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
and manipulation in business right you
drop your price low enough people will
do business with you this is the concept
behind a sale things a price to move it
works it’s manipulative promotions two
for one free toy inside or if you’re in
the b2b space we call it value-added the
same idea it’s a promotion it’s giving
stuff away for free to reduce someone’s
risk so they’ll choose you over the
competition we see manipulation a lot in
marketing fear wonderful manipulator any
parents in the audience you know exactly
what I’m talking about
fear is a wonderful manipulator you can
get people to do all kinds of things
we’re often told you have to be
aspirational yes it’s good to be
positive but it’s still a manipulation I
like to joke that you can get people to
join the gym with an aspirational
message but to get them to go 3 days a
week that requires a little bit of
inspiration or what a lot of
organizations like to call innovation
it’s really novelty right because real
innovation changes the course of
industries of not society the fax
machine the microwave the light bulb
iTunes that’s real innovation adding a
camera to your cell phone wonderful
feature not an innovation it is
stressful to be a consumer these days it
is stressful to try to decide what to
buy when you are bombarded day after day
with manipulation from all kinds of
organizations which TV should I buy
which cell phone company should I go
with with which IT solution should I get
from my office it’s called stress
stressful to be a seller as well however
in the face of bombardment of
manipulation and a nip Y elation
manipulation is that that’s that’s the
marketplace 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 a 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 or the services you
offer some know how they do it whether
you call it your differentiating value
proposition or your USP or your
proprietary process it’s the things that
you think make you special or different
or better than your competition but very
very few people 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 go 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
their industry every single one of them
thinks accent 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 all of
our cases choose us but not the inspired
leaders not Apple they start with why
here’s how they actually communicate
everything we do they say we believe in
challenging the status quo we believe in
thinking differently the way we
challenge the status quo is by making
our products beautifully designed simple
to use and user friendly we just happen
to make great computers wanna buy one
totally different totally different no
trickery no manipulations no celebrity
endorsements all I did was reverse the
order of the information what it starts
to show us is that it’s not what you do
that matters it’s why you do it
people don’t buy what you do they buy
why you do it and what you do simply
serves as the tangible proof of what you
believe this is the reason why every
single person in this room is perfectly
comfortable buying a computer from Apple
we’re perfectly comfortable with the
idea that Apple makes mp3 players and
phones and DVRs newsflash Apple is just
a company that’s all they are it’s a
corporate structure they have some good
products and some bad ones all of their
competitors have equal and open access
to the same resources the same agencies
the same consultants the same media the
same talent it is a zero-sum game every
single one of their competitors is
equally qualified to make every product
that Apple makes and yet how is it that
this one company has an unbalanced
amount of influence an unbalanced
ability
to innovate an unbalanced amount of
profitability an unbalanced amount of
loyalty amongst their customers and in
their employees the differences they
haven’t defined themselves by what they
do they’ve defined themselves by why
they do it and what they do simply
serves the tangible proof of what they
believe Dell is a good company that
makes good products and as every little
bit qualified to make every product that
Apple makes a few years ago they came
out with PDAs and mp3 players and nobody
bought one why would we buy an mp3
player from a computer company it
doesn’t make sense but we do it every
day
the difference is Dell has defined
themselves by what they do and Apple has
defined themselves by why they exist for
this little idea to work you have to
have three things one you have to know
why you do what you do if you don’t know
why you do what you do how will anyone
else – you have to have discipline of
how you have to hold yourself and your
people accountable to your values and
your guiding principles and thirdly you
have to have consistency of what
everything you say and everything you do
everything must prove what you believe
at the end of the day why is just a
belief that’s all it is house are the
actions we take to realize that belief
and what’s are the results of those
actions the things we say the things we
do our products and services and
marketing etc and if what you say and
what you do doesn’t show what you
believe that no one will know what you
believe this is the concept behind
authenticity I’m tired and bored of
people standing on stages telling us all
we have to be authentic how do you
implement authenticity if you would when
you go back to your office a little more
authenticity and 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 on arts by ourselves
out in the wilderness
it is our communities that protect us
and look after us and are the reason the
human race succeeds when you are
surrounded by people who believe what
you believe something remarkable happens
Trust emerges make no mistake of it
Trust is a feeling it is a human
experience simply doing everything you
promised your going to do does not mean
people will trust you just means you’re
responsible we all have friends were
