Considering the inflationary period Americans are struggling through, compounded with the impacts 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.
But Sinek credits his career success to his early days when he prioritized finding the best mentors over a higher salary.
“By the way, it’s not like I had money, [but] I knew they were going to pay me something. I knew I could pay my bills,” Sinek said. “I’m not a trust fund baby—like, I needed an income. But one company offered me $5,000 more, and one company offered me $5,000 less. But I really like the person over here, [so] I took that job.”
“Yes, I made less money than all of my friends in the short term,” he continued. But “I got an education and care from somebody who took me under their wing.”
What other experts say about prioritizing mentorship over salary
Some of the most successful people in business have also preached prioritizing mentorship over salary during your early career.
Warren Buffett, who is set to retire as Berkshire Hathaway’s CEO in just a couple of days, said it’s “enormously important” to one’s success with whom they associate.
“Don’t worry too much about starting salaries and be very careful who you work for because you will take on the habits of the people around you,” Buffett said at a shareholder meeting in May. “There are certain jobs you shouldn’t take.”
He said he’s had five bosses in his life, “and I liked every one of them.”
“They were all interesting,” Buffett continued. “I decided that I’d rather work for myself than anybody else. But if you find people that are wonderful to work with, that’s the place to go.”
Oprah Winfrey has also credited her continued success to the early days of her career when legendary writer Maya Angelou mentored her. Winfrey met Angelou in 1986, the year she debuted The Oprah Winfrey Show. Although she had already established herself as a talk show host, her relationship with Angelou continued to inspire her throughout her career.
“Anybody who’s had any level of success in their life got to where they are because somebody, somewhere, was a guiding light,” Winfrey wrote in a 2024 article about her mentorship from Angelou. “Maybe they weren’t a full-on, consistent mentor in your life, but nobody, but nobody makes it out here alone.”