’ll be right back that was simon
Sinek the book is together is better a
couple social media questions Betsy
Sullivan what advice you have for
Millennials trying to navigate today’s
workforce so one of the things that is
is to be yourself it’s to it’s to be
honest it’s to speak up I think one of
the things one of the mistakes that
Millennials make is they put on these
hard exteriors where they know all the
answers they think they have to know all
the answers and and so people don’t rush
to their help because we don’t think
they need help because they seem to know
everything there’s something really
special about being really junior and
saying can you please help me or I don’t
know what I’m doing or I made a mistake
so I think take the risk of asking
others for help Patrick healings wants
to know what advice do you have for
President Trump I think that he has an
amazing opportunity he’s been given this
incredible opportunity to lead one of
the greatest nation in the world where
we’re an enterprising people and sort of
work with people I think I think the
opportunity for Donald Trump is is to
work with us not not against us –
Frederick Potter asked don’t you think
this country maybe needs a little less
motivation I think one of the things
that distinguishes America from other
nations is the fact that we’re an
entrepreneurial nation you know if you
think about all the inventions that have
come out of this country and the thing
that I love about America’s is we love
that people try if you’re an
entrepreneur and you’ve failed there’s
no shame in that we love the person that
tries in
Europe if you try and fail it’s shameful
and so I’ve met so many entrepreneurs
where they’re actually much more afraid
of failing we’re here the risk profile
is a lot higher I think it’s wonderful
at prayer 77 tweets how do you come up
with an idea for a best-seller and make
it happen
haha that’s nothing nobody another I
didn’t certainly come up with an idea
for a best-seller I had an idea that
resonated with me resonated with my
friends and it so happened that people
wanted to read about it I didn’t set out
to write a best-seller I got very lucky
that the books sold as well as they did
but you needed a publisher who believed
in you
I had I had it was surrounded by people
who believed in me and my publisher took
a big bet on me so we all need other
people I needed a guy to hire me I
needed Ted Turner’s and you needed then
you needed the you needed somebody to
give you your first chance and put you
in the air and take a risk on you and
give you advice and tell you when you
screwed up and yeah that’s what we all
needed the one I’ll tell I’ll take
credit for one thing which is when when
there were two publishers who were
interested in me and I fell in love with
Adrienne because he believed in me and
he wasn’t interested in proposals or
anything he met me and he says let’s
let’s give this a whirl whereas the
other publisher wanted me to write
chapters and they wanted to double-check
everything and I chose to go with the
person not follow the money
I didn’t play them against each other I
just wanted to be with the guy who who
was gonna take a risk of me because I I
knew that you know I I needed him the
playable game of if you only knew I just
saw some questions sure what never fails
to make you feel happier I love my niece
and nephew they’re the best secret
talent I take photographs I’m fairly
active photographer yeah that’s
interesting guilty pleasure I can stay
home for like an entire weekend and
never go out and love every moment of it
biggest risk you’ve ever taken I
completely changed the course of my life
on career when I discovered this thing
called the Y I abandoned what I was
doing and said I want to do that and
people thought I was crazy they thought
I went out of business but I was
I believed in it so much I have to
caution into the wind I think why has
been the key my whole life the world why
it’s it’s it’s a little kid question
that we grow out of here some reason
while who would you trade places with
for a day ah for a day I think it would
be interesting to be in a senior
government position head of the CIA or
something for a day just to know let’s
you know get the file on area 51 most
innovative organization in America right
now I think the the DoD I think that the
member the the Air Force the Marines the
army the Navy I think some of the stuff
that they do is pretty spectacular
though a lot of people are anti military
I look I’m anti-war and it turns out so
are so are those who wear the uniform
and have to go you know war is a
political thing if you don’t like war
take it up with a politician howdy
general told me once no one hates war
more than a warrior it’s true it’s true
what’s a great piece of advice you got
three-quarters of an answer is better
than an answer and a half what’s the
worst piece of advice you do as you’re
told
what’s something toxic everyone should
cut out of their lives I mean we could I
mean this room for improvement for all
of us right we could all we could all
Kate I think yeah it’s pretty good
judgment I guess you know judgment yeah
something you long believed to be true
and realized wasn’t that people are
honest I am really naive I think when
people tell you things they’re always
