I ran here after finishing Start with Why. Great read, very relevant and powerful. The appendices in this version are great additions. This book Gives me great insight and practical applications to take into my leadership role.

Well, it’s a really nice topic the author has covered. Being a great leader means you have to learn and adapt to different circumstances. I realised what changes I’ll have to make to become a better person. For sure nice option to reread one day

Great book and great author!

Must read! Great insight!

I enjoyed listening to and reading this book, and it was a follow up to reading his “Start With Why.” This book is based largely upon a concept espoused by Marine officers, namely that officers (or more generally, leaders) eat last. The point is leaders should be selfless and caring for the people in their charge before they care for themselves. The concept is proven in the Marine Corps and would be so useful in the business world if executed by more C-level executives. My problem with this book is that the author spends a little more time on politics than is really necessary. At one point, he essentially blames Newt Gingrich for the increased divisiveness in Congress because Representatives were encouraged by Gingrich to leave DC and travel home to their districts more frequently. This led to less time spent together outside of work hours and fewer friendships across the aisle. The whole reason for Representatives being in DC, though, is to represent the people of their district. Sinek argues later that some of the best business leaders are those who constantly engage with the people they lead. One wonders why he misses the point of Congressional representatives returning to their districts to engage their constituents. He also kind of blames Reagan’s mass firing of ATC controllers after their illegal strike for ushering in an era of acceptance of mass business layoffs. That is unnecessarily partisan and inaccurate. Sinek does best when he engages issues in American corporations and leadership deficits there. Overall this book is full of great ideas and worth the read.

I ordered the books as gifts for others

Simon Sinek has demonstrated in his book that we are all humans that should be treated with respect. In this regard businesses are starting to forget about the core fundamentals that make profit without considering people as just numbers. The more exposure leaders get with their employees the better the leaders should treat his company. In return for this generous care and safety employees start to take the company more then just a place to work. Employees will wear their company on their shoulders and would be proud to work at the company for as long as they would be allowed. Without safety or trust though comes a high stress environment where employees feel lifeless. They come for the money then leave, this leads to people not feeling safe and secure and causes them to not trust their leader in helping them support their family. Successful companies treat their employees like their children; they will not lay off employees when times get bad but actually treat them with even more safety. This simple act of kindness allows employees themselves to protect one another such as ideas of having mandatory no pay vacations in small doses so they can all pull together and wait out the bad times of the company. Simon talks about key terms such as the circle of safety as well as our biology with selfish chemicals such as endorphin and dopamine. The other two chemicals that we receive are called selfless chemicals and they are serotonin and oxytocin. Endorphins come from physical activity, or stress and fear. When it is released into our body it masks pain with pleasure. This is also seen when we start to enjoy exercising and how some people can complete long triathlons. This chemical gives us the next step in what we need to cover a great distance. Dopamine is the reward we receive when we accomplish something or become near to accomplishing a task. Dopamine is slowly released little by little when we get closer to finishing something. The dopamine amount is also relative to how hard the task is. Dopamine is the reason why we continue with projects because it makes us feel good about ourselves. Serotonin is the feeling we get when we feel recognized and appreciated. It gives us confidence and makes us strong when we receive a compliment of our abilities as a person. examples of this is when we walk receive an award for best employee in front of all your co-workers, or walking down graduation day being held your degree you worked so hard to get. Oxytocin is the chemical we receive when we develop deep trust with another person. When someone does something nice to us we get a rush of oxytocin in our blood and it is a feeling what some call the chemical love. Oxytocin is also responsible for making us vulnerable and open up. This gives us a equal share in the group to bare our inner circle of safety which gives us an easier time to focus on tasks. These two terms go hand in hand and it is up to the leaders to create the circle of safety for their employees in the work environment a place they feel safe and secure. Without the circle of safety being received by all employees, trust and integrity go down the drain and slowly grab the company in a slow but sure spiral of how the company should be. These chemicals should be in balance and it is up to how the leader structures their company to ensure their employees are receiving the circle of safety. The military and basic human fundamentals are clear examples Simon based his theories on and I feel he did a good job explaining himself. Fantastic book and a must read!

I read this book because Simon has a way of expounding on ideas in a way that is relatable in real life. I especially appreciate how he presents ideas in an eye opening way. Anyone working with a millennial could benefit from reading this terrific book.