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18:26
Simon Sinek's Advice Will Leave You SPEECHLESS 2.0 (MUST WATCH)
Alpha Mentors
·
May 12, 2026
Open on YouTube
Transcript
0:00
There's two ways to see the world. Some
0:02
people see the thing that they want and
0:05
some people see the thing that prevents
0:07
them from getting the thing that they
0:09
want.
0:12
There's there's [music] a great story of
0:13
two two lumberjacks where every morning
0:15
they start chopping wood at the same
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0:17
time and every day they stop chopping
0:18
wood at the same time [music] and every
0:20
day one of the lumberjacks disappears
0:21
for about an hour in the middle of the
0:23
day and every day he chops more wood
0:25
than the other guy. [music] And this
0:26
goes on for months. And eventually the
0:28
one who works all day, he says, "I don't
0:30
understand. Every day we start at the
0:32
same time. Every day we stop at the same
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0:34
time. Every day you disappear for about
0:37
an hour in the middle of the day. And
0:38
every day you chop more wood than me.
0:41
Where do you go for that hour?" And the
0:43
other lumberjack looks up and goes, "Oh,
0:45
go home and sharpen my axe." You know
0:48
that that if you if you if you take an
0:49
infinite mindset, it's not about how
0:51
much you can get done each day. It's how
0:53
much you can get done over the course of
0:54
a career or over the course of a
0:55
lifetime. And [music] and you you got to
0:58
take vacations, which means you turn off
1:00
your email and you turn off your phone
1:02
and you do not connect to the office.
1:03
[music] You know, go sharpen your axe. I
1:06
have five little rules that you can
1:07
follow as you find your spark and bring
1:10
your spark [music] to life. The first is
1:13
to go after the things that you want.
1:15
Let me tell you a story. So, a friend of
1:18
mine and I, we went for a run in Central
1:20
Park. The Roadrunners organization, uh,
1:23
on the weekends, they host [music]
1:25
races, and it's very common at the end
1:27
of the race, they'll have a sponsor who
1:28
will give away something, apples or
1:31
bagels or something. And on this
1:33
particular day, when we got to the end
1:34
of the run, there were some free [music]
1:37
bagels. And they had picnic tables set
1:40
up and on one side was a group of
1:42
volunteers. On the table were boxes of
1:44
bagels and on the other side was a long
1:47
line of runners waiting to get their
1:49
free bagel. So I said to my friend,
1:51
"Let's let's get a bagel." And he looked
1:53
at me and said, "Uh, the line's too
1:56
long." And I said, "Free bagel?" And he
2:00
said, "I don't want to wait in line."
2:04
And I was like, "Free bagel?"
2:08
And he says, "Nah, let's it's too long."
2:11
And that's when I realized that there's
2:12
two ways to see the world. Some people
2:15
see the thing that they want and some
2:18
people see the thing that prevents them
2:20
from getting the thing that they [music]
2:21
want. I could only see the bagels. He
2:24
could only see the line. And so I walked
2:28
up to the line.
2:30
I leaned in between two people, put my
2:34
hand in the box, and pulled out two
2:36
bagels. And no one get mad at me because
2:39
the rule is you can go after whatever
2:42
you want. You just cannot deny anyone
2:44
else to go after whatever they want. So
2:47
the point is is you don't have to wait
2:49
in line. You don't have to do it the way
2:51
everybody else has done it. You can do
2:53
it your way. You can break the rules.
2:55
You just can't get in the way of
2:57
somebody else getting what they want.
2:59
Rule number two, take care of each
3:01
other.
3:02
The United States Navy Seals are perhaps
3:06
the most elite warriors in the [music]
3:08
world. And one of the SEALs was asked,
3:14
"Who makes it through the selection
3:16
process? Who is able to become a seal?"
