Leaders Eat Last

Jul 14

Written By Socrates - Head of School Team

Think you might want to read this book?

After covering the chemicals in our bodies that drive us, Simon Sinek spends the last three-fourths of Leaders Eat Last explaining what great leadership looks like. Using examples from the Marines, Costco, GE and many others, he convinces the reader that giving of yourself is the most important trait a leader can have. Avoiding “destructive abundance” and focusing on treating others well is a core message in this book, and a valuable reminder to us all.

What Would Socrates Ask?

What if school leaders no longer used “I”, “me”, and “my”, but instead “us”, “we”, and “together”?
Should grade levels be limited to 150 per school since after that number groups don’t support each other as much?
How well do we tell the story of our student successes?
What if explicit mentorship for administrators each year was expected?
What if explicit mentorship for teachers each year was expected?
What if team bonding was an emphasis at your school year round?

Research

According to the Deloitte Shift Index, 80 percent of people are dissatisfied with their jobs.
Levels of depression and anxiety among people who are unhappy at work were the same or greater than those who were unemployed.
The lower someone’s rank in the organizational hierarchy, the greater their risk of stress-related health problems, not the other way around.
… a child’s sense of well-being is affected less by the long hours their parents put in at work and more by the mood their parents are in when they come home. Children are better off having a parent who works into the night in a job they love than a parent who works shorter hours but comes home unhappy.
“Rather than enhancing well-being,...” the study concluded, “ interacting with Facebook may predict the opposite result for young adults - it may undermine it.”

Concepts

Dunbar’s Number- people simply cannot maintain more than about 150 close relationships.
Eyeball Leadership- Marines idea that in order to truly lead, you need to spend time with the people you serve.

Quotes from the author

“… exceptional organizations all have cultures in which the leaders provide cover from above and the people on the ground look out for each other.”
“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.”
“The ability of a group of people to do remarkable things hinges on how well those people pull together as a team.”
“If you wake up in the morning and the first thing you do is check your phone to read e-mail or scan through your social media before you even get out of bed, you might be an addict.”
“Trust is like lubrication. It reduces friction and creates conditions much more conducive to performance.”
“When our relationships with customers or employees become abstract concepts, we naturally pursue the most tangible thing we can see - the metrics. Leaders who put a premium on numbers over lives are, more often than not, physically separated from the people they serve.”
“When we are able to physically see the positive impact of the decisions we make or the work we do, not only do we feel that our work was worth it, but it also inspires us to work harder and do more.”
“Inside a Circle of Safety, when people trust and share their successes and failures, what they know and what they don’t know, the result is innovation. It’s just natural.”
“We work to advance the vision of a leader who inspires us and we work to undermine a dictator who means to control us.”
“Hypocrites, liars and self-interested leaders create cultures filled with hypocrites, liars, and self-interested employees. The leaders of companies who tell the truth, in contrast, will create a culture of people who tell the truth.”
“A leader’s legacy is only as strong as the foundation they leave behind that allows others to continue to advance the organization in their name.”
“Our “best days at work” were ones when we helped each other endure or overcome hardship.”
“Human beings have thrived for fifty thousand years not because we are driven to serve ourselves, but because we are inspired to serve others.”

Quotes from others

“... an organization’s success or failure is based on leadership excellence and not managerial acumen.” - George Flynn
“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” - John Quincy Adams
“You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him.” - Goethe
“Those at the top have all the authority and none of the information. Those at the bottom have all the information and none of the authority. Not until those without information relinquish their control can an organization run better, smoother and faster and reach its maximum potential.” - Captain David Marquet