Leaders Eat Last

Leaders Eat Last was a great read that really made me think about what leadership should look like. The main idea — that great leaders create environments where people feel safe, supported, and valued — stuck with me throughout the book. It explains why some teams naturally come together and perform well, while others fall apart even when they have talent. I really liked how Simon Sinek breaks down the “chemistry of leadership,” especially the way he explains trust, culture, and the biological side of teamwork. The stories he uses — from the military, business, and everyday workplaces — make the concepts easy to understand and apply. It helped me look at leadership from a different angle and think more about how my own actions can affect the people around me. The book also made me reflect on environments I’ve worked in where leadership either pushed people together or pushed them away. It’s eye-opening to see how much stronger a team becomes when people feel protected instead of pressured. If there’s one downside, it’s that some of the examples can feel a little long or occasionally repeat similar themes. But the core message is strong enough that it still feels worth reading. Overall, Leaders Eat Last is a meaningful book with lessons that apply far beyond the workplace. If you care about building trust, strengthening teams, and understanding what real leadership looks like, this is a great one to add to your list.

I really enjoyed how this book focused on the four main chemicals in our bodies. Knowing how people think is key to guiding them effectively. Plus, as a business owner, it was a great help in creating a strong community around our brand.

I read this book as an assignment for one of my doctoral classes. Having never read Sinek’s work before, I was hoping to glean some leadership tips. Overall, this book gives some good, solid tips for creating successful work environments, changing the toxic idea of placing profits before people, and working with millennials. Although I enjoyed this book and took away many leadership ideas, I would have rated it higher if it hadn’t contained flawed information about human biology and millennials. Taking the title from a Marine Corps tradition where officers eat after the junior enlisted men, Simon Sinek uses this leadership practice to exemplify successful, safe and trustworthy environments. He claims there is a need to feel safe held by employees and that it is the job of leaders to create a protective environment, which he calls a Circle of Safety. To create this circle, Sinek shares his idea that human physical chemicals play a part in this process. He develops the idea that toxic environments are led by toxic chemicals which are unchecked by leaders. To create an environment of safety and trust, Sinek shows how to work with the “selfless” chemicals to create balance. As a former biology instructor, I felt this “research” behind these chemicals was flimsy at best. He claims that evolution has conditioned all humans to be led solely by their chemicals without any restraint by reasonable thought or self-will. He extends this to the realm of work environments, by naming those toxic environments as those led by the bad chemicals. He claims successful environments use the “selfless” chemicals to create environments where everyone is in the Circle of Safety. Contradicting himself, he claims at one point that everyone has these chemicals and that these primeval urges cannot be stopped. Then, he advocates for environments led by them to change their chemical makeup. If we can’t help it, how are we ever going to be able to change it? Despite this major flaw, using relatable stories from military and corporate leadership, Sinek provides great examples of failed and successful environments. He also gives steps to help create profitable and healthy environments. In an interesting section, Sinek points out the addiction of technology tools and social media and how it affects the workplace. He provides leaders with helpful and practical tips to manage these addictions in order to keep a safe, trusting environment within a work setting. This edition of the book contains an expanded guide to leading millennials in the workplace. His research reveals the tendencies of the group as a whole and how a leader can use those to develop them into workers of integrity, trust, and innovation that benefits everyone. This section was extremely helpful, but it has received criticism about its overgeneralization of millennial behavior. As someone who works with children and millenials, I found this criticism to be true. Many of the characteristics he mentioned -- especially impatience, inability to deal with failure, and task perseverance -- are seen in younger children rather than millennials. This can be attributed to the influence of technology from a young age, which was not experienced by most millennials since the boom of PCs and mobile phones occurred in the mid-90s. Also, he unleashes on the “Me” generation, parents of millennials, as the source of the troubles. He makes unfounded assumptions about the background and upbringing of the entire generation, of which he is a part, but never acknowledges as so. This book gives great advice about creating organizational environments that are healthy and successful. It is filled with real stories of organizations and people who have made a difference in the lives of workers. Although not providing any earth-shattering ideas, it gives solid advice for leaders about creating great environments for their followers.

Great reading and brought together many concepts I've heard in the past. I hope more companies can put these concepts into practice and in doing so, improve life for an even greater number of people.

