Simon Sinek, Jack Welch, and more...A few things I'm loving this week

Like most people, I ingest a ton of media on a daily basis, and recently have found myself sharing the most inspirational tidbits with friends and colleagues one on one. Here's a little roundup of some of my favorite talks, books & podcasts I'm thinking about this week.

Simon Sinek's TED talk: "Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Action"

"People don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it."

I saw this TED talk for the first time several years ago, but have been listening and re-listening to this dozens of times in the past few weeks. This is one of those thought-starters that pulls me in a different direction each time I listen, so it sounds fresh every time.

Stephen Dubner's interview with Jack Welch on Freakonomics

"Look, differentiation is part of my whole belief in management. And treating everybody the same is ludicrous. And I don’t buy it. I don’t buy what people write about it. It’s not cruel and Darwinian and things like that, that people like to call it. A baseball team publishes every day the batting averages. And you don’t see the .180 hitter getting all the money, or all the raises. Now that’s the purest form. Athletics is the purest form of differentiation, because it’s public. Everybody understands it, the fans understand it, the people understand it. Big business is more subtle and it’s more qualitative. So the precision isn’t there to differentiate. So judgment’s important. But you don’t win with a gang of mediocre players in business or in baseball."

The quote says it all. In my mind the ideal organization is one in which everyone knows where they stand, and how they are evaluated.

Seth Godin's book "Purple Cow"

"It's useless to advertise to anyone (except interested sneezers with influence)."

Another that I'm revisiting, Purple Cow is a must-read for anyone growing a business in any capacity. Seth Godin is a brilliant thinker, speaker, marketer, visionary, internet wise-person, and on and on. This is one of his better books (they are all good, but this one is particularly concise.) For another of my favorite Seth Godin moments, here's the way I originally found him back in 2014, in this podcast interview with Krista Tippett on On Being.

Brene Brown's TED talk "Listening to Shame"

"Let me go on the record and say, vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity and change."

Most people know Brene Brown for her TED talk on vulnerability, but this talk is a lesser known gem. This is essential watching for personal and professional development, and funny, to boot.