This YouTube clip of Simon Sinek presenting to graphic designers at a conference struck a chord with me.
He tells a story of plane experience that I could relate to. We can all relate to it – he spoke of a selfish “seatmate” and who put herself first for the whole flight, not engaging, not standing up when he tried to get into his seat and demanding the last cereal ..”me, me me”. Simon reciprocated and the journey was more unpleasant than it should have been for both of them.
We have all been on that flight!
If you do something for someone they tend to reciprocate.
Simon talks about the importance of trust between people, with our institutions, with companies, with brands and with the people we work with.
If we have common sets of values and beliefs we tend to form bonds together that build a mutual trust. When we have this trust between us then powerful groups can be formed with everyone working together, relying on each other, watching each other’s backs.
If we are authentic and genuine and we live and behave true to our values and beliefs then we will build trust – if we don’t then that trust will be broken. That trust is between people, our employers, our brands, our institutions and our teammates.
Groups that trust each other can achieve much more than the individuals in the groups – we all have different strengths and weaknesses and when we work together in a trusting, supportive environment than great things can happen.
In his talk he pokes fun at self-help books because they are too selfish – 5 Ways to make me succeed, 5 ways to get rich. Once again they are all about “me, me, me”.
Instead Simon challenges us with the idea that life would be a lot more productive and fulfilling if we tried to help our neighbour and our work mates instead of having that focus on ourselves – without this mindset the power of the group will never be realised.
His big lesson is to forget about “me, me, me” and instead put other people first.
Let’s start tomorrow!
John McGlinchey is the Senior Vice President of Global Business Development & Products for CompTIA