Simon Sinek is the author of “Start With Why”, a book that explains the theory behind finding your passion and how that passion helps us become effective leaders that can inspire change.
Sinek delivered a compelling TED Talk, using the success of the Wright Brothers as an example of the power of passion. You see, we often believe that success comes from perfect market conditions, a gifted team and plenty of capital. Sometimes we can get caught in the “they were at the right place at the right time” mindset to explain others’ success.
But, Sinek explains, there is grounded research to prove otherwise. Take, for example, the Wright Brothers. They didn’t have any money. They didn’t have a specialized team. And they certainly weren’t in the right place at the right time–not only did they not have the means to make that happen, but they were also too busy concentrating on their passion, which was the pursuit of powered man flight.
They weren’t chasing success for the sake of success, which was, according to Sinek, the case for Samuel Pierpont Langley. Langley was on a quest to succeed at powered man flight–he wanted to be first, famous and rich. He had plenty of capital and a large, influential and educated team. He was always in the right place at the right time because The New York Times followed him wherever he went, hoping to capture a historic moment.
More of the Personal Branding Blog post from Wendy Brache
