Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t

Once again it is important to emphasize that Sinek is an empowering speaker and writer who has a way of captivating his audience like no other. Leaders Eat Last is no exception to this rule where he provides a clear concise line of thinking for why he believes in his thesis, and then he goes on to support his idea with relatable and emotionally empowering examples which resonate with the reader. His philosophies make you feel good while you’re reading them and let your mind wander into worlds which are led by compassionate kind leaders which makes you feel good and hopeful.

If you have read is more recent work, such as The Infinite Game, this book is somewhat redundant due to the similarity in topics and theory covered. If this is your first Simon Sinek book, it is important to understand The issues that plague most of his books are an evident issue here wherein he uses cherry picked examples of leadership which fit his theory, but never addresses cases in which leaders were successful in empowering their base, but weren’t the compassionate type. Case in point, President Trump is everything which Sinek believes embodies a bad leader, and he very well may be right, but it doesn’t displace the fact that he has followers which will go to the ends of the earth for him. Why is that?

Imagine a world where almost everyone wakes up inspired to go to work, feels trusted and valued during the day, then returns home feeling fulfilled. This is not a crazy, idealized notion. Today, in many successful organizations, great leaders create environments in which people naturally work together to do remarkable things.

In 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?

The answer became clear during a conversation with a Marine Corps general. “Officers eat last,” he said. Sinek watched as the most junior Marines ate first while the most senior Marines took their place at the back of the line. What’s symbolic in the chow hall is deadly serious on the battlefield: Great leaders sacrifice their own comfort–even their own survival–for 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 Sinek calls a “Circle of Safety” that separates the security inside the team from the challenges outside.

Sinek illustrates his ideas with fascinating true stories that range from the military to big business, from government to investment banking.

Sinek has a beautifully inspired methodology and presents it to us in detailed and convincing story line. If you haven’t read any of Sinek’s books, we highly recommended them. They are passionately written and are wonderful pieces for personal growth. If you have read his newer work The Infinite Game, then it’s important to note that this one tackles his methodology from a different perspective, but content wise there aren’t many new ideas. Nevertheless, if you are in a leadership position, or aspiring to become a leader his framework and methodology is invaluable to understand inside and out because we truly believe that leaders would benefit from using at least parts of it.