total screw-ups and yet we still trust
them Trust is a feeling and it comes
from that common set of values and
beliefs and when you are surrounded by
people who trust you and you trust them
you’re more likely to take a risk you’re
more likely to explore you’re more
likely to innovate you’re more likely to
leave the cave to go hunting
saber-toothed Tigers with the confidence
that those in your community will look
after your stuff and protect your
children while you’re gone your survival
depends on your ability to form trust
and Trust can only be formed when you’re
surrounded by people who believe what
you believe and you can only be
surrounded by people who believe what
you believe if you know why you do what
you do how many of you either love your
Macintosh computer or know somebody who
loves their Macintosh computer ok
good bunch of you you can always tell
people who love their Macs
because when you try and convince them
that they actually bought substandard
computers they start foaming at the
mouth rationally speaking apples are
substandard they are they’re at least 25
percent more expensive sometimes double
the price of their PC counterparts
there’s less software there’s fewer
peripherals and I know because I
switched to a Mac they are absolutely
slower than PCs substandard and yet
people who buy them don’t even compare
to the competition
they don’t do market research and try
and figure out which is the best
computer they’ve decided they’re only
going to get a Mac and they buy them
over
over and over again and there are young
kids living on cup of noodles because
they can’t afford anything more and yet
it’s totally ok to spend $2,000 on a
laptop this doesn’t make sense there’s
something deeper there’s something
deeper happening here Apple stands for
something the people who are drawn to
Apple the people who believe in the same
things that Apple believes do so not
because the computers rationally better
it’s because it becomes a symbol one of
the things that they do that reflects
their own beliefs every decision we make
in our lives as individuals or
organizations is a piece of
communication it tells the outside world
something about who we are it’s the way
we get the word out there are people who
walk around with harley-davidson logos
but it’s no longer a logo because Harley
is so clear and why they do what they do
and what they believe and they’re so
disciplined and how they do it and
they’re so consistent in what they do
what ends up happening is everything
they say and everything they do their
products their logos become symbols
symbols of a set of values and beliefs
and the person who puts that Harley logo
there it’s nothing to do with the
motorcycle they’re telling you something
about who they are this is the reason
why people with Apple laptops love
opening their laptops on airports they
want everybody to see and you’ll never
see somebody with an Apple laptop put a
big tiger print sticker over the top of
their computer it’ll never happen
take a PC we don’t care what computer
you’re using and you put stickers all
over it make it pretty never it’s a
piece of communication the clearer you
are about what you believe the more
disciplined you are about how you do
things 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
evolves 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 why and 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
well 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 other
circumstances why do you love your
husband why do you love your wife that’s
a difficult question why do you love
that’s usually where most people start
right and then they start rationalizing
she’s fun she’s always been there for me
I can count on her it sounds like a
golden retriever and those aren’t
necessarily the conditions for marriage
my sister says of my brother-in-law I
love this it’s supposed to be a
compliment my sis isn’t my
brother-in-law I never imagined I’d
marry a guy like him what she’s saying
is when I was younger and I made a
checklist of all the things that I
wanted my future husband what what he
has none of them but I love him and I
want to have children with him and I
want to spend the rest of my life with
him it’s not rational we just think it’s
rational and again the part of the brain
that controls behavior and
decision-making and feelings doesn’t
control language this is where gut
decisions come from this is why we say I
don’t know it just felt right why do we
use the verb to feel to describe a
decision it’s because the part of the
brain that controls feelings controls
decision-making that’s why there is no
part of your stomach that controls
decision-making and it didn’t happen in
your blood and it’s not in your bones
and you’re not following your heart we
ascribe it to all different parts of the
body because we can’t find the words it
just feels right and we all know that
those are higher quality decisions
anyway when all you can give her the
facts and figures as to why you should
or shouldn’t do in some do something the
highest level of confidence you can give
is I think this is the right decision
that would be biologically accurate but
we all know their work up there are
decisions we make in our lives that I
know the facts and figures say that we
should do that just doesn’t feel right
though and you ask the most successful
entrepreneurs in the world what’s your
secret they all say the same thing
trusted my gut trusted my gut and when
things didn’t go well I knew I should
have trusted my gut problem is it’s not
scalable not scalable we all have the
innate ability to find people who
believe what we believe our survival
depends on it
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 the minute
I’ll either be right or wrong right it’s
called dating it’s called making friends
it’s called interviewing we know how to
do this we know how to do this it’s not
scalable but if I ask you to go out on
the street and find all the people
wearing red hats easy there’s one
