Simon Sinek Biography

Sinek Oliver Sinek was born on October 9, 1973, in Wimbledon, London, U.K. Not much is known about his parents.

He was raised in London, Johannesburg (South Africa), and Hong Kong (then a colony of the United Kingdom) and later settled in the United States of America.

In 1991, he graduated from the 'Northern Valley Regional High School' in Demarest, Bergen County, New Jersey, U.S.

He went to 'The City University' in London to study law but dropped out to pursue advertising later. He graduated with a BA degree in cultural anthropology from 'Brandeis University' in Waltham, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, U.S.

Sinek started his career working with the ad agency 'Euro RSCG' in New York City, U.S., and later moved to 'Ogilvy & Mather’ (O&M), also in New York. After working at ‘O&M’ for a while, he returned to his previous employer.

During his tenure with these companies, he worked with clients such as 'MCI,' 'Oppenheimer Funds,' 'DISH Network,' and 'NASDAQ.'

After his stint with ad agencies, he established his own company, 'Sinek Partners,' in 2002.

In September 2009, Simon Sinek delivered his first 'TED Talk,' titled 'How Great Leaders Inspire Action.' Currently, the video has more than 50 million views and is one of the top-five 'TED Talk' videos. It was the second most-watched video back when it was released.

His first book, 'Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action,' was published by 'Portfolio' the following month.

In 2010, he started working as an adjunct staff member with 'RAND Corporation,' one of the most reputed think tanks in the world, offering advice on matters concerning military innovation and planning.

He released his second book, 'Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together, and Others Don't,' in 2014. This, too, was published by 'Penguin.'

His 2016 book 'Together Is Better: A Little Book of Inspiration' was published by 'Portfolio.' Ethan M. Aldridge did the illustrations for the book. The same year, Simon Sinek talked about millennials in the workplace in a video interview on ‘YouTube,’ which became astronomically viral. In the first week of its release, it was viewed more than 80 million times. It currently has over 100 million views. It led Simon to be 'YouTube's fifth-highest-searched word n 2017.

On September 5, 2017, 'Penguin' published his book 'Find Your Why: A Practical Guide for Discovering Purpose for You and Your Team,' a follow-up to his book 'Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action.'

In 2019, his book 'The Infinite Game: How Great Businesses Achieve Long-Lasting Success' was published by 'Portfolio.' So far, all his books have broken sales records and have been bestsellers in their respective categories. They have also been translated into multiple languages, including Spanish, Portuguese, and Hindi.

Simon Sinek collaborated with his regular publisher, 'Penguin Random House,' and created the imprint ‘Optimism Press,' which released his book 'How to Make a Plant Love' on July 9, 2019.

Over time, he has built a successful career as a motivational speaker and leadership coach. He has been hired by many organizations to coach not only their employees but also their leaders. Some of the leading organizations that he has conducted workshops for are '3M,' 'MARS,' 'SAP,' 'Microsoft,' 'Intel,' and the 'United Nations Organization.'

The 'US Immigration and Customs Enforcement' and United States defense forces such as the 'Marine Corps,' the 'U.S. Army,' the 'U.S. Navy,' the 'U.S. Air Force,' and the 'Coast Guard' have also sought his services.

In general, his clients are from diverse industries such as airlines, entertainment, fashion, finance, technology, manufacturing, software, FMCG, and the government. He also advises business people, politicians, artists, and public servants.

Simon Sinek has contributed to the 'Wall Street Journal,' 'The New York Times,' the 'Houston Chronicle,' 'FastCompany,' 'The Washington Post,' 'CMO’ magazine, 'BusinessWeek,' 'NPR,' 'BrandWeek,' 'The Huffington Post,' and 'IncBizNet.'

He also teaches strategic communications to undergraduate students at 'Columbia University,' New York.

In his book 'Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action,' Simon Sinek made his readers ask themselves why there are so few people and organizations that are consistently successful. Simon thus introduced his concepts of “WHY” and the “Golden Circle.”

The “Golden Circle” is a set of three concentric circles, with “WHY” inscribed in the innermost circle, “HOW” in the next circle, and “WHAT” in the outermost ring. “WHY” stands for people's objectives, “HOW” stands for the method, and “WHAT” stands for the outcome.

In the next book, ‘Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together, and Others Don't,' Simon Sinek talked about how exceptional leaders go the extra mile and beyond their comfort zones to ensure that their teams always succeed. He cited examples of leaders from various fields such as military organizations, big business enterprises, and governments.

The follow-up book of 'Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action,' titled 'Find Your Why: A Practical Guide for Discovering Purpose for You and Your Team,' had him giving insights into simple methods and techniques, asking readers to find their respective “WHYs,” (their purpose) and later expand the “WHYs” to their teams and subsequently to their organizations. The book provided a step-by-step process for the same.

‘Together Is Better: A Little Book of Inspiration,' as the title suggests, was an inspirational book with illustrations.

In his 2019 book 'The Infinite Game: How Great Businesses Achieve Long-Lasting Success,' Simon Sinek compared finite games such as chess and football with infinite games such as business, politics, and life. He stated that in a business, there are no permanent players or a definite end. The rules and the environment are ever-changing. He also stated that in such games, there are no victors or losers but only forward and backward.

Simon Sinek now stays in New York, U.S.A.