Michelle Guidry responds to Simon Sinek - Leadership

I was very intrigued by the Ted Talk about How Great Leaders Inspire People by Simon Sinek.  The lessons in leadership include the question of why certain people become leaders.  He talked about Apple, Martin Luther King and the Wright Brothers just to name a few.  He stressed how for example, Martin Luther King, had 250,000 people show up to listen to this speech with no fliers, emails, text messages or any reminders or notifications going out about this speech.  People believed that he believed in his message.  Simon shared that three years ago, he discovered the Golden Circle.  In the Golden Circle, their are three circles.  In the very middle is the WHY?  Why people or companies think the way they do.  In the next layer, he discussed the HOW?  How do they do it?  On the top layer is the WHAT?  Every person knows what they do!  When you take a cross section of our brain, it looks very similar to this golden circle.  A great leader must sell what they believe and get you to believe it too.  They must hire people who believe what they believe.  You should attract people who believe what you believe.  He talked about the Law of Diffusion Innovation and that you should start with why and you will inspire those around you. 

I feel that leadership is an art.  I feel that it cannot be taught, but can be modeled affectively, however the person being taught must have the qualities within to be a leader and want to be a leader.  The reason I feel this way is because, everyday I strive to be a positive leader for my children, not only in my home, but as an educator, moderator, in my church, and in my community.  I have four children of my own, and honestly, all four as of now are more followers than leaders.  They all four have many different gifts, talents, and passions, but they do not seek roles of leadership.  They participate, yet do not run for captains, officiers, or aspire to be more than a participant.  When I look at my parents, they are wonderful people, but very much joiners and not leaders.  Both are happiest when they are helping others behind the scenes rather than being the leader of a cause.  My husband also has many leadership qualities that he has modeled for our children, and again, I do not feel they have the desire after watching him, to have the heart of a leader.  This is not a bad thing, but who they seem to be.  They range in age from 13 - 24 years, so there is time for leadership qualities to develop, but I feel they would have to have a major personality change to take a leadership role.  My husband and I discuss this often and ask ourselves how can they be so different from us, however they may see us overextending ourselves at times and say, "I don't want to lead, I want to follow." That is OK too!  In life you need leaders and followers.  However to attract these followers, you have to get them to believe what you believe. 

In my Educational setting, I feel as a leader, I will be called upon to lead my teachers to believe that we are the best Pre-School in the Diocese of Lafayette.  I will have to believe that we are the best to have them believe it too.  A positive attitude, a clear mission, goals and purpose, will aid me in being the best leader I can be.  Knowing WHY I think we are the best and HOW we can stay on top and WHAT we need to do everyday to make a positive impact in the lives of our students will help me to inspire the people around me.