Sinek's Golden Circle

Communication is the transfer of information and understanding from one person to another (Mohawk). In his TEDx talk "Start with Why: How Great Leaders inspire Action," Simon Sinek introduces the golden circle. As an image that he drew, the golden circle is composed of three eccentric circles where the innermost circle contains the word "why," the middle circle has the word "how," and the outermost circle contains the word "what." He describes the golden circle as the world's simplest idea that explains why some organizations and leaders can inspire people when others cannot (Sinek). He uses the golden circle image to emphasize the importance of communicating why something is done instead of highlighting what they need to do. He claims that leaders who openly communicate purpose, cause, and belief inspires others and that this inspiration drives people to follow willingly or do what they need to do. Sinek believes that people follow those who lead, not because it is a need but because it is a want and that those who start with "why" can inspire those around them or find others who can inspire them.

To cite examples, Sinek describes how Apple, the Wright brothers, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. inspired people to do things, support their goals, and join their cause by effectively communicating and acting towards their "why." Although there are numerous computer companies, Apple's success is driven by how they openly express their belief and actively show their innovative processes, not by merely describing the products that they offer. Despite not having the support and resources, the Wright brothers were able to invent a recognized flying machine because they were driven by their belief that they could realize the flying machine that could change the course of the world. Despite not being the best orator of his time, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was able to inspire people to gather and listen to his dream of living in a just world. According to Sinek, if you talk about what you believe, you will attract those with the same beliefs. He then relates this attraction to the law of diffusion of innovation. The law of diffusion of innovation describes how people are pulled towards the inspiration that they see. They are attracted to how passionately one does something because of what they believe. In their ways, Apple, the Wright brothers, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. became leaders as they showed and communicated to people their cause, purpose, and belief, thus influencing other people into supporting their dreams. They desired change and effectively communicated their "why," inspiring people to buy their products, acknowledge their invention, and support their dream.

Inspiring others to do something without telling them to work is a desirable leadership skill. Supervisors must be good leaders who know where they want to go to persuade others to join them to influence their subordinates to work towards the library's goals (Mohawk) freely and willingly. Drawing from Sinek's examples and applying his golden circle to a library setting, a library or information service supervisor must explore and communicate why they want those working with them to work and be inspired to work towards the library's set goals. According to McNeil, staff today want jobs that provide personal satisfaction, where they can control their destiny and have a voice in what happens (9). Knowing the direction of the library will give staff control over their work and opportunities for active decision-making when it comes to taking the initiative and becoming inspired at work. Library supervisors must effectively communicate and establish clear, specific, and shared goals because this determines how the library staff will design and follow the workflow (McNeil 92). Failing to develop library staff goals, tasks, and responsibilities may result in unproductive staff and unfinished tasks.

There are many reasons why employees do not do what they are supposed to do and one of the reasons is because they do not know or understand why they should do it (Mohawk). When employees fail to do their job, oftentimes, it is not because they are not capable but because they see no personal advantage to it, or they fear that doing it will prevent them from feeling fulfillment (Mohawk). This problem for supervisors can be addressed by Sinek's golden circle approach as the process inspires action. Library supervisors must hire people who can relate to the library's vision because this means that they will work with their blood, sweat, and tears to achieve the same goals. People will do the things that prove what they believe (Sinek) so if the library staff are guided to work based on agreed-upon goals and purpose that reflects that of the library then confusion and conflict from working on differing multiple goals can be decreased or completely avoided (McNeil 100).

Once the people understand, relate to, and agree with what is being said and done, it is highly likely for them to choose to act as a team and take responsibility for achieving the set goal (McNeil 92). Effective teams have members that understand and support the organization's vision and goals. They also share a set of values about quality service (McNeil 88). In Sinek's example of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s influential speech, the people believed in his dream, took his cause, made it their own, and told other people who then shared his vision with more people. Understanding and believing in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream of living in a just world, around 250,000 people gathered to listen to him speak not for him but themselves (Sinek). If the people did not share the same ideals, it might be possible that they did not bother to gather to listen to Dr. King's inspirational speech and did nothing about the injustice during their time. Following this approach, library and information service supervisors must ensure that staff are aware and work according to the library's vision and mission to ensure that the team is inspired to work towards common goals.

Works Cited

British Columbia Library Association. "Mentorship Program." British Columbia Library Association. bclaconnect.ca/mentorship/mentorship-program/. Accessed 25 Jun. 2021.

McNeil, Beth. "Chapter 1 - Today's Workplace." Fundamentals of Library Supervision. American Library Association, 2017, pp. 8-14.

McNeil, Beth. "Chapter 3 - Orientation and Training." Fundamentals of Library Supervision. American Library Association, 2017, pp. 39-40.

McNeil, Beth. "Chapter 4 - Managing Performance." Fundamentals of Library Supervision. American Library Association, 2017, pp. 44-46.

McNeil, Beth. "Chapter 6 - Becoming a Manager." Fundamentals of Library Supervision. American Library Association, 2017, pp. 73-74.

McNeil, Beth. "Chapter 7 - Teamwork and Group Dynamics." Fundamentals of Library Supervision. American Library Association, 2017, pp. 97-98.

McNeil, Beth. "Chapter 8 - Planning and Organizing Work." Fundamentals of Library Supervision. American Library Association, 2017, pp. 104-108.

Mohawk College. "Lecture 1 – The role of the supervisor", HRES LT150: Human Relations and Supervision. OntarioLearn. Summer 2021. Web. ontariolearn.desire2learn.com/d2l/le/content/41150/viewContent/2012537/View. Accessed 26 Jun. 2021.

Mohawk College. "Lecture 2 – Planning for success", HRES LT150: Human Relations and Supervision. OntarioLearn. Summer 2021. Web. ontariolearn.desire2learn.com/d2l/le/content/41150/viewContent/2012539/View. Accessed 26 Jun. 2021.

Mohawk College. "Lecture 4 – Orientation and training", HRES LT150: Human Relations and Supervision. OntarioLearn. Summer 2021. Web. ontariolearn.desire2learn.com/d2l/le/content/41150/viewContent/2012539/View. Accessed 26 Jun. 2021.

Mohawk College. "Lecture 5 – Coaching, mentoring, motivation and delegation skills", HRES LT150: Human Relations and Supervision. OntarioLearn. Summer 2021. Web. ontariolearn.desire2learn.com/d2l/le/content/41150/viewContent/2012552/View. Accessed 26 Jun. 2021.

Mohawk College. "Lecture 6 – Orientation and training", HRES LT150: Human Relations and Supervision. OntarioLearn. Summer 2021. Web. ontariolearn.desire2learn.com/d2l/le/content/41150/viewContent/2012551/View. Accessed 26 Jun. 2021.

Mohawk College. "Lecture 7 – Employee discipline", HRES LT150: Human Relations and Supervision. OntarioLearn. Summer 2021. Web. ontariolearn.desire2learn.com/d2l/le/content/41150/viewContent/2012548/View. Accessed 26 Jun. 2021.

Mohawk College. "Lecture 10 – Managing change, managing yourself, managing time", HRES LT150: Human Relations and Supervision. OntarioLearn. Summer 2021. Web. ontariolearn.desire2learn.com/d2l/le/content/41150/viewContent/2012570/View. Accessed 26 Jun. 2021.

Ontario Library Association. "OLA MentorMatch." Ontario Library Association. olamentoring.wordpress.com/ola-mentormatch/. Accessed 25 Jun. 2021.

Sinek, Simon. "Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Action." TEDx Puget Sound. 2009. www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4ZoJKF_VuA. Accessed 25 Jun. 2021.