3:20
And his answer was, "I can't tell you
3:23
the kind of person [music] that becomes
3:25
a seal. I can't tell you the kind of
3:27
person that makes it through buds, but I
3:30
can tell you the kind of people who
3:32
don't become seals. [music]
3:34
He says, "The guys that show up with
3:36
huge bulging muscles covered [music] in
3:38
tattoos, who want to prove to the world
3:40
how tough they are, none of them make it
3:43
through." He said, "The pining [music]
3:46
leaders who like to delegate all their
3:47
responsibility and never do anything
3:50
themselves, none of them make it
3:52
through." He said the star college
3:54
athletes who've never really been tested
3:57
to the core of their being, none of them
4:00
make it through. He says some of the
4:03
guys that make it through are skinny and
4:05
scrawny. He said some of the guys that
4:08
make it through, you will see them
4:09
shivering out of fear.
4:13
He says, "However, [music]
4:15
all the guys that make it through, when
4:18
they find themselves physically spent,
4:22
emotionally spent, when they have
4:24
nothing left to give, physically or
4:26
emotionally, somehow someway, they are
4:29
able to find the energy to dig down deep
4:33
inside themselves
4:35
to find the energy to help the guy next
4:37
to them. They become seals." He said,
4:42
"You want to be an elite warrior, it's
4:44
not about how tough you are. It's not
4:46
about how smart you are. It's not about
4:48
how fast you are. If you want to be an
4:50
elite warrior, you better get really,
4:53
really good at helping the person to the
4:55
left of you and helping the person to
4:56
the right of you. Cuz that's how people
4:59
advance [music] in the world. The world
5:01
is too dangerous and the world is too
5:03
difficult for you to think that you can
5:04
do these things alone. If you find your
5:07
spark, I commend you. Now, who are you
5:09
going to ask for help? And when are you
5:10
going to accept help when it's offered?
5:13
Learn that skill.
5:15
Learn by practicing helping each other.
5:18
It'll be the single most valuable thing
5:20
you ever learn in your entire [music]
5:22
life. To accept help when it's offered
5:24
and to ask for it when you know that you
5:26
can't do it. The amazing thing is when
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you learn to ask for help, you'll
5:30
discover that there are people all
5:32
around you who've always wanted to help
5:34
you. They just didn't think you needed
5:35
it because you kept pretending that you
5:37
had everything under control.
5:38
[music]
5:38
And the minute you say, "I don't know
5:40
what I'm doing. I'm stuck. I'm scared. I
5:44
don't think I can do this." You will
5:46
find that lots of people who love you
5:48
will rush in and take care of you. But
5:52
that'll only happen if you learn to take
5:53
care of them first. Lesson three. Nelson
5:56
Mandela is a particularly special case
6:00
study in the leadership world because he
6:03
is universally regarded as a great
6:05
leader. You can take other personalities
6:08
and depending on the nation you go to,
6:10
we have different opinions about other
6:11
personalities. But Nelson Mandela across
6:14
the world is universally regarded as a
6:16
great leader. He was actually the son of
6:19
a tribal chief. And he was asked one
6:22
day,
6:24
"How did you learn to be a great
6:25
leader?" And he responded that he would
6:28
go with his father to tribal meetings.
6:32
And he remembers two things when his
6:34
father would meet with other elders.
6:36
One, they would always sit in a [music]
6:40
circle. And two, his father was always
6:44
the last [music] to speak. You will be
6:47
told your whole life that you need to
6:49
learn to listen. I would say that you
6:51
need to learn to be the last to speak. I
6:54
see it in boardrooms every day of the
6:56
week. Even people who consider
6:58
themselves good leaders, who may
6:59
actually be decent leaders, will walk
7:01
into a room and say, "Here's the
7:02
problem. Here's what I think, but I'm
7:04
interested in your opinion. Let's go
7:05
around the room." It's too late. The
7:08
skill to hold your opinions to yourself
7:10
until everyone has spoken. Does two
7:12
things. One, it gives everybody else the
7:15
feeling that they have been heard. It
7:18
gives everyone else the ability to feel
7:21
that they have contributed. And two, you
7:24
get the benefit of hearing what
7:25
everybody else has to think before you
7:27
render your opinion. The skill is really
7:30
to keep your opinions [music] to
7:31
yourself. If you agree with somebody,
7:33
don't nod yes. If you disagree with
7:36
somebody, don't nod no. Simply sit
7:39
there, take it all in, and the only
7:41
thing you're allowed to do is ask
7:43
questions so that you can understand
7:45
what they mean and why they have the
7:47
opinion that they have. [music] You must
7:49
understand from where they are speaking,
7:52
why they have the opinion they have, not
7:55
just what they are saying. And at the
7:58
end, you will get your turn.
