Leadership expert Simon Sinek on putting others first

I always say that you know this if you if you if you hire people just because they can do a job they'll work for your money but if you hire people who believe what you believe they work for you with blood and sweat and tears simon Sinek is an author and leadership expert his TED talk how great leaders inspire action has more than 14 million online views his new book is called leaders eat last while some teams pulled together and others don't welcome thanks for having me so what's most important thing for a leader to understand and be fundamentally a leader is like a parent you know just like a parent we put the lives of our children before our own we want them to grow up become confident and go on achieve more than we could for ourselves leadership is exactly exactly the same you know leaders are the ones who are willing to risk when it matters their own interests so that others may advance you said that it's really important though that that you put your head in your heart into it and that really when you work together you said nobody bonds over deadlines they bond over camaraderie and that's what people need to understand in a work environment bosses need to understand we are naturally cooperative animals our natural inclination is to trust and cooperate but trust and cooperation are not instructions I can't just tell you to trust me and I can't simply tell two people I want you guys to cooperate trust and cooperation or feelings produced by the environment in which we're working and that environment is created by the leaders and when we feel safe when we feel that our leaders have our interests in mind the natural reaction the natural human reaction is we look out for each other we work harder we're more innovative we offer our ideas and our best talent all of it sounds you good Simon but companies need to make money they absolutely need to make money and this is the great irony right this is the great irony which is when our leaders put our interests first we work harder and they make more money and you have a great example of why you called this book leaders eat last tell us how you got that title it comes from a conversation I had with a Marine Corps general Lieutenant General George Flint who actually wrote the the forward to the book and I asked him what makes the Marines so wonderful and he said to me officers eat last and he's absolutely right when you go to any chow hall anywhere in the world you will see the Marines line up in rank order most junior first most senior last it's not in any rulebook and nobody tells them they have to they do it because that's how they view leadership we view leadership as a rank they viewed as a responsibility so how do you foster that in a work environment how do you be a leader in foster create that culture credit so leadership is a choice just like becoming a parent is a choice having the child is the fun part you know it's the raising of the child that's the hard part it's exactly the same starting the company that's the fun you know but uh actually becoming the leader choosing to put people's interest before your own that's a choice so how did you become an expert on leadership I am uncomfortable calling myself an expert in anything to be quite frank I'm a student book don't believe everything you read I I'm a student of leadership and I'm fascinated by it I'm fascinated by the people in the organizations that seem to outperform the rest of us and the great irony is is the great leaders that the ones that put us before themselves the ones that put people before numbers that would sooner sacrifice numbers to save people would never sacrifice people to save numbers ironically they're the ones that enjoy greater long-term success greater innovation greater productivity grab Chapman is a good example of that Chapman is one of the best it just give a little antidote about Bob absolutely Bob Chapman runs about a 1.7 billion dollar company based in st. Louis good old-fashioned blue-collar American manufacturing when 2008 hit they lost 30% of their business overnight but Bob who doesn't believe in head counts he believes in heart counts refused to lay anybody off and so what they had was a furlough program everybody from secretary to CEO had to take four weeks of unpaid vacation they could take it any time they wanted they could take they don't think it consecutively but it was how Bob announced it that was most important he said it's better we should all suffer a little than any of us should have to suffer a lot there's an interesting thing about leadership too is the ability to define the mission and how each person as a responsibility in that mission well this is what they do they set a course they set a direction the leader is actually not the one out there doing all the work they're not in the weeds they're setting they're pointing in the in the in the distant future what we can achieve and leave it to us together and give everybody ownership of the mission most important why would we be excited to be partaking something and feel valuable if we don't even get responsibility for our own work Simon you've had the last word and let me tell you you're something like an expert to me thank you very much you're sounding like over here thanks man I mention the book one more time simon Sinek there it is the expert on leaders an expert on Peter Schiff leaders eat glass it's on sale now wherever you like to buy your books

Channel: CBS Mornings

Views: 154,047

Keywords: leadership, leader, business, boss, simon, sinek, video, cbs, news

Id: YNkOKV5xItI

Length: 4min 49sec (289 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 27 2014