Leaders Eat Last

Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't

Sinek invokes biology and anthropology to underpin his message that effective leaders are those who put the needs of their people above their own. In so doing, they create a culture of trust and safety - of belonging - which all human beings are innately predisposed to value and therefore to protect.

The book shows that the principle cause of failure among organisations is the tendency to focus more on numbers and short-term results than on people. When numbers are given priority over people, the result is an organisation where people simply don't feel safe.

Giving time and energy

The most valuable sacrifices leaders can make are giving their own time and energy to others in their team. Research shows that this has an even greater impact than money in building trust and a culture of safety.

It is also demonstrated in offering empathy, for instance in a situation where a team member's performance has dropped. Instead of giving critical feedback or coming down hard on them, the effective leader would ask, 'are you ok?'. Putting a person's wellbeing ahead of short-term financials builds a relationship that - over time - generates a culture of loyalty, resilience and productivity.

Creating a 'Circle of Safety'

Overturning the common perception that leadership is about being in charge, having the answers or being the most qualified person, Sinek suggests instead that creating what he calls a 'circle of safety' is the most effective leadership quality. That means that people feel protected and free from danger within the organisation.

The analogy he offers is that, "like the Spartans, we will have to learn that our strength will come not from the sharpness of our spears, but from our willingness to offer others the protection of our shields."

Here are some ways he suggests to do that:

1. Put the interests of others (employees, clients, stakeholders) before your own
2. Accept that your greatest responsibility is not the (short term) performance of the organisation, but the wellbeing of your team - lead the people not the numbers
3. Help people who are going through a slump, don't 'performance manage' them
4. Add genuine value to others, even when there is no obvious reward for you - this includes in online communities and social media
5. Temper idealism with realism and accountability - sometimes we need to deal with difficult or unreasonable people for pragmatic reasons, but do so consciously
6. You don't have to like everybody within the group to be able to build trust with them

"It is not the genius at the top giving directions that makes people great.
It is great people that make the guy at the top look like a genius."