What Is Patagonia's Golden Circle

In his lecture, Simon Sinek illustrated the pattern in being an inspiring leader. He calls it the golden circle. This circle is comprised of three questions that organizations and leaders need to answer if they truly want to succeed. They need to know what they do; how they do it; and why they do it. The first two are easy to answer. Every single person in the organization should know what the organization does. They should also, to some extent, know how the organization does what it does. The most difficult, and most important, question to answer is why. And the answer is never the make money. Making a profit is the result of what and how the organization conducts its business. The answer to the question of why is much more elusive. When

Their social mission is “to operate the company in a way that actively recognizes the central role that business plays in society by initiating innovative ways to improve the quality of life locally, nationally, and internationally.” They do this by working from inside the pint out. Ben & Jerry’s uses organic ingredients and environmentally friendly containers. They even manufacture their products in such a way as to lessen their environmental footprint. Another organization that seeks to save the environment is Patagonia. Patagonia is a sporting goods store that sells everything from clothes to outdoor gear to provisions. They encourage people to live simply and enjoy earth’s beauty. Their mission is this: “Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.” Patagonia is a for-profit organization that acts like a non-profit in that it uses its wealth to protect the environment. Everything they do they do in the hopes of preserving the environment. This central purpose drives them to produce organic products. Patagonia is an internationally recognized brand and it is not just because that have great products. It is because they live their beliefs. As conservationist David Brower likes to say, “There is no business to be done on a dead planet.” So, through its sale of environmentally friendly products, Patagonia hopes to preserve this planet’s natural