A generous student gave me Simon Sinek's bestseller
"Leaders Eat Last"
recently. I had previously read parts of the book and always have enjoyed Sinek's videos. So I was thrilled to finally take the time to read it cover to cover. The book is a call out to leaders to protect and nurture those they lead, above all else. His tagline goes something like, "great leaders would never sacrifice the people to save the numbers but would sooner sacrifice the numbers to save the people." One of the book's metaphors compares how a leader treats her teammates to how a parent treats her kids.
Think of those you lead as you would your future children. As a parent, your commitment to them is for life. You want them to be the best they can be. You work patiently to develop your children because you want them to succeed well beyond your own successes. If they get a C on an assignment or give up piano lessons, you would not think to fire or "lay off" one of your kids. Rather, as a parent you support, guide, and correct so their choices or outcomes are improved longer term.
Similarly, a leader of a team must see her teammates through the lens of this metaphor. We want each teammate to grow, learn, and be successful. When a teammate struggles we would not give up on her but rather support her and help her achieve. As we think forward to Valentine's Day and take the words of Simon Sinek to heart, we remind ourselves that there is little distant between leadership and love!
- Mr Charles Kafoglis
