About Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t by Simon Sinek

The world today contains many people who do not feel fulfilled or valued in their job. Fortunately, there are many great leaders who are creating environments in which people naturally work together to do remarkable things. While traveling the world, Simon Sinek noticed that some teams have built a great deal of trust, so much that they would put their lives on the line for each other. He also noticed that great leaders sacrifice their own comfort—even their own survival, such as in the military—for the good of those in their care. Sinek illustrates his ideas with fascinating true stories, from the military to manufacturing, from government to investment banking. When it matters most, leaders who are willing to eat last are rewarded with deeply loyal colleagues. These are the people leaders should be looking for because they stop at nothing to look out for their leader’s, and company’s, vision.

Why Cydcor Reviews recommends this to future leaders:

Sinek explores the unique ability for leaders to work with others and make things happen. This book has the potential to reframe the way people look at business as a whole. The leader plays a service role in their group by protecting it from external threats while still nurturing it. Sinek also explores the emotions that are essential for leaders to connect with. To do this, the book serves as a scientific study on the chemistry that is necessary for good management. It’s a worthy guidebook to navigating the road to becoming a better leader.

Our favorite part:

Although it’s difficult to pick the most outstanding part, there are a few chapters that will stick with most people. In Chapter 8 (“The Ceramic Cup”) Sinek deeply explores the meaning of a speech that the Under Secretary of Defense gave regarding the perks of a rank you receive and that they are meant for the position and not the person. The final chapter, titled “Becoming a Leader,” gives a final bit of advice on getting the ball rolling to become an effective leader.

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Looking for an engaging presentation to truly inspire you or your team? TED Talks are a great way to start, with speakers ranging from musicians to entrepreneurs to authors and comedians. Their slogan, “Ideas Worth Spreading,” looks to inform, engage and educate.

There are nearly 2,000 TED Talks that would be considered business-centric, and Cydcor has checked into some of the top Talks, which explore the range of motivation, healthy work-play balances and how to inspire your workers. We recommend the following three TED Talks to inspire you in work and life:

Nigel Marsh: How To Make Work-Life Balance Work

This is a wonderfully humorous and inspiring TED Talk that explains how doing well in the business world can negatively impact your personal life if one doesn’t take steps to manage that success. Marsh is an author of inspiration and career advice books, and gives personal anecdotes on how being successful caused him to initially neglect his family. In his TED Talk, he discusses in detail how he took steps to take control of his work-play balance.

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Simon Sinek: How Great Leaders Inspire Action

Cydcor has written previously on Sinek’s book, Start With Why, which provides research analysis on world-leaders and their ability to motivate. With Sinek’s TED Talk, he looks to expand upon his research, daring people to “think, act and communicate” in ways that are “the complete opposite of everyone else.”

Start With Why is a motivational classic, and hearing Sinek speak passionately on how communicating “from the outside in” is truly inspiring.

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Tony Robbins: Why We Do What We Do

Tony Robbins is a tremendously successful inspirational speaker and business coach that has been speaking for over three decades on the power of motivation. His classic talk is one of the most viewed videos in TED Talk history, and Robbins’ energy is palpable on stage.

Robbins shows the importance of understanding emotions, and posits that to lead properly you have to understand what those around you truly need in order to get the best from them. The self-proclaimed ‘why guy’ will ask you to understand “why you do what you do.” Do you know the answer?

Here is Cydcor's review of Start with Why by Simon Sinek

About Start with Why: Author Simon Sinek studied leaders all over the word, researching how they thought, worked and communicated. With this information, he wanted to determine how these leaders were alike and different. Drawing upon a wide range of real-life stories, Sinek weaves together a clear vision of what it truly takes to lead and inspire, using such examples as Steve Jobs, Martin Luther King Jr., and the Wright Brothers.

Why Cydcor recommends Start with Why for future leaders: Simon Sinek's Start With Why is a must read for any entrepreneur or leader struggling to create a long-term vision and guiding principles for their company or cause. Sinek’s book helps provide inspiration that one needs to get started in the right direction. He teaches important lessons on what future leaders need to figure out in regards to their company, and why such lessons should be meaningful.

Start with Why provides great insights for developing long-term strategies to combat issues such as price-wars, customer churn and competition. Sinek also talks about how important it is to understand that your product and its features might be replicated by others. He explains that no one can copy your confidence and customer service style or how your clients feel about you and your organization. Those feelings come from intangible values and beliefs that only you share with your customers.

While several moments in the book feel a tad repetitive, it’s an easy read—and sometimes great points need to be repeated to be ingrained into our minds.

Our favorite part: Sinek’s Golden Circle Concept is an interesting notion to help ask us “why?” This line of thinking can be applied to multiple facets in life, whether personal or customer relationships, business decisions or career choices.

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