Starting with Why with Stephen Shedletsky

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Website: https://startwithwhy.com/ | Twitter: @steveshed, @simonsinek |
Stephen's recent Discovery Ed Webinar
Links & Show Notes

Simon Sinek’s TED Talk summary (02:15)

“People don’t buy what they do, they buy why you do it.”


Why start with WHY? (04:12)
What happens when you start with why? (05:07)

Proctor & Gamble
Image of Golden Circle here


How you find your why… describing love (08:25)

Look to the anthropology - map peaks and valleys in your life & why will emerge (08:56)
Why lives in limbic brain, has no language


Don’t put ‘I’m a teacher’ in your WHY (10:02)

Take your ‘whats’ out of your ‘why’
Richard Branson (11:30) - Infusing fun so that we positively impact people’s lives - put a splash of red in a mundane world of grey
Collective efficacy


Context vs. content (14:28)

“Vision without execution is hallucination.” - Edison


Clarity of Why, Discipline of How, Consistency of What
Discipline of How (16:18)

Stephen’s WHY: To connect with people in meaningful ways so that we connect with depth and live in a more fulfilled world


Helping students find their why (19:40)

Life experience & brain development are crucial


Does your why change? (22:04)

If you live in line with what you believe, the result is passion, if you live out of line with what you believe, the result is stress.


Organizational ‘why’ vs. individual ‘why’ (23:08)

“For what reason are you proud to be a part of this institution?”
2 ways to change a population: Evolution or Revolution (24:45)
Nested Whys
Simon Sinek’s Why: To inspire people to do the things that inspire them so that each of us can change the world for the better
“We can each choose to be the leader we wish we had.”


Consistency of What (26:08)

Authenticity - we say & do what we actually believe


What about when we’re not consistent with our why? (28:30)

Ask for accountability
Keep goal in our heads = 7-15% will accomplish
Write goals down = 45% will accomplish
Share goals with someone we care about = >80% will accomplish
(Note: I couldn’t find where Stephen found these numbers, so don’t have a link, but tried to look around online and found that the jury is kind of out on whether or not and when it’s a good idea to share your goals, with whom, what kind of feedback to receive, etc. There are a lot of factors here that make goal-sharing for accountability a grey area.)
Continue - Start - Stop


Leaders Eat Last (31:08)

“A whisper is a shout.”
Inspiration & Clarity, then Trust
Safety, Value, Belonging


General George Flynn (34:18)

Definition of leadership - ask someone how they’re doing and care about the answer


Fulfillment > Happiness (36:14)
Work-Life Balance & Flow state (36:48)

Martin Seligman
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi & Flow
Flow = when you’re both challenged and skilled


Books that have shaped Stephen’s worldview (38:40)

Man’s Search For Meaning, Viktor Frankl
Start with Why, Simon Sinek
Leaders Eat Last, Simon Sinek
Give and Take, Adam Grant


The Infinite Game: Game Theory & Simon’s new book (40:02)
Takeaways (43:07)
Ben’s skills video (44:25)
“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and go do that, because what the world needs is people who can come alive.” - Howard Thurman
Michelle Obama
Cal Newport - So Good They Can’t Ignore You
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