Last year at the start of our Goble Properties staff retreat, I showed our staff a Ted Talk by Simon Sinek. It was a great way to start a retreat because it forced us to think through WHY we exist as a company.

Later I found out that Sinek had written a book on the same topic. Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action sounds like a leadership book. I guess it is, to some extent, but it’s really a book that forces you to think through your own operating philosophy. It’s as much about personal reflection as it is about leadership, marketing or management.

I don’t want to get into the details of this book for a very simple reason: it’s too good to spoil it here. Sinek uses several business and personal examples (ranging from the Wright Brothers to Apple) to show how understanding the “why” of what organizations do is critically important. Too often we fall into the “what” we do or the “how” we do things and forget to focus on the why. Again, I don’t want to say too much … read this book!

Here’s the video if you want to get an idea of what the book contains: