As a part of the Faber series, we are here again with excerpts from another leadership book – ‘Why Leaders Eat Last?’ the sequel of ‘Start with Why’ by Simon Sinek.
The core purpose of this book is not to help others become better leaders so that they can jump up the corporate ladder, motivate subordinates, or increase productivity. The message of this book is that we need better leaders so we can have a better world; empathy is at the heart of his argument. Leadership is not a position you have, but the person you are. When leading an organization, you don’t want a team of dedicated followers ready to do your every whim, you want people who can lead themselves and those around them to accomplish the tasks.
This book is more of a biological view than of a management view which shows the acts of great leaders sacrificing their own comfort for the good and betterment of those in their care. It reveals the hidden dynamics that inspire leadership and trust. When danger is present, the group expects the leader to mitigate all threats even at the expense of their personal well-being. Understanding this deep-seated expectation is the key difference between someone who is just an “authority” versus a true “leader”.
Below are the 8 Key Learnings from this book:
1. Cultivate a Circle of Safety
Use the Circle of Safety to invest time and energy to guard against the dangers outside. This will be helpful to freely exchange information and ideas to move the organization forward.
2. EMPATHY is a Crucial Commodity
To develop and cultivate the Circle of Safety the Biggest habit to develop within us is EMPATHY. Empathy to treat the employees with equal respect and dignity. It is a core tenet of Workplace Management.
3. Autonomy Matters
Lack of control at Work = Stress + Emotional Strain. The best solution to over autonomy matters is to give employees more control.
4. Environment is Everything
The environment of work should be encouraging. And meet the basic human needs to live, to learn, to feel valued and signify so that the employees thrive to work. The leader has the rights and responsibilities to set up the environment that he wishes to see in the organization.
5. Get to know Your ‘HAPPY CHEMICALS’
The 4 ‘Happy Chemicals’ in your Brain + Body
- Endorphin: The pain-masking chemical• Dopamine: The goal achieving chemical
- Serotonin: The leadership chemical
- Oxytocin: The chemical of love the main chemicals in our body ‘Selfish Chemical’ and ‘Selfless Chemical’ depend upon us with what to react.
6. Become a Long Term Leader
The impact of leadership is best judged when one compares pictures of themselves over a period of week or month, and there is a stark difference.
7. The ‘Welch Way’ is the ‘Wrong way’
Sinek solidifies his argument that leading for long-term is better than leading for the short-term by comparing two such leaders. Two large organizations both of which you’ve probably heard of:
The short-term leader: Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric
The long-term leader: Jeff Sinegal, former CEO of Costco
Sinek compares GE vs Costco by measuring profits via the rise and fall of their stocks and then connecting those ebbs and flows to the decisions made by the leadership.
8. Short Term Vs Long-term Leadership
The best difference between a short term leadership and long term leadership. When any CEO holds their position for more than few years, they end up taking decisions on their OWN PERSONAL INTEREST than as a LEADER FOR THE ORGANIZATION.
The book shows us the real meaning of a leader, and what is the difference between a leader and a boss. It gives us an insight into thoughts to ponder upon, whether we wish to be a leader in the organization or just a boss. It demonstrates the depth and breadth of leadership cascades from the executive board to management, which in turn cascades down the daily basis shaping of the culture of the organization.
Written By Faber Ancita Lobo
