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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.
davidgilani's review against another edition
3.0
I do really like Simon Sinek... I loved his Ted Talks and interviews on various topics, but found myself being a bit disappointed by this book. Maybe it was the examples that he choose to give (in terms of businesses or leaders), or maybe it was the way that he evaluated success, but I just found the book to not really give much beyond basic things that we all understand. There are some underlying interesting points about the challenges of businesses prioritising profits.
genderqueer_hiker's review against another edition
2.0
For a business self-help style book, it's pretty decent. But that's a subterranean bar. This man fashions himself a qualified psychiatrist, evolutionary psychologist, researcher, sociologist, behaviorist, evolutionary biologist/archeologist, and numerous other things, despite thinking correlation indicates causation and using 'data' as singular. How he loves anecdotes/"anec-data." It's a 9 hour TED talk - lots of business leadership bravado with little substance or proof.
Perhaps I have unreasonable expectations after consuming print and voice media produced by journalists, but this fell completely flat for me. It was paternalistic, imperialistic, capitalistic, and rooted in white supremacy culture. It lacked any insight or reflection on things like sexism, misogyny, racism, homophobia, classism, and other dehumanizing belief systems commonly encountered by people not rich white straight men. Therefore, the advice contained within centered the experience of rich white straight men, fueling current business practices to continue valuing only those people and seeing everyone else as aberrations.
Perhaps I have unreasonable expectations after consuming print and voice media produced by journalists, but this fell completely flat for me. It was paternalistic, imperialistic, capitalistic, and rooted in white supremacy culture. It lacked any insight or reflection on things like sexism, misogyny, racism, homophobia, classism, and other dehumanizing belief systems commonly encountered by people not rich white straight men. Therefore, the advice contained within centered the experience of rich white straight men, fueling current business practices to continue valuing only those people and seeing everyone else as aberrations.
noahbw's review against another edition
3.0
Mostly pop science meets corporate america, but there are some interesting tidbits.
caseymaree's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
2.5
Did not enjoy or take from this book as much I have in other works by the author. Felt a bit outdated. Mainly USA relevant examples/references. I found interesting the information on Circle of Security, however, it lost me when trying to make work function like a family - nope. Perhaps my feelings towards it all though are just because I’m a *Millennial* (sarcasm 😑)
sokhiengtim's review against another edition
4.0
The Circle of Safety is the most essential part in the book. Everyone needs to feel safe both physically and mentally. As a leader, we have to ensure that our employees feel safe at the workplace.
Four chemicals in the brain:
1. Endorphin: the pain-masking chemical
2. Dopamine: the goal achieving chemical
3. Serotonin: the leadership chemical
4. Oxytocin: the chemical of love
These four chemicals has two separate categories:
1. Selfish chemicals - Endorphin and Dopamine help us get things done and achieve more.
2. Selfless chemicals - Serotonin and Oxytocin strengthen our social bonds create meaningful connection/collaboration.
Three actions:
1. Create Safety
2. Create Trust
3. Look harder for dangers inside than dangers outside.
Some best quotes:
“We are not victims of our situation. We are the architects of it.”
“You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him.”
“The true price of leadership is the willingness to place the needs of others above your own. Great leaders truly care about those they are privileged to lead and understand that the true cost of the leadership privilege comes at the expense of self-interest.”
Four chemicals in the brain:
1. Endorphin: the pain-masking chemical
2. Dopamine: the goal achieving chemical
3. Serotonin: the leadership chemical
4. Oxytocin: the chemical of love
These four chemicals has two separate categories:
1. Selfish chemicals - Endorphin and Dopamine help us get things done and achieve more.
2. Selfless chemicals - Serotonin and Oxytocin strengthen our social bonds create meaningful connection/collaboration.
Three actions:
1. Create Safety
2. Create Trust
3. Look harder for dangers inside than dangers outside.
Some best quotes:
“We are not victims of our situation. We are the architects of it.”
“You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him.”
“The true price of leadership is the willingness to place the needs of others above your own. Great leaders truly care about those they are privileged to lead and understand that the true cost of the leadership privilege comes at the expense of self-interest.”
coachadnycbooks's review against another edition
4.0
Books about leadership can be pretty cheesy and boring. This was neither of those. Excellent stories to support the points and I found the points about chemicals in our brains and how they relate to good vs. bad leadership particularly fascinating. This book offered me some inspiration as I continue to grow my own leadership skills.