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

by Simon Sinek
Hennepin County Library audiobook 7 discs
read by the author
genre: non-fiction leadership

Random notes:

I did not love the author's reading of his book. He has such a strange accent and way of pronouncing some words. Catch his stuff at http://99u.com/videos/20272/simon-sinek-why-leaders-eat-last or not.

Sigh. Some of this is such old ground that I've had covered in other books. I suppose a review can be helpful, though. Brain chemicals - dopamine, endorphin, serotonin, cortisol, and oxytocin - and how they affect humans. Yep. Still can't tell them apart, but I understand that there's a biological basis for why we do what we do.

Generations and how their life experiences affect how they lead and think in a business environment. Greatest generation, Boomers, Generation X, Gen Y/Millenials. (Interesting summary of generations at http://www.marketingteacher.com/the-six-living-generations-in-america/)

Rule 1 - Keep It Real (personal contact)
Rule 2 - Keep It Manageable (150 or fewer people in a group)
Rule 3 - Meet the People You Help (see the personal impact / we are social animals)
Rule 4 - Give Them Time, Not Just Money (more value)
Rule 5 - Be Patient -( trust takes more than 7 days to develop but should be there in less than 7 years)

Develop a culture of sharing / collaboration (e.g. Post-It notes and 3M's culture around "mistakes"). Innovation happens in a culture of sharing. Create a strong circle of safety.  We follow the leader if the leader has integrity. Lots of Marine Corp examples. Made me curious . . .

There were leadership lessons.
1 - So Goes the Culture, So Goes the Company
2 - So Goes the Leader, So Goes the Culture.
3 - Integrity Matters
4 - Friends Matter
5 - Lead the People, Not the Numbers

One of my biggest issues with a book like this is that I'm not the leader at PRMS. I can be a leader in my classroom and I can impact PRMS, but ultimately my principal has the leader's burden on her shoulders. This book was primarily geared toward business, although Sinek used a lot of military examples as well. Overall, interesting but not very helpful. Lots of good real-world examples (both positive and negative).

I'm kind of amazed that there is so much of this author's content online . . . . including TED talks. I guess he's a really big deal.