Simon Sinek’s guide to leadership | MotivationArk
Summary
TLDRThe speaker emphasizes the importance of empathy and perspective in leadership, criticizing the focus on status and position. They argue that true leadership involves caring for those under one's charge, a skill often overlooked in training. The speaker contrasts the supportive environment at the Four Seasons with the pressure at Caesar's Palace, illustrating how leadership impacts employee satisfaction. They advocate for a culture of empathy, vulnerability, and genuine concern for employees, rather than outdated business models that prioritize shareholder value and mass layoffs, which ultimately harm both people and business.
Takeaways
- 😌 Empathy and perspective are essential qualities for great leaders, often overlooked in favor of status and position.
- 👷 The real job of a leader is to take care of those under their charge, not just to be in charge.
- 🎓 Many people are promoted to managerial positions without training in leadership, leading to micromanagement instead of true leadership.
- 🔄 There's a crucial transition from being responsible for a job to being responsible for people, which some never make.
- 💪 Leadership is a skill that can be learned and developed like a muscle, requiring continuous practice to maintain strength.
- 👨👩👧👦 Everyone has the capacity to be a leader, but not everyone should or wants to be one due to the personal sacrifices involved.
- 🏆 Leaders give away credit when things go right and take responsibility when things go wrong, embodying accountability.
- 🤝 The environment created by leaders greatly affects the performance and attitudes of their team members.
- 🏨 A real-life example from the Four Seasons hotel illustrates the impact of leadership on employee satisfaction and customer experience.
- 🚫 Traditional business practices like shareholder supremacy and mass layoffs are outdated and detrimental to both employees and businesses.
- 👶 The fear of layoffs destroys trust and cooperation within a company, hindering its ability to innovate and succeed.
- 🌐 Vulnerability in leadership means creating a safe space where employees feel comfortable admitting mistakes and asking for help.
Q & A
What are the two key attributes of a great leader according to the speaker?
-The speaker believes that great leaders need to have empathy and perspective, which are often forgotten by leaders who are more concerned about their status and position.
What does the speaker suggest is the real job of a leader?
-The speaker suggests that the real job of a leader is not about being in charge but about taking care of those in their charge, which is often overlooked.
Why do people often become managers instead of leaders according to the script?
-People often become managers instead of leaders because they are promoted due to their expertise in doing the job, not necessarily because they know how to manage or lead people.
What is the transition that some people struggle to make in their leadership roles?
-The transition that some people struggle to make is moving from being responsible for the job itself to being responsible for the people who are doing the job.
Why is leadership not being taught in most companies according to the speaker?
-Leadership is not being taught in most companies because it is often perceived as a natural trait rather than a skill that can be learned and practiced.
What is the speaker's view on the capacity of everyone to be a leader?
-The speaker believes that everyone has the capacity to be a leader, but not everyone should be or wants to be a leader due to the personal sacrifices involved.
What is the difference between being responsible for the job and being responsible for the people who are responsible for the job?
-Being responsible for the job means focusing on the tasks and results, while being responsible for the people who are responsible for the job means focusing on their well-being, development, and empowerment.
Why do CEOs often claim their priority is the customer, and what does the speaker suggest is actually their responsibility?
-CEOs often claim their priority is the customer because it is a common business mantra. However, the speaker suggests that their real responsibility should be the people who are responsible for the customers, as they are not directly interacting with customers themselves.
What is the difference between the work environment at the Four Seasons and Caesar's Palace as described by Noah, the barista?
-Noah describes the Four Seasons as a place where managers care about his well-being and ask how they can help him do his job better, making him feel valued and able to be himself. In contrast, at Caesar's Palace, managers focus on catching mistakes and ensuring everything is done right, which makes him feel like he just wants to get through the day.
What is the speaker's opinion on the concept of shareholder supremacy and its impact on business and people?
-The speaker views the concept of shareholder supremacy as outdated and damaging to both people and business. It prioritizes the needs of shareholders over the needs of the employees, which can lead to a lack of trust, cooperation, and a negative work environment.
Why does the speaker argue that mass layoffs are not only harmful to employees but also to the business itself?
