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

-- Start with 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. This principle has been true since the earliest tribes of hunters and gatherers. It?s not a management theory; it?s biology. Our brains and bodies evolved to help us find food, shelter, mates and especially safety. We?ve always lived in a dangerous world, facing predators and enemies at every turn. We thrived only when we felt safe among our group. Our biology hasn?t changed in fifty thousand years, but our environment certainly has. Today?s workplaces tend to be full of cynicism, paranoia and self-interest. But the best organizations 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. The Circle of Safety leads to stable, adaptive, confident teams, where everyone feels they belong and all energies are devoted to facing the common enemy and seizing big opportunities. As he did in Start with Why The biology is clear: when it matters most, leaders who are willing to eat last are rewarded with deeply loyal colleagues who will stop at nothing to advance their leader?s vision and their organization?s interests. It?s amazing how well it works.;Part 1. Our need to feel safe : Protection from above -- Employees are people too -- Belonging -- Yeah, but ... -- Part 2. Powerful forces : When enough is enough -- E.D.S.O. -- The big C -- Why we have leaders -- Part 3. Reality : The courage to do the right thing -- Snowmobile in the desert -- Part 4. How we got here : The boom before the bust -- The boomers all grown up -- Part 5. The abstract challenge : Abstraction kills -- Modern abstraction -- Managing the abstraction -- Imbalance -- Part 6. Destructive abundance : Leadership lesson 1. So goes the culture, so goes the company -- Leadership lesson 2. So goes the leader, so goes the culture -- Leadership lesson 3. Integrity matters -- Leadership lesson 4. Friends matter -- Leadership lesson 5. Lead the people, not the numbers -- Part 7. A society of addicts : At the center of all our problems is us -- At any expense -- The abstract generation -- Part 8. Becoming a leader : Step 12 -- Shared struggle -- We need more leaders.