there’s one there’s one there’s one
there’s one instantaneously you can find
the people who believe what you believe
because they’re putting out symbols of
their own beliefs you people who love
your Apple computers don’t lie to me
I know when you’re walking through the
airport you see some 16 year old sitting
on the floor you know on her Mac laptop
you walk past you go hey why’d you do
that leave her alone
[Applause]
[Applause]
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 and you’re in
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
trusts we can rely on each other watch
each other’s backs simply because we
share the same values and beliefs and as
you get closer and closer and closer you
want to find those people who believe
what you believe
knowing what you believe means that you
can look for the symbols that Apple logo
says something that harley-davidson logo
says something and you’re either drawn
leadership is when you have the ability
to stand on the street corner and put on
your own red hat and simply stand there
and go I got a red hat I got a red hat I
got a red hat and all the other people
walking past even though they can’t see
their own red hats even though they
don’t know their why they’re eerily
drawn to you they’re eerily drawn to you
there’s an inextricable link between
leadership and communication those who
lead are the ones who can clearly
communicate what they believe and those
who can clearly communicate what they
believe are the ones
who lead and the reason is simple is
because when you talk about what you
believe and you put your beliefs and
your values and clear words or symbols
consistent enough authentic enough that
I know that everything you say and do
represents what you believe I will be
drawn to you for myself for my own
survival doing business with you working
for you being your friend says something
about Who I am the goal is not to do
business with everybody who needs what
you have the goal is to do business with
people who believe what you believe
people who believe what you believe will
work for you with blood and sweat and
tears people who don’t believe what you
believe work for your money the same is
true for customers those who believe
what you believe will go out of their
way to do business with you those who
don’t believe what you believe just
wanted 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
objective 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 use the thick and
thin because doing business with you
says more about them than it does about
you those are the ones that matter most
and the reason is simple it’s because of
something called the law of diffusion of
innovations the bell curve if you don’t
know the law of diffusion you definitely
know the terminology if you look at the
Bell when it says the first
two-and-a-half percent of our population
are our innovators the next 13 and a
half percent of our population are our
early adopters the next 34 percent are
our early majority the next 34 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 an
innovator side of the population they’re
very comfortable trusting their guts
they’re very comfortable making
intuitive decisions and they’re willing
to pay premiums and suffer inconvenience
to be a part of something that reflects
their beliefs these the people that
bought that stood in line for six hours
to buy iPhones when they first came out
even though you could just walk into the
store the following week and just buy
one off the shelf these the people who
spent 40 or 50 thousand dollars on
flat-screen TVs when they first came out
even though the technology was
substandard and had nothing to do with
the technology it had to do with them
they wanted to be first people who
bought iPhone fours why couldn’t they
just keep their phone in their pocket
when the phone rings onto the phone when
I got one did you get one you didn’t get
one I got one they have to show you the
reason they have to show you is cuz
they’re telling you something about who
they are and other people who got one
first and they’re like oh you got one
too me to look isn’t it cool look you
both have one why’d 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 alright that’s
that early adopter and innovative
population they’re willing to pay a
premium or suffer inconvenience to be a
part of something that reflects their
beliefs now the rest of the world the
majority is absolutely more cynical and
more practical absolutely
they absolutely care more about things
like price and quality and service and
features absolutely the problem is
according to the law of diffusion you
cannot have mass market success or mass
market acceptance for an idea until
you’ve achieved 15 to 18 percent market
penetration that is the tipping point
and the reason is is because the early
majority that first 34 percent will not
try something until someone else has
tried at first this is the reason we
have to drop our price and offer
promotions and offer value added because
we have to reduce their risk to do
business with us the innovator in the
early adopters happily pay premiums and
suffering convenience 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 did your company
fail they usually give you some
combination of the same few reasons
right undercapitalized didn’t have
enough money that’s a big one
bad market conditions we 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 is technology’s
way beyond any other DVR system the best
execution flawless venture-capital up
the wazoo
money no problem brilliant engineers on
board had good people market conditions
remarkable the unaided awareness of
TiVo’s through the roof we use t-bo’s a
verb I TiVo stuff on my piece of junk
cable DVR right and if you want to throw
in first mover’s advantage throw that
into because they had that as well
TiVo is a commercial and financial
failure they’ve never made money and
when their stock went public it launched
about forty or fifty dollars very
