Being a good leader takes more than just giving orders and telling people what to do. Simon Sinek quotes on leadership can help you communicate more effectively, build trust with your team members, and be a better boss.
If you’re ready to take your leadership skills to the next level, read on for nine awesome Simon Sinek quotes on leadership from this famous TED Talker.
Who is A good leader?
In order to be a good leader, you must first understand who a leader is and what exactly they are supposed to do. In an interview with Inc., Simon stated, A leader starts by asking two key questions: Why are we here? and What is our purpose?
The quote conveys that a good leader has to be willing to get in touch with what their organization stands for. It takes more than just making money; it takes truly understanding why you are providing your products or services.
How to be a good leader
Advice from Simon Sinek on what makes a good leader. The gist of it? People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it. So if you have a vision, something bigger than yourself that you’re striving for—even if people don’t know about it—they will be drawn to your cause. As he put it in his TED talk, People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it. That’s why it’s crucial to think about not just your actions but also your purpose and where both intersect with others’ needs and values. If their goals match yours, they’re more likely to back up your decisions and support them with their own resources and skills.
#1 Simon Sinek quotes on leadership: It Starts With WHY
Just as you have bad habits in your personal life, bad habits will show up in your leadership, too. Recognize when it happens and make an effort to correct them, or at least acknowledge them so they don’t snowball into bigger problems down the road. For example, if you notice you’re being slow to give praise when someone has worked hard, make a note of it and then go back to say thank you again later. Or if you notice that negative comments come out of your mouth often, try to balance that out by saying something positive more often. If there’s a particular bad habit that comes up consistently, think about how to break yourself of it—then do it!
#2 Simon Sinek quotes on leadership: Begin with the End in Mind
Good leaders always think about what is coming next. They know where they want to go, and make sure their organization knows how to get there. The first step is to think about what your ideal future state looks like, both professionally and personally. What will you be doing? Where will you be working? Think about not only your job but what’s in store for you outside of work: a family, hobbies, travel plans… Get very specific here because you’ll need to describe how your business can take you from where it is now (wherever that might be) to where it needs to be in order for that ideal vision of success to happen. If anything isn’t clear yet then don’t worry—that’s normal.
#3 Simon Sinek quotes on leadership: Leaders Are Made, Not Born
Don’t focus so much on who you are and what makes you special that you forget to take a look at those around you. You were placed in your position for a reason, and it may be up to you to discover why. By analyzing your team members and realizing their strengths, as well as their faults, you can help them grow into more effective leaders—and let them help make YOU a better leader.
#4 Simon Sinek quotes on leadership: Leaders are Teachers
At their heart, leaders are teachers. They teach by example, with every word and action communicating their values. Whether your current leadership role is direct or indirect—and regardless of what you do for a living—everyone has an opportunity to be a leader in some way. The good news is that anyone can learn how to lead; all it takes is self-awareness and effort.
#5 Simon Sinek quotes on leadership: Inspire People to Care
People have to care about what you’re saying before they can take action on it. If your message isn’t something they care about, inspiring them to do so is much harder.
#6 Simon Sinek quotes on leadership: The Fish Rots from the Head Down
If there’s a root cause to a lack of effectiveness in any organization, it’s that they simply don’t have good leadership. The head leads, and if you don’t lead with integrity and compassion, your team won’t trust you to make good decisions. Just as fish rot from the head down, so too will an organization rot from its top down.
#7 Simon Sinek quotes on leadership: Leaders Create Followers
Organizations don’t lead, leaders do. The organization is nothing more than a collection of individual people that must choose to follow someone. Leaders exist to help everyone in an organization (including themselves) succeed. When you lead, everyone wins; when you manage, only some win and some lose. What do great leaders do? They create followers. And what’s one of their key characteristics? Their genuine concern for others’ success and well-being.
#8 Simon Sinek quotes on leadership: Leaders Eat Last
Simon Sinke is one of my favourite business speakers, who emphasizes that leaders should eat last. In other words, they should put everyone else first and focus on serving others. The way to be a good leader isn’t by making sure you get everything you want, but by considering what your team needs—and then working hard to make it happen. That’s true leadership.
Simon Sinek Quotes on Servant Leadership
As a leader, you must think of yourself as a servant. If you want to be inspiring, then look at how you are inspiring others. In most cases, people tend to focus more on what they can get from their leaders and less on what they can give back. The problem with thinking about leadership in such terms is that when people expect more from their leaders, it makes them more self-focused and less willing to sacrifice for those around them.
