Simon Sinek

Author of "Start With Why" 

Simon Sinek is an optimist.

He believes in a bright future and our ability to build it together.

Described as a visionary thinker with a rare intellect, Sinek teaches leaders and organizations how to inspire people. With a bold goal to help build a world in which the vast majority of people go home everyday feeling fulfilled by their work, Sinek is leading a movement to inspire people to do the things that inspire them.

A trained ethnographer and author of Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action, Sinek has held a life-long curiosity for why people and organizations do the things they do. Fascinated by the leaders and companies that make the greatest impact in the world, those with the capacity to inspire, he has discovered some remarkable patterns of how they think, act and communicate. He has devoted his life to sharing his thinking in order to help leaders and organizations inspire action.

He is best known for discovering the Golden Circle and popularizing the concept of Why, the purpose, cause or belief that drives every one of us. The Golden Circle is a naturally occurring pattern, grounded in the biology of human decision making, that explains why we are inspired by some people, leaders, messages and organizations over others.

Sinek's unconventional and innovative views on business and leadership have attracted international attention and have earned him invitations to meet with leaders and organizations in a wide array of industries including Microsoft, Mars, 3M, New York City Ballet, the United States Military, Members of the United States Congress, the Ambassadors of Bahrain and Iraq, multiple government agencies and entrepreneurs. Sinek has also had the honour of presenting his ideas at the United Nations, to the senior leadership of the United States Air Force and to the senior leaders of NASA.

Sinek shares his optimism with all who will listen. He speaks around the globe and has commented for local and national press, including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post,

Houston Chronicle, FastCompany, CMO Magazine, NPR and BusinessWeek. Sinek is a regular contributor to The Huffington Post, writes his own blog, simonsinek.com and makes regular guest appearances on MSNBCs Your Business, among others. The talk he gave at his first TEDx event, How Great Leaders Inspire is one of the most shared TED Talks on TED.com.

Sinek is an adjunct staff member of the RAND Corporation, one of the most highly regarded think tanks in the world, where he advises on matters of military innovation and planning. He is also active in the arts and not-for-profit world, working with Education for Employment Foundation to help create opportunities for young men and women in the Middle East region. When not in hotels, he lives in New York where he teaches graduate level strategic communications at Columbia University.