quickly plummeted and except for a
couple little blips has never traded
above ten dollars TiVo is a commercial
and financial failure and the reason is
because when they launched this
brilliant product they attempted to tell
the mass them but the majority what
their product does they said to the
majority we have a product that pauses
live TV skips commercials memorizes your
viewing habits and records on your
behalf without you even asking and the
cynical practical majority said I don’t
need it I don’t like it I don’t believe
you
you’re scaring me so didn’t buy one a
few did few early adopters did ten
percent you know to this day they love
their TiVo’s but it wasn’t enough to
make the system tip you see now imagine
if TiVo had told that left side that
there’s early adopters and those
innovators that they had just talked
about why the product even exists
imagining hey they have said if you’re
the kind of person who likes to have
total control over every aspect
of your life boy do we have a product
for you it pauses live TV it skips
commercials it memorizes your viewing
habits and records on your behalf
without you even asking in this instance
what the product does serves as the
tangible proof of why it exists it is
not the reason you use to convince
people to do business with you in the
first place
people don’t buy what you do they buy
why you do it and what you do serves as
the tangible proof of what you believe
your company is one of the things that
you’re doing in your life that proves
who you are the more you talk about what
you believe the more you talk about what
you actually believe the more likely you
are to attract people who believe what
you believe and they will help you
because they want to because they trust
you here’s another example my favorite
one in the summer of 1963 250,000 people
showed up on the mall in Washington to
hear dr. King give his famous I have a
dream speech
there were no invitations sent out
there’s no website to check the date how
do you do that how many emails did you
get just to show up here today I got
seven dr. King was not the only man in
America who knew what had to change to
bring about civil rights in this country
dr. King didn’t have all great ideas
some of his ideas were bad he was not
the only man who suffered in a pre-civil
Rights America in fact he suffered a
little less than some because he was off
at university and he wasn’t the perfect
man he had his complexities but we just
don’t talk about those things
the difference is dr. King didn’t go
around telling people what we need to do
what we need to do what we need to do he
went around and told people I believe I
believe I believe and people who
believed what he believed took his cause
and they made it their own and they told
people what they believed and those
people who believe what they 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 on the
Sun in the middle of Washington simply
to hear dr. King speak simply coming to
the rally was one of the things they did
in their lives to prove what they
believed by the way he gave the I have a
dream speech not the I have a planned
speech it’s not what you do that matters
it’s why you do it
you cannot change the world to build it
build a multi-million dollar a
multi-billion dollar business by
yourself unscalable remember you and
your gut you can do very well not
scalable the only way to really grow is
to find those who believe what you
believe in are willing to work with you
with blood and sweat and tears to help
you get there do you know the story of
the two Stone layers though these two
stone layers right 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 manat
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
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 the
scorching hot Sun all day nuts
monotonous and I don’t even know if I’m
gonna finish this wall in my lifetime
but I’m building a cathedral what they
do is exactly the same this guy might
even be a champion stone layer the only
difference is that only one of them
knows why he shows up to work every day
and the guy who knows why does not see
himself as any more or less important
than the architect or the guy doing the
stained-glass windows a landscaper they
are all contributing to building
something that they believe in that’s
bigger than themselves a leader is
somebody who can put into words that
which does not exist yet the leader is
the one who stands there and says in
beautiful crystal-clear words and he
describes that Cathedral that hasn’t
been built in words so clear that others
can take that image and they can pass it
on to others why are you working so hard
because I believe in that we’re building
a cathedral what Cathedral let me tell
you are you describing your Cathedral
you’re just telling people the wall at
your building the reason everybody
showed up here is because together we’re
gonna build a cathedral we are all
contributing to a world that we would
rather live in 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%
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
which the vast majority of people do
business with companies that they trust
and love they work with people that they
trust and love and they go home happier
because of it people who go to work and
love what they do come home happier
people and happier people treat their
spouses better and they treat their kids
better and they go back to work happy
the next day and they treat their
colleagues better and they treat their
customers better and those people go
home happier and they treat their kids
better and their spouses better it’s
called world peace and it happens
because of the likes of all of us this
is called scale this is called 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
this is for people who want to inspire
those around them or who want to find
somebody to inspire them I can say
without a doubt you inspire me thank you
very much
[Applause] [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