the truth and I’ve learned the hard way
that people lying always weirds me out
tell me something people don’t know
about you I think most things people
don’t know is there any deep secret
Simon but maybe today you can reveal
there are deep secrets that will not be
revealed today okay some and I accept that this is not a trial
no one quite like a motivational speaker
ethnographer and the author of three new
york times bestsellers start with why
how great leaders inspire everyone to
take action leaders eat last why some
teams pull together and some don’t and
his latest book together is better a
little book of inspiration Simon’s TED
talk on the concept of why is the third
most watched of all time his website is
start with wide calm and when I was a
kid no one want that would be an
ethnographer I didn’t none of my guys in
Brooklyn ever said boy what I love to be
an ethnographer I mean I tripped over it
in college I didn’t know I didn’t know I
didn’t know anthropology existed when I
was in college I had a professor who was
inspiring and then I was an anthro major
and and where my my colleagues were
interested in sort of the Bongo Bongo
and dying Amazonian tribes my interest
was Western urban culture and because I
live in western urban culture it was it
was a good technique to learn how to
interview people and listen and auto
ethnography make money I don’t well
there’s actually there’s a huge group of
them now who work in advertising
marketers have really gone down to
ethnographers and anthropologists so
that they’ve actually found a living in
the commercial world believe it or not
so you chose your route was writing
right I again I fell into it
I’d never aspired to be a writer I had
never really written anything a
particular length but I had this idea a
bunch of years ago which even that was
something I discovered it was it came
and appeared in my life where I had a
lot of pain
I’d fell out of love with my work I lost
my passion and it was a really dark time
and superficially everything was good
and so I pretended that I was happy all
of my energy when it’s pretending that I
was happier more successful and more in
control than I actually felt you knew
you were yeah and and it was a hard way
to live and it wasn’t until a very close
friend of mine came to me concerned that
I wasn’t myself did that give me the
courage to find a solution and the
solution was that I found was this
naturally occurring biological pattern
every single one of us knows what we do
you mean you can tell me what you do I
can tell you what I do
some of us know how we do it the things
that make us stand out or distinguish us
from our competition but very very few
people can clearly articulate why they
do what they do that purpose calls our
belief that underlies our work when we
are passionate and I didn’t know why I
did what I did and so I set out to
answer that question upon answering that
question it restored my passion to level
I’ve never experienced before and people
just kept inviting me to talk about this
thing and it’s at some point somebody
said you should write about it I said
okay I somebody introduced me to Adriene
Zach Heim who’s the god of business
publishing the original publisher from
good to great I had a twenty nine minute
meeting with Adrian and three days later
he offered me a book deal and so I wrote
because I had a contract that told me I
had to write so that’s how I wrote a
book he gave you 30 minutes and you use
29 oh yeah he gave me 30 minutes I use
29 all right so the idea is to be
fulfilled by your work i I think
fulfilment is a right and not a
privilege you you know it’s so common
that we go out for dinner with our
friends and somebody the dinner table
will say I love my job and the rest of
us go oh you’re so lucky like they won
sort of Lauder at some sort of lottery I
think it’s I think feeling fulfilled and
loving our work is a right and not a
privilege that we should demand it of
our leaders that they provide an
environment that we enjoy coming to work
to every day and if we are the leaders
that we should be providing those
environments can this apply to an
assembly-line worker or General Motors
Oh 100% puts a car together all day
it has nothing all he does is do the
wrenching on a tire that I can give you
lists of companies barry-wehmiller based
in Saint Louis is a multi-billion dollar
manufacturing company where I’ve walked
the factory floor and you meet people
who just who glow with the love for
their job and their fellow and their
fellow colleagues there’s a company
called the luck companies based in
Dulles and they own quarries these guys
smash rocks I mean that’s what they do
they put a stick of dynamite in a hole
it blows big boulders and they smash
them into little rocks
that’s their job and I sat down with
them and I said so tell me you know what
makes working at luck so wonderful and
one of them you know every stereotype
that you have in your head is you know
that’s exactly what he looked like this
big guy with a baseball cap and dip
and he looks at me he goes well I’ve
really learned to connect with my
feelings and Express you know to both my
colleagues and my family how I feel it
just is amazing and they again they love
their work and I know plenty of people
in white-collar jobs and bankers and
