digest
Short Summary
Main recommendation: Companies should write down their values, but as actionable verbs describing what people do (for example, "Always tell the truth" rather than "honesty"), and should also publish a manifesto about a cause beyond their products. Sinek argues that written values create accountability, and that a manifesto only attracts people when it describes a purpose the company's product or service serves rather than the product itself.
Key Points
- Written values make a company more accountable, because employees can point out when leaders fail to live them.
- Values should be written as actions, not abstract nouns: "innovation" and "honesty" can't be acted on, but "Look at the problem from a different angle" can.
- Sinek says that if a company feels it must write "honesty" on the wall, it likely has much bigger problems.
- A manifesto should describe a future world the company is committed to advancing, not just its products or services.
- A manifesto based only on the product is unlikely to attract people, since few people want to work somewhere just to provide the best service at the lowest price.
Details Worth Noting
- Concrete instructions: Write company values as verbs describing behavior, such as "Always tell the truth," "Look at the problem from a different angle," or "Give me something to do," rather than static nouns like "innovation," "honesty," or "provide value." Write them down in a manifesto or book for reference, then make sure employees hold leadership accountable to what was written. Frame the company's purpose around a cause beyond its product, using the form "We exist to..." for the manifesto.
- Barry-Wehmiller, a manufacturing equipment maker, states it exists "to build great people to do extraordinary things" and measures success by how it touches the lives of people.
- Sinek gives examples of causes that attract people: Disney ("good, clean family fun" or "an escape from reality"), Apple (challenging the status quo and empowering individuals against "Big Brother"), and Microsoft ("helping people be more productive in their world").
- Sinek cites the Gettysburg Address and FDR's Four Freedoms speech as examples of speeches that point back to founding values, such as the Declaration of Independence, to motivate sacrifice.
- He compares company values to religious texts, which are written down and used as references.
Bottom Line
Written values only matter if they are concrete enough to act on and people can be held to them, and a manifesto works when it points to a cause that people want to join, not the product itself.
