The Golden Circle in START WITH WHY

I find that anytime time I meet someone new, there will inevitably come a point in the conversation where they ask, “What do you do?”

This can be a good question to get to know someone. However, I think there is a better question you can ask when meeting someone for the first time. Instead of asking someone what they do, you can ask why they do it. 

In his book, Start With Why¹ (2009), Simon Sinek writes, “People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it.” Essentially, why we do what we do can be more important or interesting than what we do.

To explain this further, Sinek introduces a concept he calls, “The Golden Circle.” This is a three-ring circle that contains why, how and what.

One of the examples that Sinek uses in his book and TED Talk is Wilbur and Orville Wright; the brothers who are credited as the inventors of the world’s first successful airplane. Sinek contrasts the Wright Brothers with Samuel Pierpont Langley, another inventor who was working on a flying machine at the time. Sinek argues that Langley was motivated by personal gain (what) while the Wright Brothers were motivated by helping others (why).

The next time you find yourself asking the inevitable “what do you do?” question, take it one step further and ask why they chose that type of work. 

1. Start With Why is one of my recommended books. ↩︎

_{Originally posted on April 25, 2024. Last updated on October 19, 2025.}