doctors who who hate their jobs and take
pills to get through the day so you know
let us not judge without somebody’s
happy or unfulfilled based on what they
do but it’s are you saying it all begins
at the top it doesn’t have to it’s more
efficient when it does and leaders are
responsible for setting the conditions
inside the company but when there’s
substandard leadership which
unfortunately is more common than I’d
like it to be then there can be good
pockets of leadership within the
organization so you have you have
pockets of people who are fulfilled but
if I can’t answer the question I just
have always lovely lady I like one I
mean call it work I think it’s the years
the last time I worked was a helper on a
United Parcel truck I was 22 and and so
from my perspective that you love your
job and you love your work and you don’t
consider it work isn’t it horrible that
work is is pejorative that you say I
don’t even consider it work
my interest is understanding the
underlying motivation that you happen to
have found the thing that connects to
what naturally inspires you never wanted
to do anything it’s wonderful you and
that’s a gift right now from somewhere I
think there’s a bit of luck in there is
– oh oh yeah yeah right turn yeah yeah
that I wanted it yeah and and that you
knew at a young age is is really special
but you know people can can find that
direction at any point in their life a
lot of your wonderful book than it is a
wonderful well thank you talks about
togetherness and teamwork the great
Michael Jordan was told was when he was
scoring forty five points again there is
no I in the word team and his response
was there is in the word win did you
contradict that there are always stars
but I and I think that any star would be
foolish to think that they got there by
themselves whether it was supportive
family supportive coaches whether it was
the teammates willing to pass
the ball as opposed to keep the bowl to
themselves you know if you have somebody
who’s naturally good at a job then we
want to put them in a position of
strength and so you want to surround
them with people who will all shine
together so yeah I mean we all statement
both things are right I think this is
one of the paradoxes of being human
right which is we are at all times both
individuals and members of groups and at
all times every single day we have to
grapple with do I do this for me I do I
do this for the group and and I think
they’re both right the question is the
balance
I guess this Simonson Act up next what’s
his taped on the Millennial Generation
is it different from any other and the
key to strong leadership the book is
together is better stay with us simon
Sinek
together is better a little book of
inspiration illustrations by Ethan
Aldridge yep he’s wonderful there’s even
a page where you scratch the page and it
makes you feel better
it smells like optimism hard to be an
optimist I don’t think so I think when
you look at the world I think the world
is OK you know the world has its issues
like everyone of it like we have our
issues but I think so much of the world
is is what we choose to see in the
perspective we choose to have well love
is going on in America right now what
about people who are so disappointed in
the election hmm that it affects them
every day so one of the things that I
think that’s really fantastic that’s
come out of this election is that we now
have people getting involved not like
they ever have probably not since
Vietnam you know when the first travel
ban was announced across the whole
nation people’s inclination was to get
in a train get in the car get in a taxi
and go to the airport blacks whites
Asians Jews Muslims Christians and they
showed up in the airport together in
support of of acceptance and it was I
have to say it brought a tear to my eye
to see Americans actually like get out
and do something as opposed to sit
tweeting something you know which is
what we’ve become we’ve sort of become a
nation of slacked Avista kind of nice to
see America spend the energy to
physically show up and do something that
represents what they stand for
Millennials get a bad rap
being entitled unfocused you say that’s
not true
there every single generation is
affected by whatever’s going on in the
world during their formative years so if
somebody grew up during the Great
Depression or the Second World War they
may grow up to be miserly for example or
frugal you know wanting to squeeze every
drip of toothpaste out of the tube well
of course it’s because they grew up
during you know rations of course
they’re gonna be like that well slike
wise this generation that grew up during
the turn of the millennia they came of
age at the Millennium grew up in a time
of technology that we didn’t have and
it’s had an effect on how they view the
world some of it positive some of it
more challenging my biggest concern is
is the unfettered access to to social
media and cell phones quite frankly
because there’s a biology to these
things that are as addictive as alcohol
nicotine and gambling I noticed that
therefore I don’t have a cell phone I
have a flip phone which is wonderful
it’s all I use it forced to talk yeah I
like the sound of the voice why has it
overtaken us I know is I deliberately
yeah will not have it because I know I’d