and manipulation in business right you
drop your price low enough people will
do business with you this is the concept
behind a sale things a price to move it
works it’s manipulative promotions two
for one free toy inside or if you’re in
the b2b space we call it value-added the
same idea it’s a promotion it’s giving
stuff away for free to reduce someone’s
risk so they’ll choose you over the
competition we see manipulation a lot in
marketing fear wonderful manipulator any
parents in the audience you know exactly
what I’m talking about
fear is a wonderful manipulator you can
get people to do all kinds of things
we’re often told you have to be
aspirational yes it’s good to be
positive but it’s still a manipulation I
like to joke that you can get people to
join the gym with an aspirational
message but to get them to go 3 days a
week that requires a little bit of
inspiration or what a lot of
organizations like to call innovation
it’s really novelty right because real
innovation changes the course of
industries of not society the fax
machine the microwave the light bulb
iTunes that’s real innovation adding a
camera to your cell phone wonderful
feature not an innovation it is
stressful to be a consumer these days it
is stressful to try to decide what to
buy when you are bombarded day after day
with manipulation from all kinds of
organizations which TV should I buy
which cell phone company should I go
with with which IT solution should I get
from my office it’s called stress
stressful to be a seller as well however
in the face of bombardment of
manipulation and a nip Y elation
manipulation is that that’s that’s the
marketplace 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 a 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 or the services you
offer some know how they do it whether
you call it your differentiating value
proposition or your USP or your
proprietary process it’s the things that
you think make you special or different
or better than your competition but very
very few people 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 go 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
their industry every single one of them
thinks accent 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 all of
our cases choose us but not the inspired
leaders not Apple they start with why
here’s how they actually communicate
everything we do they say we believe in
challenging the status quo we believe in
thinking differently the way we
challenge the status quo is by making
our products beautifully designed simple
to use and user friendly we just happen
to make great computers wanna buy one
totally different totally different no
trickery no manipulations no celebrity
endorsements all I did was reverse the
order of the information what it starts
to show us is that it’s not what you do
that matters it’s why you do it
people don’t buy what you do they buy
why you do it and what you do simply
serves as the tangible proof of what you
believe this is the reason why every
single person in this room is perfectly
comfortable buying a computer from Apple
we’re perfectly comfortable with the
idea that Apple makes mp3 players and
phones and DVRs newsflash Apple is just
a company that’s all they are it’s a
corporate structure they have some good
products and some bad ones all of their
competitors have equal and open access
to the same resources the same agencies
the same consultants the same media the
same talent it is a zero-sum game every
single one of their competitors is
equally qualified to make every product
that Apple makes and yet how is it that
this one company has an unbalanced
amount of influence an unbalanced
ability
to innovate an unbalanced amount of
profitability an unbalanced amount of
loyalty amongst their customers and in
their employees the differences they
haven’t defined themselves by what they
do they’ve defined themselves by why
they do it and what they do simply
serves the tangible proof of what they
believe Dell is a good company that
makes good products and as every little
bit qualified to make every product that
Apple makes a few years ago they came
out with PDAs and mp3 players and nobody
bought one why would we buy an mp3
player from a computer company it
doesn’t make sense but we do it every
day
the difference is Dell has defined
themselves by what they do and Apple has
defined themselves by why they exist for
this little idea to work you have to
have three things one you have to know
why you do what you do if you don’t know
why you do what you do how will anyone
else – you have to have discipline of
how you have to hold yourself and your
people accountable to your values and
your guiding principles and thirdly you
have to have consistency of what
everything you say and everything you do
everything must prove what you believe
at the end of the day why is just a
belief that’s all it is house are the
actions we take to realize that belief
and what’s are the results of those
actions the things we say the things we
do our products and services and
marketing etc and if what you say and
what you do doesn’t show what you
believe that no one will know what you
believe this is the concept behind
authenticity I’m tired and bored of
people standing on stages telling us all
we have to be authentic how do you
implement authenticity if you would when
you go back to your office a little more
authenticity and 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 on arts by ourselves
out in the wilderness
it is our communities that protect us
and look after us and are the reason the
human race succeeds when you are
surrounded by people who believe what
you believe something remarkable happens
Trust emerges make no mistake of it
Trust is a feeling it is a human
experience simply doing everything you
promised your going to do does not mean
people will trust you just means you’re
responsible we all have friends were
total screw-ups and yet we still trust