8:01
It sounds easy. It's not. Practice being
8:05
the last to speak. That's what Nelson
8:08
Mandela did. Lesson four. In the 18th
8:12
century,
8:14
there was something that spread across
8:17
Europe and eventually made its way to
8:19
America called purple fever,
8:21
also known as the black death of
8:24
childbed.
8:25
Basically, what was happening is women
8:28
were giving birth and they would die
8:31
within 48 hours after giving birth. This
8:35
black death of childbirth was the ravage
8:38
of Europe and it got worse and worse and
8:41
worse over the course of over a century.
8:44
In [snorts] some hospitals, it was as
8:47
high as 70% of women who gave birth who
8:50
would die as a result of giving birth.
8:53
But this was the Renaissance. This was
8:56
the time of empirical data and science.
8:59
And we had thrown away things like
9:01
tradition and mysticism. These were men
9:03
of science. These were doctors and these
9:06
doctors and men of science wanted to
9:08
study and try and find the reason for
9:10
this black death of childbed. And so
9:13
they got to work studying and they would
9:15
study the corpses uh of the of the women
9:19
who had died and in the morning they
9:21
would conduct autopsies and then in the
9:23
afternoon they would go and deliver
9:24
babies and finish their rounds. And it
9:27
wasn't until somewhere in the mid 1800s
9:30
that Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes realized
9:34
that all of these doctors who were
9:35
conducting autopsies in the morning
9:38
weren't washing their hands before they
9:40
delivered babies in the afternoon.
9:43
And he pointed it out and said, "Guys,
9:47
you're the problem."
9:49
And they ignored him and called him
9:51
crazy for 30 years
9:55
until finally somebody realized [music]
9:57
that if they simply washed their hands,
10:00
it would go away. And that's exactly
10:03
[music] what happened. When they started
10:05
sterilizing their instruments and
10:06
washing their hands, the black death of
10:08
childbed disappeared.
10:11
The lesson here is sometimes you're the
10:14
problem. And my point is is take
10:17
accountability for your actions. You can
10:20
take all the credit in the world for the
10:22
things that you do right as long as you
10:25
also take responsibility for the things
10:27
you do wrong. It must be a balanced
10:29
equation. You don't get it one way and
10:32
not the other. You get to take credit
10:34
when you also [music] take
10:36
accountability. True story.
10:38
There was a former under secretary of
10:41
defense who was invited to give a speech
10:43
at a large conference [music] about a
10:44
thousand people and he was standing on
10:47
the stage with his cup of coffee and a
10:50
styrofoam cup and he took a sip of his
10:53
coffee and he smiled and he looked down
10:54
at the coffee and then he went off
10:57
script and he said, "You know, last year
11:00
I spoke at this exact same conference.
