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scobo's review against another edition
5.0
This book provides some great examples of good and bad leadership, with the context of how it got to that point and the results of that behavior. It explains why some companies do so well, why congress currently is not, and how we can seek to improve the happiness and cooperation of whatever team we're working with.
Highly recommended!
Highly recommended!
monicaramey's review against another edition
4.0
This was a decent book. I got a history lesson, science lesson all in one. I might need to re-read this because there were some take aways from this that I really did enjoy.
hsinjulit's review against another edition
2.0
The reason that I borrowed this book from my local library to read was because of Sinek's 'Millennials in the Workspace' interview. As a millennial myself, even though I may not agree with him, I still consider him an interesting person who was brave enough to point out some of the problems and organise them into the short speech that subsequently went viral over the Internet. Naturally, I decided to read his book for more understanding of Sinek.
Still, I do not agree with the author on many occasions throughout the book. This was mostly due to Simon trying too hard to get his theories science-backed, which only made them more cringy.
1. Circle of Safety: One can only feel proud of being a member of a group when safety is granted in that organisation, i.e. there are no dangers within and that people face dangers outside together.
2. Abstraction Kills & Abundance Destroys: Many companies aim for better performance by checking the numbers and statistics, the abstraction of real human beings, rather than focus on their initial goal of making people's lives better. 'Abundance can be destructive because it abstracts the value of things. The more we have, the less we seem to value what we've got.'
3. Leaders: Leaders define the culture of a company, and hence the future of the company. Over time, empowering ones lead better-performing teams than directive ones. 'Leadership is not a license to do less; it is a responsibility to do more.'
Still, I do not agree with the author on many occasions throughout the book. This was mostly due to Simon trying too hard to get his theories science-backed, which only made them more cringy.
Spoiler
However, there are still some things worth mentioning:1. Circle of Safety: One can only feel proud of being a member of a group when safety is granted in that organisation, i.e. there are no dangers within and that people face dangers outside together.
2. Abstraction Kills & Abundance Destroys: Many companies aim for better performance by checking the numbers and statistics, the abstraction of real human beings, rather than focus on their initial goal of making people's lives better. 'Abundance can be destructive because it abstracts the value of things. The more we have, the less we seem to value what we've got.'
3. Leaders: Leaders define the culture of a company, and hence the future of the company. Over time, empowering ones lead better-performing teams than directive ones. 'Leadership is not a license to do less; it is a responsibility to do more.'
We need a vision of the world that does not yet exist.I would say this was an okay book that was not particularly informative, though not a complete waste of time, either.
linadaniel's review against another edition
3.0
I didn’t necessarily learn anything new, but found some good nuggets of truth that serve as nice reminders.
librarytech4's review against another edition
4.0
This book explains why being a servant leader is the best way to get the most out of your team, while also making them feel cared for and trusted to make their own decisions. The author talks about people needing leaders who trust them to be able to make their own decisions and have to authority to do so.
christopherchandler's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed his approach to understanding the neurological needs of people an organizations. I wasn't expecting to learn about dopamine, serotonin, etc and how they are at work while we work. I'll need to go back and add some notes to summarize his main points, but it was certainly not a cookie cutter leadership book.
jenfwright's review against another edition
3.0
Started off strong but ended on a repetitive and out of touch note. Some good points in the first half, though.
wordsmithreads's review against another edition
3.0
I should rate this higher because I bookmarked so many passages from it, but I found this book a slog. I'm not usually one for self-help books, so maybe I'm just not used to the voice used, but I really disliked how the author got his points across. It seemed heavily opinionated about the military and Wall Street, without giving really constructive advice of how to be a better leader. The takeaway? Understand your employees/subordinates on a human level, don't just see them as numbers.
That said, I did bookmark a lot, like I mentioned. Here's some of what I noted:
- We cannot tell people to trust us. We cannot instruct people to come up with big ideas. And we certainly can't demand that people cooperate.
- Leaders want to feel safe too. No matter what place we occupy in the pecking order, every single one of us wants to feel like we are valued by the others in the group.
- So we tell ourselves, what we have will have to do.
- Leaders have overall lower stress levels than those who work for them.
- The more we give of ourselves to see others succeed, the greater our value to the group and the more respect they offer us. ... At least that's how it's supposed to work.
- As social animals, we feel stress when we feel unsupported.
- There are people with authority who are not leaders and there are people at the bottom rungs of an organization who most certainly are leaders.
- We don't just trust people to obey the rules, we also trust that they know when to break them.
- "You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him." - Goethe
- Performance can go up or down; the strength of a culture is the only thing we can truly rely on
- Give authority to those closest to the information, and have them solidify behind the leader's vision.
- "I can't delegate my legal responsibilities/my relationships/my knowledge. Everything else I can ask others to take responsibility for." - Captain Marquet
- A leader's legacy is only as strong as the foundation they leave behind that allows others to continue to advance the organization in their name.
Quotes that are more interesting for the novel I'm writing:
- In other words, we can fall asleep at night confident that someone else will watch for danger.
- In a Marine platoon of 40 people, it's "our" lieutenant. The more distant and less seen senior officer is "the" colonel.
- "The goal of a leader is to give no orders." - Captain Marquet
Things I learned:
- "Mass layoffs" weren't a thing until Reagan started in his presidency + set the precedent forever (pg 92)
- That 65% of us have the capacity to kill someone (Milgram, pg 103)
- The 150 social circle number (the number of people you would not feel embarrassed about joining uninvited for a drink)
That said, I did bookmark a lot, like I mentioned. Here's some of what I noted:
- We cannot tell people to trust us. We cannot instruct people to come up with big ideas. And we certainly can't demand that people cooperate.
- Leaders want to feel safe too. No matter what place we occupy in the pecking order, every single one of us wants to feel like we are valued by the others in the group.
- So we tell ourselves, what we have will have to do.
- Leaders have overall lower stress levels than those who work for them.
- The more we give of ourselves to see others succeed, the greater our value to the group and the more respect they offer us. ... At least that's how it's supposed to work.
- As social animals, we feel stress when we feel unsupported.
- There are people with authority who are not leaders and there are people at the bottom rungs of an organization who most certainly are leaders.
- We don't just trust people to obey the rules, we also trust that they know when to break them.
- "You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him." - Goethe
- Performance can go up or down; the strength of a culture is the only thing we can truly rely on
- Give authority to those closest to the information, and have them solidify behind the leader's vision.
- "I can't delegate my legal responsibilities/my relationships/my knowledge. Everything else I can ask others to take responsibility for." - Captain Marquet
- A leader's legacy is only as strong as the foundation they leave behind that allows others to continue to advance the organization in their name.
Quotes that are more interesting for the novel I'm writing:
- In other words, we can fall asleep at night confident that someone else will watch for danger.
- In a Marine platoon of 40 people, it's "our" lieutenant. The more distant and less seen senior officer is "the" colonel.
- "The goal of a leader is to give no orders." - Captain Marquet
Things I learned:
- "Mass layoffs" weren't a thing until Reagan started in his presidency + set the precedent forever (pg 92)
- That 65% of us have the capacity to kill someone (Milgram, pg 103)
- The 150 social circle number (the number of people you would not feel embarrassed about joining uninvited for a drink)
marbooks88's review against another edition
4.0
Inspiring! Has me thinking how I can be a leader that inspires trust and about the importance of culture.