CONVERSATIONS WITH SIMON SINEK
B Y M A E M A Ñ AC A P - J O H N S O N
Do you know how to inspire people to follow
you? Following his best-selling book entitled
Start with Why, SIMON SINEK explores
the variables that create a strongly
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bonded team. In his latest book,
Leaders Eat Last, he draws on powerful
stories of the Marines Corps whose
culture is rooted on deep respect for
leadership as well as mutual concern and
support for each other.
PULSE: What inspired your latest book Leaders Eat Last?
Sinek: The title comes from a conversation with Lieutenant
General George Flynn of the United States Marine Corps, who
also wrote the foreword of the book. While I was doing
research for it, I had the chance to meet and ask him: “What
makes the Marines so good at what they do?”
In response, he said, “Officers eat last.”
If you go to any Marine Corps’ chow
hall, you will see the Marines line up in
order of their rank: Juniors eat first while the
most seniors eat last. It’s not in any rule book
and no one tells them they have to, they do
it because of the way in which they view
leadership. They view leadership as a
responsibility, not simply as a rank. This is,
I think, one of the greatest examples of
leadership.
P: What drives us to become leaders?
S: There’s a system of incentives in our bodies that helps us
do things that are in our best interest as human beings. For
example, we are incentivized to go looking for food because
we enjoy food, more than simply to satisfy our hunger. It’s
like being a parent, right? It’s the wrong question to ask: “Do
you want to have kids?” The question is: “Do you want to
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raise kids? Do you want to be a parent?” It’s a lifestyle
decision to be a parent. Leadership is the same thing. It’s not
the kind of thing you turn on and off. You either elect to do
it or you don’t.
When we are at our best, when we put the lives of others
before us, we become leaders. The amazing
thing is that great leaders actually create
environments in which they produce more
leaders. In other words, in a great organization
that is well-led, you’ll find a general culture in
which everyone looks after each other.
P: How can leaders create an environment
that allows team members’ leadership
potential to shine?
S: Leadership comes with risks. You take the
risk to trust others, sometimes before they’ve
done anything. To say, “I’m going to wait and
see how they act before I’m going to trust
them” is not leadership. Leadership is saying, “People
deserve to be trusted, so I’m going to trust them.”
Leadership also requires making the hard decisions. Do
we sacrifice the people to save the numbers, or do we
sacrifice the numbers to save the people? A true leader will
always sacrifice the numbers to save the people.