Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Dan’s Biz Bookshelf: Start With Why—How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action

This is the advertisement that Ernest Shackleton placed in the London Times to recruit the crew of the Endurance, which was setting out for the South Pole:

“Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success.”

Shackleton didn’t get just a crew; he got a great crew of brave, heroic men who went through nearly unbearable hardships and yet all came back alive, primarily because they looked out for each other. If you get a chance, read a book about their adventures. It’s a fascinating and inspiring story.

Speaking of inspiring, this is what Simon Sinek’s book Start with Why is all about. The “why” in the title talks about the reason we do things; the reason we submit to great danger as did those men who answered that ad.

The “why” is the reason that Apple is a great company.

The “why” is the reason that men and women go to war in defense of their countries.

The “why” is the reason that men and women become clergy.

The “why” is the reason that we went to the moon. Remember that quote from JFK: “We go to the moon not because it is easy, but because it is hard.”

One of my all-time favorite business authors, Sinek discusses why businesses succeed. Conversely, though, why do some businesses which seem to have everything going for them still fail in the end?

He says the reason is that they have no real purpose or true understanding of why they are in business in the first place. Without that clear and direct sense of purpose, people will not give their all.

As an example, he uses one of my favorite stories about two stonemasons who were both laying stone for a large building. When the first one was asked what he was doing, he looked at the person asking the questions and with great tedium in his voice said, “The same I do every day, laying stone after endless stone.” When the second stonemason was asked what he was doing, he looked up at the building with a great sense of exuberance and said, “I am building a magnificent cathedral!” I cannot think of a better example of the difference between having a cause, purpose, and a mission—and not having one.

In this very important and inspirational book, Sinek reminds us that we are all motivated by mission, and by doing great things.

Many years ago, I was the sales manager at a Rockwell facility in Lisbon Maine. We made circuit boards for Rockwell’s projects. You might not remember, but Rockwell was the prime contractor in the Space Shuttle program, and we built the boards for the guidance control system on the Shuttle. At the time, it was just another program to me, just another set of part numbers that had to be built and delivered on time to California where they were assembling that part of the Shuttle. I was just laying stone, so to speak.

I did not think much about it (none of us did), until April 12, 1981, when the Space Shuttle Columbia went up. Suddenly, I felt like a rock star as the whole world watched in awe. I finally realized that I had been building a magnificent cathedral.

In a nutshell, that is what this book is about. Read it, find your own why, and build your own magnificent cathedral.

Dan Beaulieu is president of D.B. Management Group. 

Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action

Author: Simon Sinek

Copyright: 2009.

Publisher: Portfolio/Penguin Random House L.L.C.

Price: $17 (paperback), available as author-read audio as well.

Pages: 246 pages with index.