What do Simon Sinek and cricket have in common?
In a bizarre twist of fate, over summer, I decided to take up playing cricket. For context, I had never played, never watched, and had never been remotely interested in cricket. If you had told me in August 2023 that I would be playing cricket on my birthday, my response would have been ‘what, at gunpoint?’.
But sure enough, as I played and my skills developed week after week, I became enthralled in the world of cricket. Strangely, I observed that when I told people—particularly people who have previously played cricket—I’d taken up the sport, their response was often along the lines of ‘I hate cricket’ or ‘you’ll come to hate it’. I was curious as to why this was occurring.
Cricket is a mentally difficult sport because mistakes can be fatal and feel deeply personal. One mistake while batting can make it feel like you didn’t do your best.
So, what has cricket got to do with Simon Sinek?
Simon Sinek is most famous for his book and TED Talk: Start with Why. Sinek’s message is simple, people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it. When recruiting, your goal shouldn’t be to hire people who can do the job, but rather to hire people who believe in your organisation’s purpose, its why.
It was after a very difficult loss that I discovered the link between cricket and Simon Sinek. The Vice Captain of my team told me ‘Cricket is a hard game. You have to find your own joy in it or it begins to feel like trash.’
When you boil it down, the root of that advice is to start with why. I realised that I had not identified why I was playing cricket and then got caught up in the how and the what (scoring runs and taking wickets).
After sitting down and taking that realisation in, I reflected and determined that I play cricket to push myself out of my comfort zone by learning a new skill and improving every week. When you put that ‘why’ into perspective, it doesn’t matter if I bowl six wides and get out for a duck, because just by showing up, I am pushing myself out of my comfort zone and approaching this new skill with a growth mindset – that’s a success!
In order to explain the concept, Sinek uses the framework of the golden circle.
While most people, companies and advertisements start at the outer rings and work their way in, the most successful people start with their why and then move outwards. For example, which is more compelling:
Hi, I’m Paris and I write blog posts about leadership and personal development (what) sharing my knowledge and skills (how) to empower others to be the best version of themselves (why); or
Hi, I’m Paris and I empower others to be the best version of themselves (why) by sharing my knowledge and skills (how) through blog posts about leadership and personal development (what).
Taking the time to explore your why is fundamental to your success. When the going gets tough (which it inevitably will), it is your why that you will fall back on and which will keep you going. If you don’t know your why, you might as well be going through life in the dark. Your why is the north star that guides you when your GPS, map books and compass have all failed.
So, can you articulate the various whys in your life? Your company’s why, why you took up a particular hobby or why you do the type of work that you do.
If you’re feeling a bit lost or in a funk, you probably haven’t articulated your why, or maybe your whys conflict with the whys of the groups or organisations you are a part of.
It’s time to sit down with a cuppa and drill down into what you believe: your why.
I’d love to hear your whys in the comments here: https://lnkd.in/gCFeUzuv
