Despite being an ambitious undertaking, the answers found by Sinek seem simpler than one might imagine.
Success and the ability to stand out from competitors, in fact, are just in the way each of these success stories position themselves and how their motivation is presented to the world.
But how so? What is the Golden Circle for? How to apply it? What is behind this precious concept?
The answers to all these questions will be presented in this complete guide we have prepared on the subject. Are you curious? Continue reading until the end and clear up all your doubts.
What is the Golden Circle?
The Golden Circle is a concept developed by American Simon Sinek. It was given this name because its idea is represented by three circumscribed circles that denote the stages of persuasion of the public.
Each of these phases, in turn, are represented by the following questions:
What?
As?
Why?
The scholar states that the vast majority of leaders and organizations follow this order of questions to present their proposal to the world, be it a product, a service or an idea.
However, the great leaders, in their respective fields of activity, did not follow this common order.
According to Sinek, the biggest difference among companies and leaders who gathered crowds around their “brand” and left all competitors behind was to inaugurate their communication plan with society through “Why?”.
The Golden Circle perspective, therefore, believes that communication should be done from the inside out. First, it is necessary to underline the meaning of your mission in the world.
What is your ideal?
What difference do you want to see in the world?
Why do you get up every day to do what you do?
The answers to these questions must be clear before presenting the product, service or idea you want to sell. In this way, inverting the order of the questions puts the purpose as the protagonist before anything else.
Sinek argues that, biologically proven, our brain seeks identification with something through its purpose.
In short, two brands can have the same team of spain business fax list professionals, budget and products. However, the one that communicates its mission and the purpose of its product as protagonists of its mission, is closer to winning the affection of the public.
What are the greatest examples of the Golden Circle?
The method created by Simon Sinek and presented worldwide during a Ted Talk presentation seeks a grand challenge: to find a common denominator in the success of different companies and leaders throughout history.
These characters differ significantly from each other in terms of historical moments, financial situation, legacy and goals. After all, for Sinek, the glue that unites all these innovative minds is just one thing: the purpose of each one's mission.
In other words, the thinker speaks of the meaning of the mission of each of these protagonists who stand out among all the others and gathered thousands or millions around their ideal.
This perspective encompasses such broad terms that the three figures chosen by Sinek to represent his thesis are:
Apple, a technology company;
Martin Luther King, militant leader for black civil rights in the USA;
and the Wright Brothers, responsible for the first manned flight in history.
The thinker argues that there was a great diversity of men with good oratory skills who suffered prejudice and went through difficulties during the segregationist period in the United States.
He also points out that there are technology companies that have the same investment, qualified professionals and quality products as Apple's.
However, what made Luther King gather 250,000 people in a time without social media to watch his speech in Washington, or what makes Apple sell much more than its competitors and have a kilometer-long line when launching a new product, is the purpose and worldview of these two examples.
While a brand talks about the qualities of its products to make an offer, Apple puts first the difference it wants to make in the world. That's the secret of the Golden Circle.
>>> Watch Simon Sinek's 2009 Ted Talk presentation:
What is the Golden Circle for?
Understanding what the Golden Circle is for changes the mindset of leaders towards a change in priorities.
Brands that follow this perspective give up a merely utilitarian stance on their solutions and begin to place positive impact on the world as a protagonist to the detriment of profitability.
In fact, what Sinek's presentation shows is that the main leaders in the segment and who, paradoxically, profit the most, are those who invest in their purpose, not in a utilitarian and outdated scheme that does not delight the public.
The attraction that motivates the public to become loyal to a brand is seeing that the brand has the same mission and purpose as them. In this way, buying a product/service symbolically becomes a sharing of a worldview with the company.
And, ultimately, changing the world involves understanding the needs of our audience. That is, seeking market solutions and communication that address their pains and problems.
Golden Circle for an increasingly competitive market
Therefore, in an increasingly competitive market due to digital transformation , putting your audience first and seeking innovations that speak to what they are looking for is essential to outperforming the competition and prospering.
Placing this as a priority in your business strategy, furthermore, places the consumer experience as the main driver of your success.
The internet has made competition even fiercer. Nowadays, the possibility of opening a business and promoting it on social media has made the entrepreneurial experience even more accessible to everyone.
In addition, it becomes even easier for customers to evaluate all the product and service options available from your company and your competitors. With a simple Google search, they can read content, watch videos and see customer reviews about any and all companies.
Therefore, the greater the impact of your solution and the greater your uniqueness in responding to customer pain points, the more likely your brand will stand out. And this needs to be very clear in your marketing strategy, in the way you communicate with your audience and how you sell your product or service.
Keeping this in mind already makes us able to learn how to apply the Golden Circle to our own business.
How to apply the Golden Circle? Practical examples
Finally, how can you apply the Golden Circle to your business? As we can see, this precise methodology is the basis of the organization's strategic planning.
After all, it is what will guide the mindset, the organizational culture and, mainly, all corporate communication with consumers, employees and shareholders.
Therefore, it is necessary to align the company's values and mission with the development of its solutions and how they will be presented to the public.
We will show you two great examples of how to apply the Golden Circle: through Nike, a giant in the sports market, and through EAD Plataforma, a technology company for Distance Education. Check it out!
Golden Circle Examples at Nike
Nike, for example, positions its attitude primarily through its main slogan: “ just do it!” The basis of the sportswear developer’s strategy is to demonstrate its values. It is a brand that makes things happen, that seeks to make a difference in the world through its winning attitude and mentality.
This positioning, in turn, activates triggers that identify customers with the brand. They want to be someone who “makes things happen” and buying Nike sportswear is a symbolic act that connects them with these values.
Therefore, we can see that the magic behind the success of Nike or any brand that wants to be a leader in its segment lies in changing the order of the Golden Circle questions.
The “ just do it” company has shown that the “why” must come before the “what.” And this should be a mindset that should guide all planning and action models of leaders who want to learn how to fill Simon Sinek’s golden circle.
Examples of Golden Circle on EAD Platform
Another case is that of EAD Plataforma . It is a platform that believes in the transformative power of digital to facilitate access to education and knowledge for entrepreneurs who want to use these new resources and channels to their advantage.
With this transformative effect in mind, we offer an online course platform with the aim of facilitating access for digital entrepreneurs and educational institutions to a complete Distance Education structure with a wealth of educational products.
More important than what EAD Plataforma sells is its mission to bring the resources made available by the digital environment to people who believe they can make a difference in the lives of others through the internet.
The product exists, but it is merely a side effect of the company's transformative mission. And through the brand's actions in the online world, it seeks to create the necessary conditions for others to also be part of the digital transformation.
