Considering the inflationary period Americans are struggling through, compounded by the impact of tariffs, it’s hard not to get fixated on the dollar amount in job descriptions. But management expert Simon Sinek argues there’s something more important to consider when interviewing for jobs: the person you’ll be working for.
“If I got one thing right as a young person, it’s that I always chose jobs based on who I would work for,” Sinek told The Diary of a CEO podcast. “I didn’t care how much money they’re going to pay.”
Sinek is best known for his 2009 TED Talk on the concept of “why,” and his “Golden Circle” theory, which encourages leaders and organizations to define their core purpose or belief as the basis for inspiring employees and customers. His TED Talk was one of the most watched of all time, with more than 60 million views on the TED website alone. Sinek has more than 8.7 million followers on LinkedIn today.
This management guru trained as an ethnographer, studying the patterns in how effective leaders and organizations think, act, and communicate to create environments where people operate at their most optimal level. He studied cultural anthropology at Brandeis University and later began, but did not complete, law school at City University of London. Early in his career, he worked in advertising for New York–based agencies including Euro RSCG and Ogilvy & Mather, but later launched his own consultancy, Sinek Partners.
