Leaders Eat Last Book Summary

Book Summary

15 min

Audio available

Brief Summary

Leadership funnels down from those in charge at the top to the team of workers at the bottom executing the operations of the organization. The results of their outputs, in turn, flow back up to the top and are realized by those in charge. Within this system lies a Circle of Safety, and when that Circle is broken by ineffective leadership (destructive abundance, a result of valuing numbers over people, and the distance bred by abstraction in an increasingly isolated work culture), then the organization as a whole suffers. When leaders eat last, or in other words, put the needs of their teams before their own personal gains and use profits to fuel team culture, then the organization thrives.

About the Author

Born in Wimbledon, London, Simon Sinek is a motivational speaker, author and organizational consultant. After working for the New York ad agencies Euro RSCG and Ogilvy & Mather, Sinek embarked on his own entrepreneurial endeavors and started his own company, Sinek Partners. In addition to Leaders Eat Last, Sinek also authored Start with Why, among other books. He has given talks for the United Nations and has presented at the TEDx conference.

Topics

Management & Leadership Psychology

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Key Insights

About the Author

Part I: Our Need to Feel Safe

-When your team is tasked with managing dangers within the organization, the organization as a whole is less able to face dangers from the outside.

-Every team member is someone’s child and like a parent, company leadership is responsible for their precious lives.

-Build more organizations that prioritize care on the human level. Leaders are charged with the sole responsibility of protecting its people. In return, the people of the organization will protect each other and the entire entity advances together.

-When leaders fail to take care of their people, it is the job of the people to take care of each other, thereby becoming the leaders they wish they had.

-A team’s ability to do remarkable things pivots on how well its members pull together as a team.

-Case Study: The feeling of belonging, shared values and a deep sense of empathy demonstrated among U.S. Marines greatly enhances trust, cooperation and problem solving. Because they don’t see each other as a threat, U.S. Marines are better prepared to handle external threats.

-Feeling safe at work is important for creating a healthy work environment. Leaders must create a culture of safety within the work environment, where intimidation, humiliation, isolation, feelings of inferiority, rejection and other stressors are not allowed to proliferate. Do this by giving team members the power to make decisions, offering trust and empathy and by creating a Circle of Safety.

-People who didn’t feel recognized for their work had increased incidences of heart disease, according to a University College of London study. What this means is that the stress of putting in hard work but feeling unrewarded or underappreciated contributed to elevated stress levels that in turn, contributed to the risk of heart disease.