be addicted you know it’s about balance
it’s not that they’re inherently bad and
it’s it’s not that texting or social
media is inherently bad but it’s when it
gets out of balance if somebody carries
their phone wherever they go like they
physically feel anxiety if they if they
put it down when they with their friends
and have to have it up the entire time
looking at the phone while they’re with
their friends you know when they wake up
in the morning and check their phone
before they say good morning to the
person sleeping next to them these are
problems this is out of balance what do
they do for though are they are there
there’s their centers where you go for
drug addiction and alcohol addiction is
their center now for they’re starting to
be but it’s not yet officially
recognized as an addiction in this
country and so we don’t treat it as an
addiction we don’t even recognize it as
an addiction so we accuse spent more you
know all generations but it’s it’s
exaggerated in the millennial generation
for being entitled or whatever other
well we have to do
we’ll withdraw all yes I mean that’s
just like any addiction you’re gonna go
through withdrawal before you find
health again what a good leaders have in
common they have the courage to do the
right thing they’re people of high
character and high integrity but for me
the big one is courage it’s it’s very
hard to be a leader it’s hard to speak
truth to power very often you might be
the one that gets in trouble or lose
your job it’s hard to do the right thing
it’s much easier to do the expedient
thing and and it’s also a huge
undertaking to be a leader every every
moment of every day it’s kind of like
being a parent you think president Trump
has leadership skills obviously was
successful in one area he has the
ability to rally people for sure and I
think it’s an open question his ability
to inspire a nation whether versus just
rallying parts of us but to inspire a
nation and bring us together and empower
us to take responsibility and take care
of each other leadership styles yeah
I’ll mention some people I’ve
interviewed these people Steve Jobs he
was a hard man but he gave people the
opportunity to be a part of something
much bigger than themselves and though
people who worked at Apple in those days
said that it was hard to work for Steve
I don’t think anybody regretted working
for Steve I think they should branch to
me a wonderful great guy definitely a
visionary I had the opportunity to ask
him how should we judge you when you die
I said you know what did you build at
virgin that we should remember you by
like what are you proudest of and he
said simply don’t ever judge me by
anything that I’ve built at a virgin he
said judge me by the quality of my
children Sheryl Sandberg again has a
vision understands what it what it means
to take a vision and carried into the
future and is people focused which I
love Oprah I mean I think we we all love
Oprah why why do we all love we all love
Oprah because Oprah again in in in good
leadership fashion is inclusive and
gives us something to belong to she sets
clear vision and optimism
and she encourages us to take care of
ourselves in each other it’s not about
following her but rather how she can
clear a path that we can take care of I
said men and women lead differently
we’re discussing the gender gap and
that was simon Sinek the book together
is better should men and men and women
leave in different ways they do lead in
different ways we’re gonna become more
leaders conscious yeah then when I was a
kid yeah I don’t think it’s that we need
more female leaders it’s that we need
more leaders who act like females and
women just happen to be better at that
for too long we’ve we’ve focused our
attention but we force leave that all of
leadership is about aggression and
decisiveness which are traditionally
male attributes
whereas true leadership also includes
things like empathy patience caring
which are traditionally female
characteristics so you need a balance of
both the great leaders have have both
it’s not one or the other but I think
the the great thing is that is we live
in a day in an age where women don’t
have to pretend to be like men anymore
they can they can be feminine and be the
leaders and I love that you said we need
a new industry called help others
industry that’s true how does that work
we have it in we have an entire section
in the book shop called self-help and
there’s no section in the book shop
called help others and we’ve become a
very selfish society preoccupied with
ourselves you know how do I lose 10
pounds how can I find the job of my
dreams how do I find the perfect mate
yet human beings thrive and succeed
because we’re social animals and we need
each other and so we have to learn to
actually take care of each other to find
the fulfillment and joy that we want
ourselves in life so it’s not how can I
lose 10 pounds it’s how can I help my
friend live a healthy life how can I
help my friend find the job of their
dreams how can I help my friend find
fall in love and it’s the act of service
that actually helps us find joy in our
lives and I think we’ve become a little
a little selfish the balance is a little
tipped one-way empathise think it too
gets tossed around now and it’s a good
