Why Good Leaders Make You Feel Safe — Simon Sinek
This TED talk from Simon Sinek has so many gems. But amongst them:
“In the military we give medals to people who are willing to sacrifice themselves so that others may gain. In business, we give bonuses who are willing to sacrifice others so that we may gain..”
“..What I learnt was that it’s the environment, and if you get the environment right every single one of us has the capacity to do these remarkable things….. It’s this deep sense of trust and cooperation..”
“..The only variable are the conditions inside the organisation, and that’s where leadership matters, because it’s the leader that sets the tone. When a leader makes the choice to put the safety and lives of the people inside the organisation first, to sacrifice their comforts and sacrifice the tangible results, so that the people remain and feel safe and feel like they belong, remarkable things happen..”
“..Leadership is a choice. It is not a rank. I know many people at the seniormost levels of organisations who are absolutely not leaders. They are authorities and we do what they say because they have authority over us, but we would not follow them. And I know many people who are the bottoms of organisations who have no authority are they are absolutely leaders, and this is because they have chosen to look after the person to the left of them, and they have chosen to look after the person to the right of them. This is what a leader is..”
So, my question, is whether this is true? Can we create organisations that have the sorts of leaders that Simon speaks of? Can we create organisations filled with trust, where people feel safe, rather than pursued. And what then? What does that mean if we do? What potential does this create?
Sinek cites examples of organisations who have been successful because of this approach. What will it take to convince the wider world that taking the short term view and leading with fear and authority is not the way? How do we start the conversation, and then, more importantly, start making change?
