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Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't 1
[L]eaders are expected to eat last because the true price of leadership is the willingness to place the needs of others above your own. Great leaders truly care about those they are privileged to lead and understand that the true cost of the leadership privilege comes at the expense of self-interest.2
I. Introduction
In Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't, Simon Sinek3 explains how leaders create loyal and trusting followers who will improve the organization. Sinek became famous on the TED Talk4 circuit for presenting engaging speeches on leadership and innovation.5 His written work follows the same conversational and easy to comprehend style as his speeches, although it ultimately falls short of providing the substance and solutions that many readers may desire.
Sinek divides his work into eight parts, but a close reading of the book reveals three broad themes: (1) creating loyalty in organizations, (2) the evolutionary basis of leadership, and (3) leadership lessons. Together, the themes support Sinek's vision of "creat[ing] a new generation of men and women who understand that an organization's success or failure is based on leadership excellence and not managerial acumen."6
II. Loyalty and Leadership
The book starts strong, with Sinek masterfully surveying the reasons why some people are unfailingly loyal to others. He begins with the story of "Johnny Bravo,"7 the pilot of a U.S. Air Force A-10 attack aircraft. During a deployment to Afghanistan, Johnny Bravo flew dangerous missions through low cloud cover to provide protective fire for special operations forces pinned down by enemy fire.8 The lesson, according to Sinek, is that when leaders "prioritize the wellbeing of their people," those people will "give everything they've got to protect and advance the well-being of one another and the organization."9 Military service is a powerful illustration of loyalty "because the lessons are so much more exaggerated when it is a matter of life and death."10 Sinek's engaging account causes readers to ponder leadership and loyalty under the most difficult circumstances.
Pivoting from military loyalty to employee loyalty in the corporate sector, Sinek describes the turnaround of South Carolina conglomerate Barry-Wehmiller. Initially a failing collection of manufacturing companies, Barry-Wehmiller became a...