GOLDEN CIRCLE: why and when to use it
To this day, this is the definition of leadership that I liked the most: “Leadership is the accomplishment of a goal through the direction of human assistants. The man who successfully marshals his human collaborators to achieve particular ends is a leader. A great leader is one who can do so day after day, and year after year, in a wide variety of circumstances”. Bringing it to the professional sphere, I would say that leaders are responsible for creating synergy between the company and employees so that the company’s objectives are achieved, even in times of difficulty.
Creating synergy depends on aligning purpose. However, 72% of employees feel they do not have a sense of purpose in their work, probably because 71% of employees feel that their leaders do not spend enough time communicating goals and plans. In other words, leaders are failing to their role due to lack of communication with their employees about the company’s or projects’ purposes. The results of this deficiency are the decrease in happiness and motivation in the work environment (for Milennials, purpose at work and happiness are directly correlated) and, consequently, productivity.
One way to improve communication on purpose is to use the Golden Circle. This strategy consists of starting to send a message starting from the “why”, passing through the “how” and, finally, the “what” — normally, people do exactly the opposite. I recognize that it is tautological to say that you should explain a purpose by explaining the “why” first, when purpose is actually a why. But in my defense, I say that sometimes the obvious needs to be said, especially when we are failing to do the obvious.
Why: refers to the motivating cause for putting actions into practice.
How: refers to the method of achieving why
What: refers to the thing itself, a project, service, a product.
The Golden Circle strategy may have been a little abstract, so let’s take an example, shall we? This Nike advertisement here is a good place to start (watch it before proceeding).
The narrative starts like this: “If people say your dreams are crazy, if they laugh at what you think you can do: good. Stay that way. Because what non-believers fail to understand is that calling a dream crazy is not an insult. It’s a compliment.” This is the motivating cause of Nike (the why): encouraging people to achieve greatness, to challenge other people’s beliefs, to pursue their dreams, no matter how crazy they may seem.
Then, Kaepernick continues: “[…] Don’t picture yourself wearing the OBJ’s jearsey, picture OBJ wearing yours. Don’t settle for homecoming queen or linebacker. Do both; Lose 54kg and become an Ironman after beating a brain tumor. […] So, don’t ask if your dreams are crazy. Ask if they are crazy enough.” This is the method suggested by Nike (the how): achieve greatness by overcoming the limits imposed by your own head and also those imposed by society.
And finally: “It’s only crazy until you do it. Just do it. [Nike swoosh].” This is what Nike offers (the what): the brand itself through its clothing and footwear, worn by all the people in the captivating stories they tell in the “how”. The products are indirectly offered as a certificate of greatness to the people who use them.
Hope I made Golden Circle easier to understand with this example (:
In corporate life, we can apply the Golden Circle in various situations. If you are going to present the company’s new OKRs or maybe its positioning to employees, starting with “why” it makes it easier for you to reach people’s hearts and sow motivation 3.0, more intrinsic and solid. In addition, communicating the why first enables people to critically assess the how and what presented. That is, you give context and gain mitigation of blindness.
Now you know (or back when you got to know Golden Circle), you might have thought: “OMG, I just found the solution to all your communication problems”. Well, for a moment, I thought so too. But that’s not quite the case. I mentioned that this strategy can be used in many scenarios, but not in all. People are not always looking for visions; they are often looking for solutions: “People don’t want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole!”.
Before you start applying Golden Circle to everything in life, think about the motivating cause of your communication with other people. If someone came to you somewhat lost because they do not know very well which way to go, it might be worth revisiting the purpose; but if it came to you asking for suggestions on how to perform a particular task or help to use a tool, addressing the purpose is probably not going to help much.
So the Golden Circle is an amazing strategy, mostly when it comes to externalizing purpose, but is no communication silver bullet — sadly, there is nothing like that. You need to work on understanding the goal, the needs of your interlocutors and of yourself. With that in mind, you will be able to know if Golden Circle is a good call. And when it is, I hope you feel confident to use it and motivate people around you even more as a leader.