What do the images below have in common? They are all people or companies that think, act and communicate in exactly the same way, and it’s the complete opposite of everyone else. The one you may not recognize is Simon Sinek. I’ll tell you more about him, but first a story.

A couple weeks ago I took my 8-yr. old to Daddy-Daughter Date Night at our local Chick-fil-A. It was a wonderful event! The girls were treated like royalty. A lace archway led to a special seating area where decorated tables and flowers awaited. They had horse-drawn carriage rides as well as face painting and a balloon artist. But what all those little girls will remember most, years from now, is the 1-on-1 time they got to spend with Dad (don’t worry Moms, they have a Mother-Son Date Knight, too).

Why does a fast food restaurant put on an event like this? It would be completely weird if McDonald’s or Taco Bell did something similar. And yet we somehow understand that events like these jive with Chick-fil-A’s core principles, their reason for existing. This is what Simon Sinek, author of Start With Why and a career optimist, calls the Why. It’s why Apple engenders a love for its products that no other computer maker has been able to replicate. You certainly never hear of Dell or HP fanboys.

Meet the Golden Circle.  Simon developed it to illustrate how every organization on the planet, even our own careers, function. It has 3 levels.

• Why we do what we do (our core values/operating principles)
• How we do it – Strategy
• What we do – Tactics

When a Why is clear, an organization will function like a person, namely its founder. The trouble is that most operate on only the outer 2 layers. That makes sense because those are by far the easiest to measure, and businesses like things they can measure. But the Why is the only thing that will inspire long-lasting loyalty in your customers/employees. It’s the only thing that will cause them to follow you…not because they have to, but because they want to.

Question: Name a company, other than those I talked about, that you would still buy from even if their quality, features, price or service wasn’t the best in their industry (chances are they’re operating from a clear sense of Why).  Leave a comment below.