You're a Student of Military History

We have an extra dose of inspiration for your week with this encore episode from January 2020. Author and speaker Simon Sinek sat down with Whitney to ask the simplest question: "Why?"

"Why am I doing this work? Why am I on this career path?" These questions lead to a disruptive change in Simon's life. Despite uncertainty, Simon is so successful because he seeks out challenges, rather than looking for obstacles.

--Original Show Notes from January 7, 2020--

To kick off 2020 I am talking to Simon Sinek, who is best known for popularizing the concept of “why” in his 2009 TED talk. To date, it is the third most-watched talk at TED.com with over 40 million views. Simon is the author of several best-selling books, including “Start With Why,” “Leaders Eat Last,” and “The Infinite Game,” which was released in October of 2019.

For those who are long-time listeners to this podcast, my first question may surprise you. Instead of my usual beginning, I asked Simon one simple thing: What is your “why”?

“My ‘why' is to inspire people to do the things that inspire them, so together each of us change our world for the better.”

There really was no other way to begin the conversation. Simon has been speaking about the importance of “why” since 2005, when he “fell out of love” with his marketing career and began speaking publicly about the importance of “why” to friends, and eventually friends-of-friends. The organic growth of his ideas eventually caught the attention of the US Air Force, and by mid-2006 he was invited to speak at the Pentagon and military bases across the US.