Start With Why By Simon Sinek

In the TED talk, How Great Leaders Inspire Action, The presenter, Simon Sinek, a “leadership expert,” claims that all great leaders and innovators have one thing in common, they all have a reason why they do what they do. He convinces the audience that his claim is correct through a relatively balanced use of the use of the three Aristotelian appeals pathos, logos, and ethos, he gives specific facts and examples to show his audience how his claim has worked for history’s greatest individuals and organizations, and he uses rhetorical devices such as amplification and parallelism to strengthen his argument. With the use of these different techniques, Sinek is able to successfully persuade his audience to adopt his claim.

Today’s potential leaders who have enhanced there skill with education in leadership, believe in the elements that they 've learned. The rational, technical reducible in today 's marketplace could be ill-equipped without the proper motivation and mentoring because motivation of followers isn 't created out of thin air. It’s accomplished by aligning individuals and members who take pride in their contributions and have an understanding of shared goals and values.

Leadership is, and always has been, a vital aspect of social and economic constructs. It is essential to the survival of societies, industries, organizations, and virtually any group of individuals that come together for a common purpose. However, leadership is difficult to define in a single, definitive sense. As such, theories of leadership, what constitutes a great leader, and how leaders are made have evolved constantly throughout history, and still continue to change today in hopes of improving upon our understanding of leadership, its importance, and how it can be most effective in modern organizational cultures.

Our world is filled with many successful leaders. The gift of being a leader can be learned; however some individuals have a natural born talent to be a leader. Each leader has his or her own unique leadership style. The gift of being a leader can be learned. Certain individuals are born with a charismatic style and can easily be a leader. A successful leader is one who can inspire and motivate people towards a goal. Martin Luther King Jr. was an individual with a born gift to lead people. The following paper will discuss how Martin Luther King Jr. was able to inspire and motivate people with his effective leadership style.

Joseph Raelin (2016), a Northeastern University professor of management and organization development, recently published the article “Rethinking Leadership.” He said, “Leadership is really not about the leaders themselves. It’s about the collective practice among people who work together— accomplishing the choices we make together in our mutual work” (Raelin,

In addition, leadership itself can be described in various forms and through the highlight of different skill sets, but the one thing that all definitions have in common is that “leadership involves influencing the attitudes, beliefs, behaviours and feelings of other people” Spector’s work (as cited in Curtis, de Vries, & Sheerin, 2011, p.306). When the skill set of a leader is compared to that of a manager, true differences are noted. Some of these key differences are apparent even in the approach utilized to reach the desired goals. While a manager directs, a leader transforms, a manager sustains and a leader improves, a manager controls, a leader motivates, a manager’s focus is on short-term goals and a leader’s is long-term based, managers ask how and when, while

A dirty little secret of leadership development is there are few truly new and innovative ideas. Recently published books, tools, and concepts repackage ideas from decades or centuries ago to address the needs of twenty-first century leaders and organizations. For example, Amazon lists Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin as the current best seller in business management and leadership. Willink and Babin’s ideas are solid and their stories are both inspiring and compelling. Nonetheless their concepts are not new. Academicians, practitioners, and leaders have highlighted these same principles for decades: check the ego, prioritize and execute, and decisiveness amid uncertainty, to name a select few. This is not a criticism, rather a reality of the leadership industry. Accordingly my contributions to the field are not uniquely inventive. Rather I excel at packaging existing ideas in creative, simple, and applicable ways that address my clients’ needs and inspire impactful leadership. I recently shared a set of risk taking tools with a client that demonstrates this skill.

In the Leadership Challenge, 4th edition, it is Kouzes & Posner (2007) intention to present a road map for individuals to follow on their leadership journey. The authors stress that “leadership is not a gene and it’s not an inheritance.” Leadership they assert is “an identifiable set of skills and abilities that are available to all of us” (p. 23). They make clear that the “great person” theory of leadership is “plain wrong.” Leaders are our everyday heroes who do extraordinary things on a regular basis (p. 23).

Have you ever had a leader that inspired you to develop your own leadership traits? “A leader is someone who demonstrates what’s possible” (Mark Yarnell, 2015). There are numerous leadership styles. Each of the numerous leadership styles can be beneficial if utilized in an appropriate means. I have chosen three leaders and their unique leadership styles to discuss in this paper. The unique styles that will be discussed are situational leadership, transformational leadership, and laissez-faire leadership. I will also discuss each leader’s approach, their fundamental leadership principles, and how each leader used their style within their profession.

Throughout time the question of “ Are leaders born or made?” continues to be debated. This question has been part of several myths that try to explain what makes a person a leader. According to the trait approach theory, it sets a benchmark for what certain traits an individual must possess in order to make them a leader. Before leadership traits were considered innate. However, as time has progressed research has indicated that situations differentiate leaders from non-leaders. Therefore, an individual does not possess certain traits, rather it is the relationship between the person and its society that make him/her leader. All leaders must have a set of skills that help them lead subordinates to reach an overall vision. A vision must originate from both the leader and its followers, and it is the leader's job to articulate the vision. Furthermore, leaders demonstrate the capacity to lead their followers and

Anita Satterlee makes an obvious, but profound observation stating, “A leader cannot lead without followers (Satterlee, pg. 6, 2013).” Essentially, a leader without subordinates who are engaged can not lead properly. While this concept is easy to comprehend, what is most intriguing is Satterlee’s claim that “by mastering the role of followership, a subordinate prepares for the role of leadership (Satterlee, pg. 7, 2013).” Instead of viewing leaders as being static, it is important to view the process of leadership as more

Throughout history, people have been motivated to spur into action. Years of recorded record tell how Moses, a shepherd of his father-in-law’s sheep, led millions of Israelites to freedom through the midst of the Red Sea on dry land and away from centuries of the slavery they had known in Egypt. Scores of books explain how Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a young Atlanta preacher, mobilized citizens across the country to come together in peaceful protest to attempt to undo the iniquities of the Jim Crow South. Though these two scenarios are separated by distance and time, the one thing that intertwines the two tales is that they both answered the call to leadership and ebbed indelible places in history, respectively, through the ways in which they managed. Regardless to whether a manager walks with kings or works beside peasants, there are some commonalities that he or she will face.

When I think about leadership this quote impacts my life the most. Leaders develop, cultivate, and invigorate their people. Investing in people is the wisest action a leader can take. That investment requires a leader to operate as a diversified portfolio, adjusting leadership style to fit the people working with them. People can tell if a leader is passionate about what they do. “People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it.” Simon Sinek

I chose this book in hope that it could help me understand the difference between managing and leading. In addition, I wanted to gain more knowledge and tools to help myself grow as a leader and help develop all of my subordinates that I may have to time throughout my career. The book jacket for this book is ultimately why I decided to read the book because it truly grabbed my attention. I found it interesting that John C. Maxwell is a #1 New York Times bestselling author (Maxwell, 2013). Moreover, the book jacket continued to catch my attention by stating to be more than a boss people are required to follow, you must master the ability to inspire and invest in people (Maxwell, 2013). I particularly found the “invest in people” line most interesting and caused me to want to read and learn more about the authors perspective on leadership.

What is the stimulus that encourages the emergence of a great leader? Robert Greenleaf’s theory of Servant Leadership places emphases on the individual, who is instinctively a servant.