-The speaker argues that mass layoffs destroy trust and cooperation within a business. They create a culture of fear where employees are constantly worried about job security, which can hinder innovation, collaboration, and overall business performance.
What does the speaker suggest is the current state of many work environments and how does it affect the younger generation?
-The speaker suggests that many work environments are characterized by a culture of lying, hiding, and faking due to fear of layoffs and job insecurity. This affects the younger generation as they are asked to succeed in environments that do not encourage vulnerability, honesty, and the admission of mistakes or lack of knowledge.
Outlines
🌟 Empathy and Perspective in Leadership
The speaker emphasizes the importance of empathy and perspective as essential qualities for great leaders, often overlooked in favor of status and position. They point out that leaders' primary responsibility is to care for their team rather than being in charge. The speaker criticizes the lack of leadership training, noting that while companies invest heavily in training employees to do their jobs well, there is little guidance on how to transition from an individual contributor to a manager. This transition requires a shift from being responsible for tasks to being responsible for people, a skill that needs practice and development. The speaker also discusses the personal sacrifices leaders must make, such as giving credit to others and taking responsibility for failures. They use the example of a Four Seasons hotel to illustrate the impact of genuine care and engagement from employees, which stems from effective leadership that prioritizes people over tasks.
🛠️ Leadership's Impact on Employee Experience
This paragraph delves into the contrast between the work environments at the Four Seasons and Caesar's Palace, as experienced by a barista named Noah. The speaker uses Noah's story to highlight how leadership can create vastly different experiences for employees. At the Four Seasons, Noah feels supported and empowered to be himself, leading to a positive and engaging customer experience. In contrast, at Caesar's Palace, the management's focus on catching mistakes creates a stressful environment where Noah just wants to avoid attention. The speaker argues that it's not the people but the leadership that makes the difference. They criticize the common business practices of hiring and firing without considering the impact on team morale and the importance of creating a supportive environment. The speaker also addresses the lack of empathy in the business world, suggesting that genuine concern for employees' well-being can lead to better performance and job satisfaction.
🔍 The Broken Business Models and the Need for Empathy
The speaker criticizes outdated business models and theories that prioritize shareholder value and mass layoffs, arguing that these practices are damaging to both employees and businesses. They point out that these models were developed in a different era and are no longer suitable for the current business environment. The speaker also discusses the importance of creating a culture of trust and cooperation, which is undermined by practices like layoffs. They emphasize the need for vulnerability in leadership, where leaders create an environment where employees feel safe to admit their mistakes and ask for help. The speaker calls for a change in the current business culture that discourages transparency and fosters fear, which is detrimental to innovation and growth. They conclude by reflecting on the challenges faced by the younger generation in such environments and the responsibility of current leaders to create better working conditions.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Empathy
💡Perspective
💡Leadership
💡Status
💡Responsibility
💡Transition
💡Training
💡Credit and Responsibility
💡Customer
💡Empathy in Business
💡Performance Issues
💡Shareholder Value
💡Mass Layoffs
💡Vulnerability
Highlights
Great leaders need empathy and perspective, qualities often forgotten.
Leaders often forget their real job is to take care of those under their charge, not just to be in charge.
People are promoted for being good at their jobs, but not trained for leadership.
Leadership is a skill that can be learned and improved with practice, like a muscle.
Leadership comes with great personal sacrifice, such as giving credit and taking responsibility.
Leaders are not responsible for the job but for the people doing the job.
CEOs prioritize customers, but they should be prioritizing the people responsible for the customers.
The quality of a hotel like Four Seasons is due to the people who work there, not just the amenities.
Empathy in leadership involves caring about the person, not just their output.
Creating the right environment attracts and retains the right people, unlike a quick hire-and-fire approach.
Leadership should practice empathy, being concerned about the human being behind the performance.
Business theories from the 80s and 90s are outdated and harmful to both people and business.
Shareholder supremacy as a priority is outdated and detrimental to building a winning team.
Mass layoffs destroy trust and cooperation within a company.
Creating a culture where employees feel safe to admit mistakes and ask for help is crucial for success.
Leaders must create environments that allow for vulnerability and learning, not fear and hiding.
