Who is Simon Sinek and what can entrepreneurs learn from him?

Simon Sinek is one of the nation’s top motivational speakers. He is also the author of two popular books, Start With Why and Leaders Eat Last, and is very active in the world of non-profit ventures. Most notably Simon Sinek is a TED speaker where he motivates others in regards to leadership and is also a professor at Columbia University.

His books pertain to teaching leaders how they can motivate others to inspiration. Innovation is about building the future, but not just building it. It is also about solving the problems that are in the present. Simon Sinek helps us to learn this. The main gist of the leadership courses is to teach leaders how to inspire and take action. Mr. Sinek also has a 30-minute course available that teaches the art of these subjects. There are many ideas that one can take from the books and courses he gives. Some of these are listed here with brief explanations.

1. When entering a locale, do not speak out of nerves when you enter.

When people enter on a stage or in a room and start speaking immediately, it is most often done out of fear, or insecurity. Rather, walk in quietly, gather your thoughts and take a deep breath before beginning. This will show your group or audience that you are confident and in charge.

2. Do not be a taker, be a giver instead.

Most people will lose interest when they feel they are being sold on something. When they lose interest, you lose. When you give people something of value, you gain their attention. When you have their attention, teach them something unique, something valuable and something that will inspire them. The audience gives a gift of thanks when they applaud for you, give them the thanks they deserve by thanking them first.

3. Although, most often you as a speaker are on a stage, find a way to make eye contact.

Eye contact is key to trust and understanding. Spanning the audience visually is obvious to that audience. Take the time to look each person in the eyes, or as many as possible. By doing so, you will see a look of confusion, or the look of understanding. Either way, you play off that. If further explanation is needed, do so. If not, move on. When giving a speech or a lecture, speak slowly and enunciate each word. This will give your audience members a clear understanding and clear communication builds trust and value. When a person is nervous, their speech pattern picks up and you speak faster, the faster your heart races. When you speak slowly, you capture the attention of your audience.

4. Turn nervousness into excitement.

Telling yourself that you are excited, and not nervous this will build that excitement higher, in turn transferring that excitement to your audience. When you are a great leader you inspire greatness in others. By being the leader that others look to, you build value in the company and the employees. When you articulate everything about why you do what you do, will you succeed at inspiring others to do what they do.

5. Your passion will diminish if you allow it to.

Keep the motivation and inspiration happening. Beginning with why will teach all what it is. A person needs to set goals in all areas of their lives, not just in business. These goals should include discipline, clarity and consistency in all areas. No action should be changed even one time for any reason. A good leader will lead by example and listen to his followers. Give some service to those who serve your purpose.

All successful leaders know that there is a method to what they do and how they do these things. They teach, they listen, they follow and they believe with all their being that the business is right and it is successful. They are willing to do what it takes, while setting the limits on themselves to prevent over-doing many things. Good leaders make their followers feel safe and secure.

Begin with innovation. Innovation is not just the dream of a person; it is the action one takes to achieve the dream and the goals. In order to achieve the future, one must solve the problems of the present. One must figure out another way to achieve success if the original idea does not work or function as intended.

Simon Sinek teaches his attendees that leaders must be grateful for his followers. They must give back, which is innovation in its purest form. When you have the positive in your speeches, in your actions, you will also have the ones that do not believe, that do not understand. In order to stay confident, focus on the positive reactions. The people who are shaking their heads in the affirmative, who nod in agreement and who are visibly engaged, these are the ones who want to succeed.

More Information About Simon and His Books:

Check out Start With Why and Leaders Eat Last on Amazon

Follow Simon Sinek on Twitter and Facebook

Have you read any of the book by Simon Sinek? Share what you learned from him in the comments below:

The post 5 Lessons Every Entrepreneur Can Learn From Simon Sinek appeared first on The Entrepreneurs Library.

Who is Peter Thiel? What success lessons can every entrepreneur can learn from him?

Starting any business is time consuming and lengthy, but doing it right from the beginning is a lesson no one ever really learns. There is no formula for “doing it right” and there is no “right answer” to every question. The really successful business owners everyone wants to be like are the ones who work maybe one day a year and the rest of the time is theirs to do with as they wish. The best way to get to that place is to listen to these successful business owners and learn from what they have done.

One such business man is Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal and investor in Facebook. His book Zero to One has been a smash hit and has a great amount of knowledge to share with readers. After learning more about Peter Thiel from Blake Masters, there are five really great and simple ideas found in their book. As a matter of fact these ideas are so simple one generally over looks them expecting some profound and life altering concept to pop out at them in the next chapter.

Five success lessons every entrepreneur can learn from Peter Thiel for beginning to lay the ground work for a new business followed with a basic definition of each:

1. Don’t try to recreate Google, it is already there.

Basically think outside the box. There are plenty of search engines and email accounts go for something different. Be unique in the search for your industry brain storm. Replicating other people’s ideas just causes market saturation, which drives down demand and then ultimately causes business to begin the downward spiral of the toilet. This is why, in Peter Thiel’s opinion, businesses fail. Make the business of your dreams truly unique and you can never fail.

2. Be original.

Sounds the same as above but is completely different. One can be original and still be in the same market as the coffee shop next door. Bring something truly different to the table though. A personality is a nice place to start. Ever notice that the large chain coffee shops have barristers with personality and great attitudes? Yeah they do! Well that was a niche filled right there. Find the niche that needs filling and make a good fit. Make the originality seep from every pore of the business, play to your strengths and make sure that no one else has ever done it before.

3. Do everything you can to become a Monopoly.

That dreaded “M” word should not be dreaded. Monopoly +unique ideas=Money. That is truly what everyone is after in the business world money. It is what makes the world go round, and what pays the bills by the way. Answer some difficult question in the world, cater to some need which has been over looked too long and then run with it. Don’t open a restaurant in a city with six already you are not going to succeed. Don’t open a restaurant at all. Find a unique problem to solve in that town, find the answer to a question no one can answer open that instead. Work the business to grow quickly and be sustainable. This should be easy because you will be the only on in the market, right. So make it everything it should be from the beginning and success is just around the corner for you. OK so the plan you have isn’t very good and well you have no idea how it will work out and there are a ton of other excuses you can come up with. OK, quite but before you do tell someone else about the plan. They can do it then. Mr. Thiel believes that a bad plan is better than no plan, because a bad plan can be changed and evolve with the idea, no plan is instant death. Run with the bad plan until a better one shows itself. Then run with it. You are making a Monopoly; no one said it was going to be easy.

4. Work on something no one else understands or is working on.

So no one understands what you are doing and no one else has ever worked on it before, awesome! That is the plan you want then. Back to number three for a moment, if no one else gets it then you are truly creating a Monopoly everyone will want in on in the future. Work it and take it to the next level. Create a plan good, bad, or otherwise and roll with it. Make it your baby and make it something that you can hang on to forever. Pass it down to children, grandchildren whichever but make it sustainable.

5. Remember the future.

Always remember the future. Well isn’t that supposed to be” remember the past”? Sure if you want to fail. If you want to succeed remember the future. The future is what you are planning for; the future is what you should be looking too. Don’t spend too much time of the short term plan. Look at your long term goals 1 year, 5 years, 10 years and so forth.

Following these five rules can save a lot of time and headaches. Remember your goal is to work one day a year, this is only possible by listening to those who already do that.

Learn more about Peter Thiel

Check out Blake Master’s interview about Peter Thiel and their book, Zero To One here

What are your thoughts about Peter Thiel or his book, Zero To One? Share your opinion in the comments below:

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