them Trust is a feeling and it comes
from that common set of values and
beliefs and when you are surrounded by
people who trust you and you trust them
you’re more likely to take a risk you’re
more likely to explore you’re more
likely to innovate you’re more likely to
leave the cave to go hunting
saber-toothed Tigers with the confidence
that those in your community will look
after your stuff and protect your
children while you’re gone your survival
depends on your ability to form trust
and Trust can only be formed when you’re
surrounded by people who believe what
you believe and you can only be
surrounded by people who believe what
you believe if you know why you do what
you do how many of you either love your
Macintosh computer or know somebody who
loves their Macintosh computer ok
good bunch of you you can always tell
people who love their Macs
because when you try and convince them
that they actually bought substandard
computers they start foaming at the
mouth rationally speaking apples are
substandard they are they’re at least 25
percent more expensive sometimes double
the price of their PC counterparts
there’s less software there’s fewer
peripherals and I know because I
switched to a Mac they are absolutely
slower than PCs substandard and yet
people who buy them don’t even compare
to the competition
they don’t do market research and try
and figure out which is the best
computer they’ve decided they’re only
going to get a Mac and they buy them
over
over and over again and there are young
kids living on cup of noodles because
they can’t afford anything more and yet
it’s totally ok to spend $2,000 on a
laptop this doesn’t make sense there’s
something deeper there’s something
deeper happening here Apple stands for
something the people who are drawn to
Apple the people who believe in the same
things that Apple believes do so not
because the computers rationally better
it’s because it becomes a symbol one of
the things that they do that reflects
their own beliefs every decision we make
in our lives as individuals or
organizations is a piece of
communication it tells the outside world
something about who we are it’s the way
we get the word out there are people who
walk around with harley-davidson logos
but it’s no longer a logo because Harley
is so clear and why they do what they do
and what they believe and they’re so
disciplined and how they do it and
they’re so consistent in what they do
what ends up happening is everything
they say and everything they do their
products their logos become symbols
symbols of a set of values and beliefs
and the person who puts that Harley logo
there it’s nothing to do with the
motorcycle they’re telling you something
about who they are this is the reason
why people with Apple laptops love
opening their laptops on airports they
want everybody to see and you’ll never
see somebody with an Apple laptop put a
big tiger print sticker over the top of
their computer it’ll never happen
take a PC we don’t care what computer
you’re using and you put stickers all
over it make it pretty never it’s a
piece of communication the clearer you
are about what you believe the more
disciplined you are about how you do
things 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
evolves 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 why and 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
well 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 other
circumstances why do you love your
husband why do you love your wife that’s
a difficult question why do you love
that’s usually where most people start
right and then they start rationalizing
she’s fun she’s always been there for me
I can count on her it sounds like a
golden retriever and those aren’t
necessarily the conditions for marriage
my sister says of my brother-in-law I
love this it’s supposed to be a
compliment my sis isn’t my
brother-in-law I never imagined I’d
marry a guy like him what she’s saying
is when I was younger and I made a
checklist of all the things that I
wanted my future husband what what he
has none of them but I love him and I
want to have children with him and I
want to spend the rest of my life with
him it’s not rational we just think it’s
rational and again the part of the brain
that controls behavior and
decision-making and feelings doesn’t
control language this is where gut
decisions come from this is why we say I
don’t know it just felt right why do we
use the verb to feel to describe a
decision it’s because the part of the
brain that controls feelings controls
decision-making that’s why there is no
part of your stomach that controls
decision-making and it didn’t happen in
your blood and it’s not in your bones
and you’re not following your heart we
ascribe it to all different parts of the
body because we can’t find the words it
just feels right and we all know that
those are higher quality decisions
anyway when all you can give her the
facts and figures as to why you should
or shouldn’t do in some do something the
highest level of confidence you can give
is I think this is the right decision
that would be biologically accurate but
we all know their work up there are
decisions we make in our lives that I
know the facts and figures say that we
should do that just doesn’t feel right
though and you ask the most successful
entrepreneurs in the world what’s your
secret they all say the same thing
trusted my gut trusted my gut and when
things didn’t go well I knew I should
have trusted my gut problem is it’s not
scalable not scalable we all have the
innate ability to find people who
believe what we believe our survival
depends on it
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 the minute
I’ll either be right or wrong right it’s
called dating it’s called making friends
it’s called interviewing we know how to
do this we know how to do this it’s not
scalable but if I ask you to go out on
the street and find all the people
wearing red hats easy there’s one
there’s one there’s one there’s one