thing you know
you’ve interviewed over the years you
know people in uniform soldiers sailors
airmen and Marines and some of the the
ones that I’ve had the privilege to meet
ones that you and I would call heroes
who did risk their lives they will tell
you that the greatest asset that they
have is not their training or their
ability to use the weapons that they
have but it’s empathy that’s love and
care for each other I had an opportunity
to spend some time with the Navy SEALs
and what I learned about the seals is
that core to being a seal is the ability
to care for each other with an intensity
that others cannot muster that’s what
makes a seal it’s not it’s not bravado
and brawn it’s it’s the intense intense
empathy and love they have for each
other Marines you know my friend
Lieutenant General George Flynn he says
that the strength of the Marines comes
from love love of country love of Corps
love of your fellow marine it’s it’s
these very sort of sort of flowery
things that actually the core of of
greatness
that’s very true I interviewed him when
you do a lot of interviews you forget
but this guy won the medal of honor
personnel oh he attacked a German nest
of machine guns
he was AWOL while in the army he was
demoted from corporal to private he was
a terrible soldier and the guy said you
will never amount to anything they were
trapped he picked up – good – rifle to
guns and attacked this German thing
because his friends were in trouble
and he wiped out a whole division hazing
he didn’t know why he did it
but you hear it all the time you know
it’s not it’s not God in country it’s
got at a left a guy to the right and and
you risk your life for guy to the left
and guy to the right so how do you
define success
I think successes is is seeing those
around you work to their natural best
and creating a momentum for a vision
towards a vision that will last beyond
yourself so a guy is driving a bus for
20 years got to retire he’s on Madison
New York packed every day as people
getting on that bus and getting off
mm-hmm
he has two kids wife lives in Queens hmm
he might call himself successful another
guy might be vice president of that
company who call self unsuccessful so is
success what you make of it so it’s so
this success is defined its successes of
feeling it’s not it’s not a series of
check marks and goals
I think people define success as as
finish lines you know they well I ran a
marathon I’m successful the question is
a why did you run the marathon and what
happens after you’ve completed the
marathon do you just keep running
marathons what happens if you break your
leg and you can no longer run marathons
you know we said a lot of people set
financial goals unsuccessful when they
make my first million okay now I have to
make my second million its success is a
feeling and it’s the feeling of
contribution so you were bus driver in
Queens if he has decided that his job as
a bus driver is to ensure that everyone
who gets on his bus feels better about
themselves because they got on his bus
and not another bus and so he greets
them with a smile he says good morning
he says good bye that people remember
that that that that ride that they took
with him versus the this vice president
of the company who’s made it about
himself and his financial goals
he’s the one who’s unhappy as opposed to
seeing those around him succeed and
those around him go home with a love of
their their day you know because they
come to work in his company every day so
I still believe success and and good
leadership are about service to others
how do you work through fears everybody
has fears right I know you you you’re an
optimist I am but I still most fair
thing of course I fear things of course
I fear things and the way you manage
fear is is again it’s it’s having the
having someone near you who you can turn
to and say I’m scared
it’s when we bottle things up and
pretend that we’ve got everything under
control
that it starts to to eat away at us you
know this is what a healthy corporate
environment is a healthy corporate
environment is one in which people feel
safe enough to raise their hand walk
into their boss’s office and say I’m
scared
or I feel under qualified or and
ill-equipped for this job that you’ve
given me or I made a mistake that’s one
that we don’t like to do for fear that
we’re going to be put on the chopping
block but it’s also the best way to gain
the moment to gain the moment I made a
mistake oh yes oh yeah
the kid in through the baseball through
the neighbor’s window if he tells his
father
I threw a baseball to the neighbors it’s
a lot better than the neighbor coming in
to say your kids will vase ball to the
window and we learn lessons when things
go wrong that when things go right Simon
will answer some of your social media
questions in our final segment plus the
game of if you only knew the book
together is better the guest is simon
Sinek we’ll be right back that was simon
Sinek the book is together is better a
couple social media questions Betsy
Sullivan what advice you have for
Millennials trying to navigate today’s
workforce so one of the things that is
is to be yourself it’s to it’s to be
honest it’s to speak up I think one of
the things one of the mistakes that
Millennials make is they put on these