11:03
Last year I was still the under
11:04
secretary and when I spoke here last
11:08
year they flew me here business class
11:10
and when I arrived at the airport there
11:12
was somebody waiting for me to take me
11:14
to my hotel and they took me to my hotel
11:16
and they had already checked me in and
11:18
they just took me up to my room and the
11:20
next morning I came downstairs and there
11:22
was someone waiting in the lobby to
11:24
greet me and they drove me to this here
11:26
same venue and handed me a coffee cup of
11:29
coffee in a beautiful ceramic up. He
11:33
says, "I'm no longer the under
11:34
secretary. I flew here, coach. I took a
11:38
taxi to my hotel and I checked myself
11:39
in. When I came down the lobby this
11:42
morning, I took another taxi to this
11:44
venue. I came in the front door and
11:47
found my way backstage. And when I asked
11:50
someone, "Do you have any coffee?" He
11:52
pointed to the coffee machine in the
11:54
corner and I poured myself a cup of
11:56
coffee into this here styrofoam cup. He
12:00
says, "The lesson is the ceramic cup was
12:03
never meant for me. It was meant for the
12:06
position I held. I deserve a styrofoam
12:10
cup."
12:11
Remember this. As you gain fame, [music]
12:15
as you gain fortune, as you gain
12:18
position and seniority, people will
12:20
treat you better. They will hold doors
12:22
open for you. They will get you a cup of
12:24
tea and coffee without you even asking.
12:26
They will call you sir and ma'am and
12:28
they will give you [music] stuff. None
12:30
of that stuff is meant for you. That
12:33
stuff is [music] meant for the position
12:34
you hold. It is meant for the level that
12:37
you have achieved of leader or success
12:40
or whatever you want to call it. But you
12:43
will always [music] deserve a styrofoam
12:46
cup.
12:48
Remember that. Remember that lesson of
12:51
humility and gratitude. You can accept
12:53
all the free stuff. You can accept all
12:55
the perks. Absolutely. You can enjoy
12:58
them, but just be grateful for them and
13:00
know that they're not for you. We're
13:02
asking our youngest generation to work
13:05
and succeed and find themselves and
13:07
build their confidence and overcome
13:09
their addiction to technology and build
13:12
strong relationships at work. We're
13:13
asking to do this and these are the
13:15
environments we've created. We keep
13:17
saying to them, you're the future
13:19
leaders. We're the leaders now. We're in
13:22
control.
13:24
what are we doing?
13:26
This is what empathy means. It means if
13:29
there's an entire generation struggling,
13:32
maybe it's not them. It's like, you
13:34
know, the only thing that I that um the
13:37
common factor in all my failed
13:38
relationships, me. Same thing. Well, we
13:42
just can't get the right, you know, the
13:44
right performance out of our people.
13:45
Maybe it's you,
13:47
right? It's not a generation. It's not
13:50
them. They're not difficult or hard to
13:52
understand. They're human beings like
13:54
the rest of us trying to find their way,
13:57
trying to work in a place where they
13:59
feel that someone cares about them as a
14:02
human being. By the way, that's what we
14:04
all want. In other words, it's not even
14:07
generational.
14:09
It's all of us. This is the practice of
14:12
empathy that if we're struggling to
14:14
communicate to someone, if we're
14:15
struggling to help someone be at their
14:17
natural best, I'm tired of people saying
14:20
to me, "How do I get the best out of my
14:21
people? Really, that's what you want?
14:22
They're like a towel. You just ring
14:23
them. How can I get the most out of
14:25
them?"
14:27
No. How do I help my people be at their
14:29
natural best?
14:31
Right? We're not asking these questions.
14:32
We are not practicing empathy. We have
14:34
to start by practicing empathy and
14:36
relate to what they may be going
14:38
through. And it will profoundly change
14:39
the decisions we make. It will
14:41
profoundly change the way we see the
14:44
world. We're growing up in a Facebook
14:46
Instagram world. In other words, we're
14:48
good at putting filters on things. We're
14:49
good at showing people that life is
14:51
amazing even though I'm depressed,
14:54
right? And so, everybody sounds tough
14:56
and everybody sounds like they got it
14:58
all figured out. And the reality is
14:59
there's very little toughness and most
15:01
people don't have it figured out. And
15:02
so, when the more senior people say,
15:04
"Well, what should we do?" They sound
15:05
like, "This is what you got to do." and
15:07
they have no clue. So, you have an
15:09
entire generation growing up with lower
15:10
self-esteem than previous generations,
15:11
[music]
15:12
right? We know that engagement with
15:15
social media and our cell phones
15:18
releases a chemical called dopamine.