there’s one instantaneously you can find
the people who believe what you believe
because they’re putting out symbols of
their own beliefs you people who love
your Apple computers don’t lie to me
I know when you’re walking through the
airport you see some 16 year old sitting
on the floor you know on her Mac laptop
you walk past you go hey why’d you do
that leave her alone
[Applause]
[Applause]
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 and you’re in
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
trusts we can rely on each other watch
each other’s backs simply because we
share the same values and beliefs and as
you get closer and closer and closer you
want to find those people who believe
what you believe
knowing what you believe means that you
can look for the symbols that Apple logo
says something that harley-davidson logo
says something and you’re either drawn
leadership is when you have the ability
to stand on the street corner and put on
your own red hat and simply stand there
and go I got a red hat I got a red hat I
got a red hat and all the other people
walking past even though they can’t see
their own red hats even though they
don’t know their why they’re eerily
drawn to you they’re eerily drawn to you
there’s an inextricable link between
leadership and communication those who
lead are the ones who can clearly
communicate what they believe and those
who can clearly communicate what they
believe are the ones
who lead and the reason is simple is
because when you talk about what you
believe and you put your beliefs and
your values and clear words or symbols
consistent enough authentic enough that
I know that everything you say and do
represents what you believe I will be
drawn to you for myself for my own
survival doing business with you working
for you being your friend says something
about Who I am the goal is not to do
business with everybody who needs what
you have the goal is to do business with
people who believe what you believe
people who believe what you believe will
work for you with blood and sweat and
tears people who don’t believe what you
believe work for your money the same is
true for customers those who believe
what you believe will go out of their
way to do business with you those who
don’t believe what you believe just
wanted 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
objective 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 use the thick and
thin because doing business with you
says more about them than it does about
you those are the ones that matter most
and the reason is simple it’s because of
something called the law of diffusion of
innovations the bell curve if you don’t
know the law of diffusion you definitely
know the terminology if you look at the
Bell when it says the first
two-and-a-half percent of our population
are our innovators the next 13 and a
half percent of our population are our
early adopters the next 34 percent are
our early majority the next 34 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 an
innovator side of the population they’re
very comfortable trusting their guts
they’re very comfortable making
intuitive decisions and they’re willing
to pay premiums and suffer inconvenience
to be a part of something that reflects
their beliefs these the people that
bought that stood in line for six hours
to buy iPhones when they first came out
even though you could just walk into the
store the following week and just buy
one off the shelf these the people who
spent 40 or 50 thousand dollars on
flat-screen TVs when they first came out
even though the technology was
substandard and had nothing to do with
the technology it had to do with them
they wanted to be first people who
bought iPhone fours why couldn’t they
just keep their phone in their pocket
when the phone rings onto the phone when
I got one did you get one you didn’t get
one I got one they have to show you the
reason they have to show you is cuz
they’re telling you something about who
they are and other people who got one
first and they’re like oh you got one
too me to look isn’t it cool look you
both have one why’d 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 alright that’s
that early adopter and innovative
population they’re willing to pay a
premium or suffer inconvenience to be a
part of something that reflects their
beliefs now the rest of the world the
majority is absolutely more cynical and
more practical absolutely
they absolutely care more about things
like price and quality and service and
features absolutely the problem is
according to the law of diffusion you
cannot have mass market success or mass
market acceptance for an idea until
you’ve achieved 15 to 18 percent market
penetration that is the tipping point
and the reason is is because the early
majority that first 34 percent will not
try something until someone else has
tried at first this is the reason we
have to drop our price and offer
promotions and offer value added because
we have to reduce their risk to do
business with us the innovator in the
early adopters happily pay premiums and
suffering convenience 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 did your company
fail they usually give you some
combination of the same few reasons
right undercapitalized didn’t have
enough money that’s a big one
bad market conditions we 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 is technology’s
way beyond any other DVR system the best
execution flawless venture-capital up
the wazoo
money no problem brilliant engineers on
board had good people market conditions
remarkable the unaided awareness of
TiVo’s through the roof we use t-bo’s a
verb I TiVo stuff on my piece of junk
cable DVR right and if you want to throw
in first mover’s advantage throw that
into because they had that as well
TiVo is a commercial and financial
failure they’ve never made money and
when their stock went public it launched
about forty or fifty dollars very
quickly plummeted and except for a
