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

Simon Sinek Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't Penguin Publishers, 2014, $ 27.95 (Hard cover), 244 pagesMANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP TEAMS within many organizations are starting to pay more attention to the topic of employee engagement. Although many have identified and implemented methods to measure employee engagement, they find themselves data rich and information poor. With the understanding that employee engagement is directly tied to organizational performance, many have developed and executed initiatives in their efforts to improve their organizations through enhancing employee engagement. However, in many cases, these efforts are generating minimal results. What is missing? What role does leadership play in this process? Perhaps the key lies within the contents of Simon Sinek's latest book, Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't (Leaders Eat Last).In the book, Leaders Eat Last, Sinek describes several fundamental, yet basic concepts that are instrumental and powerful solutions for many organizations. Sinek believes trust, cooperation and treating people like human beings creates a sense of belonging. "This feeling of belonging, of shared values and a deep sense of empathy, dramatically enhances trust, cooperation and problem solving. They operate in a strong Circle of Safety" (Sinek, 2014, p. 20). Sinek's Circle of Safety concept is a relatively simple one to understand. It is not only a matter of treating people how we would want to be treated, it is more about treating people the way they want to be treated. It is about feeling safe and knowing the people around you are more willing to help you than to help themselves.By creating a Circle of Safety around the people in the organization, leadership reduces the threats people feel inside the group, which frees them up to focus more time and energy to protect the organization from the constant dangers outside and seize the big opportunities. Without a Circle of Safety, people are forced to spend too much time and energy protecting themselves from each other (Sinek, 2014, p. 22).To better understand the author's thought process, knowing his background sheds significant light on how his experiences led him on this mission to invigorate leadership behaviors amongst all people. Sinek is a thought leader, speaker, teacher and a man who is leading a movement to inspire people to inspire themselves and others. Originally from England, he has lived in Hong Kong and South Africa and now resides in New York. He is a trained ethnographer and received his education from Brandeis University where he majored in cultural anthropology. He has spent his life studying people and their cultures. His TED talk is one of the most popular TED talks of all time. He has presented his concepts to Microsoft, Intel, SAP, 3M, United States Congress, the military, multiple government agencies, and the United Nations. He is an adjunct staff member at the RAND Corporation and teaches graduate level strategic communications at Columbia University and works with The Education for Employment Foundation to help create opportunities for young men and women in the Middle East.The author makes no attempts at sharing any new leadership theories. His mission of inspiration, and his vision, is to get people to understand the success or failure of an organization is based on leadership excellence. This is the message he is delivering in Leaders Eat Last. He explains his ideas with captivating true stories from a cross sampling of personal experiences with individuals across multiple industries including manufacturing, government, financial services, and the military. …