15:20
That's why when you get a text feels
15:22
good, right? It's why we count the
15:24
likes. It's why we [music] go back 10
15:26
times to see if and if it's going if our
15:29
my Instagram is growing slower, I would
15:30
I did I do something wrong? Do they not
15:32
like me anymore? Right? the the trauma
15:34
for young kids to be unfriended, right?
15:37
Dopamine is the exact same chemical that
15:39
makes us feel good when [music] we
15:40
smoke, when we drink, and when we
15:43
gamble. In other words, it's highly,
15:45
highly addictive. That's basically what
15:48
happened. You have an entire generation
15:49
that has [music] access to an addictive
15:51
numbing
15:53
chemical called dopamine through social
15:54
[music] media and cell phones as they're
15:55
going through the high stress of
15:57
adolescence. Why is this important?
15:58
What's happening is because we're
16:00
allowing unfettered access to these
16:02
dopamine producing devices [music]
16:04
and media basically it's becoming
16:06
hardwired and what we're seeing is as
16:07
they grow older they too many [music]
16:09
kids don't know how to form deep
16:11
meaningful relationships their words not
16:14
mine they will admit [music] that many
16:16
of their friendships are superficial
16:17
they will admit that their friends that
16:19
they don't count on their friends they
16:21
don't rely on [music] their friends they
16:22
have fun with their friends but they
16:24
also know that their friends will cancel
16:25
on them as something better comes along
16:27
deep meaningful relationships are not
16:28
there because they never practice the
16:30
skill set and worse they don't have the
16:32
coping mechanisms to deal [music] with
16:33
stress. So when significant stress
16:35
starts to show up in their lives,
16:37
they're not turning to a person. They're
16:39
turning to a device. They're turning to
16:41
social media. They're turning to [music]
16:42
these things which offer temporary
16:44
relief. I believe loving your work is a
16:46
right and not a privilege. [music] I
16:47
despise the fact, I lament the fact, I
16:50
curse the fact that so few people
16:52
[music] get to say, "I love my job." as
16:54
if they've won some lottery. You know,
16:56
you go out with your friends and
16:57
somebody says, "I love my job." And
16:58
everybody goes, "Oh my god, you're so
16:59
lucky." Right? That to me is madness.
17:01
Everybody, the vast majority should get
17:04
to wake up and say, [music] "I love my
17:06
job." It is a right. It is a God-given
17:08
right that we should love where we work.
17:10
And we should demand it. We should
17:11
demand that our leaders provide an
17:14
environment in which we want to come,
17:15
where we want to care about about each
17:17
other, where we feel [music] safe to
17:18
express our vulnerabilities and our
17:20
fears and our concerns. That we're open
17:22
to correction and discipline and [music]
17:24
feedback. that we're not defensive
17:26
because we know that it's being given to
17:28
help us improve and grow. And we want to
17:29
improve and grow. Um, and in turn, we
17:32
will help others improve and grow
17:33
because when we feel [music] safe, when
17:36
we feel
17:38
that our leaders care more about us than
17:41
a number, they care more about our lives
17:45
and our confidence and our joy and our
17:50
skill set more than some short-term
17:52
gain. [music] that they care more about
17:54
our priorities than the priorities of
17:56
some disinterested external
17:57
constituency.
17:59
Then we will respond in kind and we will
18:00
offer our blood and our sweat and our
18:02
tears and we will make sacrifices of all
18:04
kinds to see that our leader vision is
18:07
advanced and that this company continues
18:09
to [music] thrive not for them for
18:11
ourselves. It becomes deeply personal
18:13
and becomes something we love
18:14
contributing to. I talk about it all the
18:17
time. Working hard for something we
18:19
don't care about is called [music]
18:20
stress. Working hard for something we
18:23
love is called passion.
— end of transcript —
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