couple little blips has never traded
above ten dollars TiVo is a commercial
and financial failure and the reason is
because when they launched this
brilliant product they attempted to tell
the mass them but the majority what
their product does they said to the
majority we have a product that pauses
live TV skips commercials memorizes your
viewing habits and records on your
behalf without you even asking and the
cynical practical majority said I don’t
need it I don’t like it I don’t believe
you
you’re scaring me so didn’t buy one a
few did few early adopters did ten
percent you know to this day they love
their TiVo’s but it wasn’t enough to
make the system tip you see now imagine
if TiVo had told that left side that
there’s early adopters and those
innovators that they had just talked
about why the product even exists
imagining hey they have said if you’re
the kind of person who likes to have
total control over every aspect
of your life boy do we have a product
for you it pauses live TV it skips
commercials it memorizes your viewing
habits and records on your behalf
without you even asking in this instance
what the product does serves as the
tangible proof of why it exists it is
not the reason you use to convince
people to do business with you in the
first place
people don’t buy what you do they buy
why you do it and what you do serves as
the tangible proof of what you believe
your company is one of the things that
you’re doing in your life that proves
who you are the more you talk about what
you believe the more you talk about what
you actually believe the more likely you
are to attract people who believe what
you believe and they will help you
because they want to because they trust
you here’s another example my favorite
one in the summer of 1963 250,000 people
showed up on the mall in Washington to
hear dr. King give his famous I have a
dream speech
there were no invitations sent out
there’s no website to check the date how
do you do that how many emails did you
get just to show up here today I got
seven dr. King was not the only man in
America who knew what had to change to
bring about civil rights in this country
dr. King didn’t have all great ideas
some of his ideas were bad he was not
the only man who suffered in a pre-civil
Rights America in fact he suffered a
little less than some because he was off
at university and he wasn’t the perfect
man he had his complexities but we just
don’t talk about those things
the difference is dr. King didn’t go
around telling people what we need to do
what we need to do what we need to do he
went around and told people I believe I
believe I believe and people who
believed what he believed took his cause
and they made it their own and they told
people what they believed and those
people who believe what they 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 on the
Sun in the middle of Washington simply
to hear dr. King speak simply coming to
the rally was one of the things they did
in their lives to prove what they
believed by the way he gave the I have a
dream speech not the I have a planned
speech it’s not what you do that matters
it’s why you do it
you cannot change the world to build it
build a multi-million dollar a
multi-billion dollar business by
yourself unscalable remember you and
your gut you can do very well not
scalable the only way to really grow is
to find those who believe what you
believe in are willing to work with you
with blood and sweat and tears to help
you get there do you know the story of
the two Stone layers though these two
stone layers right 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 manat
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
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 the
scorching hot Sun all day nuts
monotonous and I don’t even know if I’m
gonna finish this wall in my lifetime
but I’m building a cathedral what they
do is exactly the same this guy might
even be a champion stone layer the only
difference is that only one of them
knows why he shows up to work every day
and the guy who knows why does not see
himself as any more or less important
than the architect or the guy doing the
stained-glass windows a landscaper they
are all contributing to building
something that they believe in that’s
bigger than themselves a leader is
somebody who can put into words that
which does not exist yet the leader is
the one who stands there and says in
beautiful crystal-clear words and he
describes that Cathedral that hasn’t
been built in words so clear that others
can take that image and they can pass it
on to others why are you working so hard
because I believe in that we’re building
a cathedral what Cathedral let me tell
you are you describing your Cathedral
you’re just telling people the wall at
your building the reason everybody
showed up here is because together we’re
gonna build a cathedral we are all
contributing to a world that we would
rather live in 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%
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
which the vast majority of people do
business with companies that they trust
and love they work with people that they
trust and love and they go home happier
because of it people who go to work and
love what they do come home happier
people and happier people treat their
spouses better and they treat their kids
better and they go back to work happy
the next day and they treat their
colleagues better and they treat their
customers better and those people go
home happier and they treat their kids
better and their spouses better it’s
called world peace and it happens
because of the likes of all of us this
is called scale this is called 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
this is for people who want to inspire
those around them or who want to find
somebody to inspire them I can say
without a doubt you inspire me thank you
very much
[Applause] [Music]
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