Here is the best Simon Sinek quote on servant leadership.
1. Leadership is a combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy. – Simon Sinek, Leaders Eat Last
2. Show me your budget, and I will tell you what you value. – Simon Sinek, Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action
3. People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it. – Simon Sinek, Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action
4. The purpose of a business is to solve a problem, not just create product or make money-Simon Sinek , Leaders Eat Last
5. Good leaders and good teachers motivate others through inspiration rather than fear or manipulation.- Simon Sinek, Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action
6. Well begun is half done.- Latin Proverb – Simon Sinek, Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action
7. Start with why–why are you here?- Simon Sinek, Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action
8. Change your thought patterns and you can change your life.- Johann Christoph Arnold – Simon Sinek, Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action 9.
We don’t read enough. If we did it would make us better leaders, more successful as people- Simon Sinek , New York Times
11. The most important leadership lesson I’ve learned: don’t worry about failure; instead try to realize success- Bill Gates
Leadership is not about being in charge. It’s about being in service.
An important element of good leadership is awareness that you can’t do it alone, and you must lead by inspiring those around you. In his book Leaders Eat Last, Simon Sinek made it clear that being a good leader is not about position or even authority.
More Simon Sinek Quotes on Leadership
1. “Leadership is not about being in charge. It’s about being in service.”
2. “A leader is a person who is in charge of a group of people and is responsible for their safety and well-being.”
3. “Good leaders inspire others to do great things. Great leaders inspire others to want to do great things.”
4. “Leadership is not about titles or positions. It’s about influence.”
5. “Leadership is not about creating more followers but by creating more leaders.”
“People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.”
“If you can’t inspire people with your vision, you’ll inspire them with your fear.”
“It is not about getting in business with everyone (who needs what you have), but finding the right people who really need what you have and who believe what you believe.” That’s the goal
Simon Sinek Quotes on Servant Leadership
1. “The best leaders are servant leaders. They’re the first to put their people’s needs before their own and they never stop working to make their people better. They inspire their people to do their best and to be their best.”
2. “Servant leadership is not a rank, it’s a mindset. It’s not about taking orders, it’s about taking care of people. And it starts with the belief that the best way to get things done is to put the needs of others first.”
3. “When people are inspired, they don’t need to be controlled. They will do the right thing on their own.”
4. “Great leaders are great servants. They have a genuine concern for the people they lead and they’re always looking for ways to make their people better.”
5. “The key to successful leadership is to always be looking for ways to improve the people around you. Serve them and they will serve you.”
Simon Sinek Quotes on Innovation
“People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.”
“The best leaders are the ones who can inspire others to want to do what they’re doing.”
“Leadership is not about being in charge. It’s about inspiring others to want to be in charge.”
“In order to change an organization, you first need to change the way people think.”
If you want to create massive change, start with a vision. Then do things that don’t scale, so that you get in front of as many people as possible… otherwise your message can never be heard by enough people.
Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.
Remember, there are only two methods of spreading light: to be the candle or to be the mirror that reflects it.
Successful companies have leadership teams where every single person has his or her eyes on innovation.
Simon Sinek Quotes
“if Your Actions cannot Inspire Others to Dream More, if it can’t inspire them to Learn More and Do More, Then, You are not a Leader.”
“Don’t Make or Create Products for All – Create your Products for Champions.”
“don’t always Give for the purpose of Getting it back. But Give to in other Inspire Others to also Give.”
“If you want to ‘find Out If It Will Work Out’ then just Do It.” That how you’ll find out
“It takes more than just a desire to win if you want to succeed. You need to learn how to accept failure and embrace it before you can succeed.”
“Leadership is not about being the best; it’s about being the best for the people you lead.”
“Leadership is not about making things happen; it’s about making things happen together.”
“Leadership is not about the next big thing; it’s about the next big thing together.
Top 20 Simon Sinek Quotes That Reveal the Hard Truths About Success
2. “The golden circle is a model for how businesses should operate.”
3. “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.”
4. “In order to inspire others, you first have to be inspired yourself.”
5. “If you simply can’t explain it, it means you don’t understand it very well enough.”
7. “Successful leaders inspire others to see what is possible.”
8. “A good leader is a good simplifier.”
9. “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.”
10. “If you can’t describe your vision in one sentence, you don’t have a vision.”
11. “Being in charge is not Leadership, but taking good care of people.”
12. “The best leaders are the ones who can inspire others to do better.”
13. “As a good leader, you need to make people feel safe.”
