Beyond “Why”: Simon Sinek’s Lessons for the Franchise Industry

Before Simon Sinek wrote the influential books "Start With Why," "Together Is Better" and “The Infinite Game,” and before he launched the public-speaking career that has made him a household name among business leaders, entrepreneurs, and TED Talk enthusiasts, he made a name for himself in the advertising world.

Early in his career, Sinek worked at Euro RSCG, then Ogilvy & Mather before starting his own agency, Sinek Partners. By the 2000s, Sinek was well known in the ad world as an innovative and challenging thought leader, but it was the release of his first book, "Start With Why", in 2009 that would bring his ideas to the world outside of advertising. 

Since publishing "Start With Why," Sinek has released four more books, including this year’s "The Infinite Game," and become one of the most sought-after public speakers in the world. His TED Talks have racked up millions of views on YouTube, and his regular appearances on podcasts and interview shows have brought his ideas to a wide range of new audiences.

Sinek’s lessons on leadership, marketing and business philosophy have been embraced by a variety of industries, but they are of particular value to the world of franchising, where franchisors are building not just a single business, but sprawling networks of businesses that each depend on a foundational model of procedures and values.

Below, we’ve broken down five of Sinek’s most valuable lessons to look at how they can be best applied in franchising, starting with, well, you know … 

Start With Why

Sinek uses a “golden circle” with three rings to illustrate his most famous piece of advice, which asks us to reverse how we normally think about whatever it is we’re trying to sell. In the innermost ring is Why, followed by How in the middle, and What on the outside ring. Most people, Sinek says, start with What: What are we doing, what are we making, what are we selling; then move onto How: How are we different, how are we better, how do we succeed; before finally getting to Why: Why are we even doing this? 

Sinek tells us to reverse that order.

Most franchisors do, actually, begin with a clear Why. They have a reason for getting into their field and a particular market they believe they thrive in. But, after years of growth, pivots and tweaks to their Hows and Whats, a franchisor might find, if they take the time to look, that they’ve fallen out of alignment with their Why. If your Why isn’t clear as daylight and underlined at every opportunity, your franchisees are going to create their own Whys, and quickly, your whole network can fall out alignment. 

Leadership is a Choice

Leadership is not a rank, Sinek says. It is a choice. Leaders are those who look after the people around them, and they can be found at any level of an organization. By the same token, if the highest authority figures in an organization fail to look after the people around them, they fail to be leaders.

Franchisors occupy a leadership position, but that does not mean that they are all leaders. And a franchise system without a leader is not likely to survive, let alone grow. 

Franchisors who are leaders put their franchisees first. Often, that means making sacrifices. You may have to wait on breaking into that new market until the franchisee is better prepared. You may have to take that new LTO back to the test kitchen to make sure it doesn’t slow down service at the store level. If you’re not willing to make those sacrifices, you won’t be seen as a leader, and without a leader, franchisees will start making their own rules.

Impact Takes Time

“If you go to the gym, and you workout, and you come back and you look in the mirror, you will see nothing,” Sinek said in an interview with “Inside Quest.” Making an impact takes time, and it’s not always easy to quantify results.

Individual actions are rarely catalysts for lasting impact; it’s the routinization of deliberate, goal-oriented habits that gets results. This is especially the case when you are instilling those habits among operators in multiple markets. If you want your brand to make an impact, you must ensure that franchisees are in lockstep, providing the same service and practicing the same management habits across the entire franchise system.

Be an Infinite Player

The good news is that you already are an infinite player. The bad news, for some franchisors, is that they don’t realize it, and as a result, they are playing the wrong game. In game theory, Sinek explains, there are finite games and infinite games. Finite games have fixed rules, players and objectives. Infinite games have undefined rules and players, and the objective is to keep the game going indefinitely. Both types of games represent stable systems, but we run into problems, Sinek says, when finite players face off against infinite players. Finite players play to win, and infinite players play to keep playing.

Franchisors are infinite players. There is no win state, no unit-number they can achieve where they get a trophy and go home. When you try to institute the rules of a finite game — metrics or milestones that you decide represent winning — you give up the game to more flexible competitors who are constantly adapting to new goals and challenges.

Control the Cortisol

Cortisol, the hormone behind the fight-or-flight instinct in mammals, is an essential safeguard against external threats. By sparking stress, fear and panic, it alerts us to danger and motivates us into action. Crucially, among social animals, it is also contagious. One gazelle’s panic, Sinek explains in the video below, quickly spreads to the whole herd, motivating them to flee a predator en masse. The same is true of people, including franchisees.

Franchisees cannot grow — they can barely function, in fact — if they are in a constant state of panic. They need to feel safe. A franchise system that springs changes on franchisees without their input or forewarning, one that closes locations without explanation or alters policy on a whim, is going to make franchisees feel unsafe, and it’s going to keep a steady drip of cortisol flowing, which will spread to everyone the franchisee comes in contact with, including employees and customers. You must stop that drip of cortisol. You must make your franchisees feel safe.