Great for new leaders. Easy read

I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of this used book. It arrived in good condition, with minimal wear and little to no major damage. The pages were clean and easy to read, and the content itself is excellent on improving leadership skills and what makes great leaders who they are. A great value for anyone looking to enjoy this book without paying full price.

Good book! Love it!

Once I finished "Leaders Eat Last", I noticed that most of the highlighting I had done in the book was in the first 1/4-1/2. That's not to say that the book wasn't well rounded, but I took more away from the front half than I did the back half. Throughout the book, you'll read about a number of studies/stories that Sinek uses to drive home several of his points. To me, this way of teaching really helps to solidify the lessons being taught. I started this book thinking it would be heavily focused on business and how to be a better manager. Once I completed the book, I was surprised to find that the intent was about being a better person, not simply a better leader. There are a number of key points in the book where I had to stop for a moment and look to my past organizations and day dream about how Sinek's lessons seemed to ring true in my own working life. "Leaders Eat Last" helped to open my mind to show what organizations (and leaders) in my past did well, did poorly, and how it changed the culture within the given organization. "Leaders Eat Last" is a great read for anyone looking to improve on their leadership qualities, and in return, improve their organizations. There are several videos online featuring Sinek. These videos incorporate a number of the same stories and studies mentioned in "Leaders Eat Last" (some word for word). Watching these videos after I completed the book helped me to understand many of the points that Sinek was making. "Leaders Eat Last" is a much easier read than a number of management style books on the market. The featured stories are exciting, the studies mentioned are relevant (and different than what other books mention), and Sinek's style of writing kept me engaged. I do wish the ending of the book was as strong as the beginning, but I believe "Leaders Eat Last" should be on the shelf of anyone looking to rank up in their given profession. If you ever have looked at a book after I got done reading it, you'd notice I am "one of those readers". The books are filled with random highlights and Post-It bookmarks, that point to things I found interesting or that I wanted to remember. Here are some of my favorite highlights from "Leaders Eat Last"-some spoilers possible. These highlights are just some of my takeaways. Just because I highlighted a thought, does not mean I share this same belief or that I am in agreement: "I know of no study in history that describes an organization that has been managed out of a crisis. Every single one of them was led" "If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader" "As employees or members of the group, we need the courage to take care of each other when our leaders don't. And in doing so, we become the leaders we wish we had" Sinek points to the nomadic Mongolian families as an example showcasing that certain groups who, "may not have much", share what little they do have with others because it's in their best interest (and survival) to do so. I found Chapter 13 "Abstraction Kills" to be the best chapter in the book. In this chapter, Sinek goes into detail about how the trial of horrible experiment(s) in Nazi Germany, resulted in individuals pleading innocence because they were simply following orders. Sinek couples this story with the Milgram Experiment. In this study, we see that people will push the limits simply to obey orders. I found Chapter 13 to be relevant to a number of fields still today. We often watch the news and find someone did something (or lack of action) simply because a higher power advised them to do so. The lack of connection between the two parties often resulted in unfortunate circumstances. In Chapter 15 "Managing the Abstraction" Sinek does a terrific shop in showing that numbers aren't always the best way to tell a story. Sinek describes the optics of the brutality of a government on its own people (a large number) vs a detailed story about the death of a young female (one person, but with detail). Both are horrible and sad situations, but in most cases a connection is stronger with a small number and a story, then a number that is almost too big for us to comprehend. "At some point the numbers lose their connection to the people and become just numbers, void of meaning. Sinek details a story about Captain Marquet who was set to take command of the most efficient crew in the US Navy. Captain Marquet was moved to take command of the lowest ranking crew (but with one of the newest subs). Through a series of events Captain Marquet had to change his management style and admit that it was not about his command, rather it was the crews ability to work together that resulted in a complete turnaround. Lastly, one of my favorite highlights of "Leaders Eat Last", was Sinek's take on the idea of participation trophies and rewards. "Rewards for basic participation have other adverse effects as well. They not only deny children the chance to learn important lessons about adversity, loss, and resilience, but they can also encourage complacency and overconfidence.

One of my most favorite life changing book. You will understand why good leader matters

I libri di Simon Sinek sono sempre una garanzia. Stupendo

Great one

Excellent book

Excelente libro, Simon Sinek es un gran escritor y en este libro refleja grandes enseñanzas para ser un gran lider, lo recomiendo mucho si quieres aumentar tus habilidades para delegar y tratar con gente en el trabajo.