Simon Oliver Sinek (born 9 October 1973) is an author and inspirational speaker on business leadership. His books include Start with Why (2009) and The Infinite Game (2019).
Contents
Early life and education
Sinek was born in Wimbledon on 9 October 1973. His mother is of Hungarian Jewish descent. As a child, he lived in Johannesburg, London, and Hong Kong before his family settled in the United States. He graduated in 1991 from Northern Valley Regional High School at Demarest in Bergen County, New Jersey and earned a BA in cultural anthropology from Brandeis University, then studied law at City, University of London.
Career
Sinek began his career at the New York ad agencies Euro RSCG and Ogilvy & Mather, then launched his own business, Sinek Partners.
Simon defines himself as an "optimist". As a motivational speaker, Sinek has spoken at the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit in 2016, and at TEDx conferences several times, beginning in 2009. His 2010 "How Great Leaders Inspire Action", arising out of his first book, Start with Why, is one of the most-viewed TED talks, and his following book, Leaders Eat Last, appeared on the bestseller lists of the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.