Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek: Employees are people too
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\nAbout the Author
\nSimon is an unshakable optimist who believes in a bright future and our ability to build it together.
\nDescribed as \u201ca visionary thinker with a rare intellect,\u201d Simon teaches leaders and organizations how to inspire people. With a bold goal to help build a world in which the vast majority of people wake up every single day feeling inspired, feel safe at work, and feel fulfilled at the end of the day, Simon is leading a movement to inspire people to do the things that inspire them.
\nSimon is the author of multiple best-selling books\xa0including\xa0Start With Why,\xa0Leaders Eat Last,\xa0Together is Better,\xa0and\xa0Find Your Why.\xa0His new book,\xa0The Infinite Game, will be released in 2019.
\nSource:\xa0https://simonsinek.com/about/simon-sinek
\nClick here to buy on The Book Depository
\nhttps://www.bookdepository.com/Leaders-Eat-Last/9780670923175/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf
\nAbout the Book
\nIn his work with organizations around the world, Simon Sinek noticed that some teams trust each other so deeply that they would literally put their lives on the line for each other. Other teams, no matter what incentives are offered, are doomed to infighting, fragmentation and failure. Why?
\nThe answer became clear during a conversation with a Marine Corps general. \u201cOfficers eat last,\u201d he said. Simon watched as the most junior Marines ate first while the most senior Marines took their place at the back of the line. What\u2019s symbolic in the chow hall is deadly serious on the battlefield: Great leaders sacrifice their own comfort\u2013even their own
survival\u2013for the good of those in their care.
Too many workplaces are driven by cynicism, paranoia, and self-interest. But the best ones foster trust and cooperation because their leaders build what Simon calls a \u201cCircle of Safety\u201d that separates the security inside the team from the challenges outside.
\nSimon illustrates his ideas with fascinating true stories that range from the military to big business, from government to investment banking.
\nSource:\xa0https://simonsinek.com/product/leaders-eat-last/
\nLinks
\nSimon\u2019s website, full of insights and articles on leadership and work
https://simonsinek.com/discover/ Simon\u2019s TED Talks: https://www.ted.com/speakers/simon_sinek
Join in the #shelfie posts on\xa0LinkedIn\xa0and\xa0Instagram
\nSee\xa0Simon live in Australia
\nMore detail on the Milgram experiment mentioned in big idea 2:
https://www.simplypsychology.org/milgram.html
BIG IDEA 1 (4:30) \u2013 Employees are people too.
\nThere\u2019s a case study in the book about a factory when the new leadership took over. The employees were treated differently between those in the factory and those in the office. Factory employees need to ask for a break and use payphone if they need to make a phone call while those in the office can use their mobile phones or the office phone, free of charge.
\nThis mentality didn\u2019t create great relationships between those in the factory and those in the office. This also completely eroded trust because it is very much two classes of citizens.
\nWhat the new leadership did was unlock the empathy between the employees by leveling the playing field, taking away many of barriers and rules that separated the two types of roles. They also extended trust by allowing the factory workers to have the same flexible working conditions as those in the office.
\nWhat they started to do was create trust, relationship and bond between all the workers. This is a huge moment as teams see each other as family to stick together and help each other with examples such as pooling leave balances when someone\u2019s wife became ill and he needed additional time off to help her recover.\xa0 Extending the trust and building the bridges of workers didn\u2019t just extend the human connection, they also had great business outcomes with increases to revenue, profit and decreases in theft and complaints.
\nBIG IDEA 2 (8:11) \u2013 Bad leaders can make you a bad person.
\nThe Milgram experiment happened a couple of decades ago to establish \u2013 why do good people sometimes do bad things? An interesting correlation they found was what the impact of a leader had on them. In this experiment they had a student, a teacher and a scientist. The student and the scientist were both part of the experiment but the teacher didn\u2019t know it.
\nThe student was wired up in an electric machine and the teacher (who didn\u2019t know what they are being asked to do) had to administer an electric shock to the student when they got answers wrong on a test. The scientist was giving the teacher direction and telling them at what point to turn up the voltage and shock them.
\nThe interesting part was whether the teacher sees the student. When there is no contact or view of the student being shocked, 65% of the teachers obey the scientist and went through to a potentially lethal shock (by the way, the shock wasn\u2019t real, the students pretended they\u2019d been shocked). While 70% of the teachers stopped quite early during the process when the teacher had to physically put the hand of the student in the electric plate.
\nThis has an impact in our organisations, for example, if you can\u2019t see the person you\u2019re hurting or damaging, from an emotional or leadership perspective, it has an impact on how you choose your behaviours and decisions. As you get further away from people, how does that impact your decision?\xa0 Equally \u2013 who is influencing your decisions? Are they a good, or a bad, infliuence?
\nBIG IDEA 3 (10:51) \u2013 Bad cultures equal bad leaders.
\nBad cultures drive things underground and diminish good behaviour. There\u2019s an example in the book from Citigroup and Goldman Sachs where new leaders alienated their staff and created really toxic cultures. This created toxicity and diminished trust and reward and recognise different behaviors which will ultimately drive what people will do \u2013 and even in organisations which had previously good cultures.
\nBy providing vision, direction and guidance and coaching your team, it can have a much better outcome. Better decision making and communication can be made. Less fear and more collaboration. Just because you\u2019re in charge doesn\u2019t mean you know the answers.\xa0
\nMusic By:\xa0\xa0Springtime Song by Jon Gegelman
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