Leaders Eat Last

`Leaders Eat Last` by S. Sinek is highly recommended by various management sources, so let’s check what it has to offer.

In my experience as a leader, I've often relied on the gut feeling for certain practices. For instance, I've long believed in the importance of offline communication—the handshakes, conversations over coffee (or something stronger), and discussions in informal settings like smoking rooms. These interactions significantly enhance collaboration in ways that virtual meetings, even with cameras, cannot replicate.

How does this relate to the book? It proves my observations

Key points:

📌Safety: One of the fundamental human needs is the need for safety. When we feel secure within a team or company, we can work effectively towards achieving its goals. Otherwise, resources are diverted towards personal protection. The author refers to this concept as "The Circle of Safety."

📌Endorphins, dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin: These chemical elements continue to influence our behavior, just as they did thousands of years ago. Understanding their principles enables us to stimulate the desired behaviors.

📌Leadership: Every team, whether formal or informal, has a leader. This is inherent in our nature and evolutionary processes. While self-organizing teams are often discussed, there is inevitably a leader within each.

📌Abstraction: We tend to emotionally react more strongly to a specific story about an individual death or disaster than to a report about hundreds of people dying in a news headline. This is due to abstraction, which can greatly skew our perception of the world. This section of the book presents shocking psychological research that even scientifically explain one of the most horrific events in modern history—the Holocaust.

📌Based on information above the author outlines the following lessons for leaders:

✔️ A good corporate culture can cultivate good leaders, while bad leaders can produce a bad culture
✔️ The values of a leader strongly influence the culture of the team
✔️ Integrity is essential for building trust
✔️ Personal relationships matter
✔️ Lead people, not numbers
✔️ Being a leader is not a reward; it's a responsibility

The book presents much more interesting examples and psychological research on the principles of human behavior. Sometimes it delves into philosophical reflections on the state of modern leadership and its future. Even with that, I definitely recommend the book.

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