hard exteriors where they know all the
answers they think they have to know all
the answers and and so people don’t rush
to their help because we don’t think
they need help because they seem to know
everything there’s something really
special about being really junior and
saying can you please help me or I don’t
know what I’m doing or I made a mistake
so I think take the risk of asking
others for help Patrick healings wants
to know what advice do you have for
President Trump I think that he has an
amazing opportunity he’s been given this
incredible opportunity to lead one of
the greatest nation in the world where
we’re an enterprising people and sort of
work with people I think I think the
opportunity for Donald Trump is is to
work with us not not against us –
Frederick Potter asked don’t you think
this country maybe needs a little less
motivation I think one of the things
that distinguishes America from other
nations is the fact that we’re an
entrepreneurial nation you know if you
think about all the inventions that have
come out of this country and the thing
that I love about America’s is we love
that people try if you’re an
entrepreneur and you’ve failed there’s
no shame in that we love the person that
tries in
Europe if you try and fail it’s shameful
and so I’ve met so many entrepreneurs
where they’re actually much more afraid
of failing we’re here the risk profile
is a lot higher I think it’s wonderful
at prayer 77 tweets how do you come up
with an idea for a best-seller and make
it happen
haha that’s nothing nobody another I
didn’t certainly come up with an idea
for a best-seller I had an idea that
resonated with me resonated with my
friends and it so happened that people
wanted to read about it I didn’t set out
to write a best-seller I got very lucky
that the books sold as well as they did
but you needed a publisher who believed
in you
I had I had it was surrounded by people
who believed in me and my publisher took
a big bet on me so we all need other
people I needed a guy to hire me I
needed Ted Turner’s and you needed then
you needed the you needed somebody to
give you your first chance and put you
in the air and take a risk on you and
give you advice and tell you when you
screwed up and yeah that’s what we all
needed the one I’ll tell I’ll take
credit for one thing which is when when
there were two publishers who were
interested in me and I fell in love with
Adrienne because he believed in me and
he wasn’t interested in proposals or
anything he met me and he says let’s
let’s give this a whirl whereas the
other publisher wanted me to write
chapters and they wanted to double-check
everything and I chose to go with the
person not follow the money
I didn’t play them against each other I
just wanted to be with the guy who who
was gonna take a risk of me because I I
knew that you know I I needed him the
playable game of if you only knew I just
saw some questions sure what never fails
to make you feel happier I love my niece
and nephew they’re the best secret
talent I take photographs I’m fairly
active photographer yeah that’s
interesting guilty pleasure I can stay
home for like an entire weekend and
never go out and love every moment of it
biggest risk you’ve ever taken I
completely changed the course of my life
on career when I discovered this thing
called the Y I abandoned what I was
doing and said I want to do that and
people thought I was crazy they thought
I went out of business but I was
I believed in it so much I have to
caution into the wind I think why has
been the key my whole life the world why
it’s it’s it’s a little kid question
that we grow out of here some reason
while who would you trade places with
for a day ah for a day I think it would
be interesting to be in a senior
government position head of the CIA or
something for a day just to know let’s
you know get the file on area 51 most
innovative organization in America right
now I think the the DoD I think that the
member the the Air Force the Marines the
army the Navy I think some of the stuff
that they do is pretty spectacular
though a lot of people are anti military
I look I’m anti-war and it turns out so
are so are those who wear the uniform
and have to go you know war is a
political thing if you don’t like war
take it up with a politician howdy
general told me once no one hates war
more than a warrior it’s true it’s true
what’s a great piece of advice you got
three-quarters of an answer is better
than an answer and a half what’s the
worst piece of advice you do as you’re
told
what’s something toxic everyone should
cut out of their lives I mean we could I
mean this room for improvement for all
of us right we could all we could all
Kate I think yeah it’s pretty good
judgment I guess you know judgment yeah
something you long believed to be true
and realized wasn’t that people are
honest I am really naive I think when
people tell you things they’re always
the truth and I’ve learned the hard way
that people lying always weirds me out
tell me something people don’t know
about you I think most things people
don’t know is there any deep secret
Simon but maybe today you can reveal
there are deep secrets that will not be
revealed today okay some and I accept that this is not a trial
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