The Two Greatest Days, A Golden Circle, and Why

William Barclay writes, “There are two great days in a person’s life – the day we are born and the day we discover why.”  Hanging on one of my walls is the following statement:  “The question is not, ‘What do I want to do with my life?’  The question is ‘Why?’”  If you don’t know why, you’ll never really try.

In his book Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action[i], Simon Sinek explains the three layers of Greatness using what he calls The Golden Circle.

Sinek’s Golden Circle consists of three concentric circles.  The inside circle is one’s Why.  The next outer circle is one’s How, and the third outer circle is one’s What.  The key to one’s Greatness lies in the interwoven implementation of the three circles, but the core is the Why. ( Check out Sinek's youtube video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp0HIF3SfI4)

 Sinek uses Steve Jobs, the Wright brothers, and Martin Luther King, Jr. as three examples of The Golden Circle.  Each of these figures exemplifies the power and influence of one’s Why. As we briefly examine the three layers of Greatness in The Golden Circle and these three case studies, open your mind and ask yourself, “What is my Why, my Dream?”

Steve Jobs

What made Steve Jobs an influential human being was his relentless attention to make the most attractive, sleekest, easy to use, accessible technological devices on the planet.  And it all comes back to his Why.  Jobs connected his Why to those working for Apple.  Apple engineers weren’t necessarily brighter than engineers at other companies.  Apple had a CEO who was deeply committed to his Why.  It drove everything Jobs did, and consequently everything his employees did.

           

The Wright Brothers

If God had wanted man to fly,

He would have given him wings.

           -Bishop Milton Wright

           (Father of Orville and Wilbur Wright)

The Wright brothers will forever be remembered for inventing manned flight.  But most significantly, the Wright brothers’ why was to make a better world and improve the lives of all humanity.  It was not simply to invent manned flight.

            The Wright brothers had a contemporary who wanted to invent manned flight.  This man had everything going for him.  He was a professor at a major university with funding and connections with the press and government.  He had all the advantages.  But he lacked one thing the broke, untrained, poorly connected, evidently unsupported by their father, cow-pasture-for-an-airfield, bicycle-making Wright brothers possessed: a powerful Why.  The professor’s Why was to become rich and famous.

            When the Wright brothers flew for the first time, this professor simply quit.  He didn’t even entertain trying to improve flight.  The difference between the Wright brothers and the professor was their Whys.  A Why solely focused on you will not last.  That kind of Why is not a dream.  It’s a nightmare!

Martin Luther King Jr.

What made Martin Luther King Jr. an influential leader of the Civil Rights Movement?  King spoke to the nation from a different place than most: his heart.  King’s most famous words deviated from his originally planned speech.  Instead, King shared his Why.  King’s most famous speech was not I Have a Plan or I Have a Great Activity We Can Do.  It was I Have a Dream, that his children would live in a world where every human being was judged by the content of his character and not the color of his skin. A Dream connecting with others is the most powerful force on earth.

  

It All Depends on Why

Steve Jobs, the Wright brothers, and Martin Luther King Jr. all possessed the one component essential to living one’s calling:  a Why.  Everyone has a Why.  Everyone!  But not everyone discovers it or uncovers it because many struggle to see beyond themselves.  A Why is always caught up in service to something bigger than one’s self.  The greatest leaders see themselves in service to a higher authority.  A Why rests in your heart.  It is the most important component to finding your Greatness.  Your Why:

·      always engages your imagination.

·      always concerns serving others.

·      is your vision for your life.

A famous book of wisdom reads, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”[ii]  A Dream brings life!  Your Dream equals your Why!

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[i] Sinek, Simon.  Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action.  Penguin (USA), 2011. Print.

[ii] Proverbs 29:18