The Golden Circle: A Leadership Analysis

Finding a great leader is to find a leader who can find a balance in the order things. To be able motivate, to inspire, and foster a purpose and belief within each individual based on what the leader believes and the willing for each individual to take action based on the inspiration. To be an effective leader, the leader must inspire a each individual he or she intends to lead, in order to inspire and reach the full potential of an effective leader, the leader must realize and practice the concept of the three rings, “The Why”, “The How” and “The What” of the “Golden Circle”.

Throughout my career, I have had the pleasure serving with great leaders that were able to have a balance on what is referred to as the “Golden Circle”. In my experience

During my observation of the most effective leaders, began leading with “The Why” of the inner ring from the Golden Circle. By starting with “The Why” from the inner ring, the leader is able to express what he or she genuinely believes, in that each member has an important role in the overall scheme of the unit and that each member is interdependent with another member. Thus, motivating and inspiring individuals in taking ownership of their role and believing their role will provide success to the overall unit. I had a Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) commander that was able to foster, purpose and belief of each individual within the MEU. The MEU commander was able communicate his belief in that each member played a critical part in the strength and ability of the MEU. The MEU commander accomplished this by speaking to the various

What we do as an individual or as a unit, the final product or outcome that placed each individual on the path “to do what they do” or you could look at “The What” as the tangible proof why things were done in a specific manner. For example: The tangible proof could be the completion of unit exercises, and accomplished every goal set by the commander, because each member understood and believed why and what their purpose was in the unit during the exercise. Purpose provided unity, understanding, and communication that allowed the unit to excel. Another example would be comparing the importance and impact the “The Why” has on “The What” as depicted in a unit that has a high turnover rate in product output along with the amount of hours each member spends at work, but yet can still maintain a high level of morale, motivation, and communication. Every member believed in their role and the purpose each played in the overall mission, that belief had an impact on their output no matter what the condition