The youngest generation needs environments that foster confidence, relationships, and overcoming technology addiction.
Transcripts
[Music]
there are two things that I think that
great leaders need to have
empathy and perspective
and I think these things are very often
forgotten leaders are so often so
concerned about their status so their
position and organization they actually
Forget Their real job
and the real job of a leader is not
about being in charge it's about taking
care of those in our charge and I don't
think people realize this and I don't
think people train for this
when we're Junior our only
responsibility is to be good at our jobs
that's all we really have to do and some
people actually go get Advanced
educations and so that they can be
really good at their jobs accountants or
whatever right and you show up and you
work hard and the company will give us
tons and tons of training how to do our
jobs it'll show us how to use the
software they'll send us away for a few
days to get trained in whatever it is
that we're doing for the company and
then they expect us to go be good at our
jobs and that's what we do we work very
hard and if you're good at your job uh
they'll promote you and at some point
you'll get promoted to a position where
we're now responsible for the people who
do the job we used to do but nobody
shows us how to do that and that's why
we get managers and not leaders because
the reason our managers are
micromanaging us is because they
actually do know how to do do the job
better than us that's what got them
promoted really what we have to do is go
through a transition some people make it
quickly some people make it slowly and
unfortunately some people will never
make that transition at all which is we
have to go this through this transition
of being responsible for the job and
then turning into somebody who's now
responsible for the people who are
responsible for the job and as I said
before one of the great things that is
lacking in most of our companies is that
they are not teaching us how to lead and
Leadership is a skill like any other is
a practicable learnable skill and it is
something that you work on it's like a
muscle if you practice it all the days
you will get good at it and you will
become a strong leader if you stop
practicing you will become a weak leader
like parenting everyone has the capacity
to be a parent
doesn't mean everybody wants to be a
parent and doesn't mean everybody
shouldn't be a parent leadership is the
same we all have the capacity to be a
leader doesn't mean everybody should be
a leader and it doesn't mean everybody
wants to be a leader and the reason is
because it comes at Great personal
sacrifice remember you're not in charge
you're responsible for those in your
charge that means things like when
everything goes right you have to give
away all the credit and when everything
goes wrong you have to take all the
responsibility
that sucks
right it's things like staying late to
show somebody what to do it's things
like when something does actually break
when something goes wrong instead of
yelling and screaming and taking over
you say try again when the overwhelming
pressures are not on them the
overwhelming pressures are on us at the
end of the day great leaders are not
responsible for the job they're
responsible for the people who are
responsible for the job they're not even
responsible for the results
I love talking to CEOs and say what's
your priority and they put their hands
on their hip so proudly and say my
priority is my customer I'm like really
you haven't talked to a customer in 15
years there's no CEO on the planet
responsible for the customer they're
just not they're responsible for the
people who are responsible for the
people who are responsible for the
customer I'll tell you a true story a
few months ago I stayed at the Four
Seasons in Las Vegas it is a wonderful
hotel and the reason it's a wonderful
hotel is not because of the fancy beds
any hotel can go and buy a fancy bed the
reason it's a wonderful hotel is because
of the people who work there if you walk
past somebody at the Four Seasons in
this and they say hello to you you get
the feeling that they actually wanted to
say hello to you it's not that somebody
told them that you have to say hello to
all the customers say hello to all the
guests right you actually feel that they
care now in their Lobby they have a
coffee stand and I one afternoon I went
to buy a cup of coffee and there was a
barista by the name of Noah who was
serving me Noah was fantastic he was
friendly and fun and he was engaging
with me and I had so much fun buying a
cup of coffee I actually think I gave
100 tip right he was wonderful so as is
my nature I asked Noah do you like your
job and without skipping a beat Noah
says I love my job
and so I followed up I said what is it
that the Four Seasons is doing that
would make you say to me I love my job
without skipping a beat Noah said
throughout the day managers will walk
past me and ask me how I'm doing if
there's anything that I need to do my
job better he said not just my manager
any manager and then he said something
magical he says I also work at Caesar's
Palace and Caesar's at Caesar's Palace
the managers are trying to make sure
we're doing everything right they catch
us when we do things wrong he says when
I go to work there I like to keep my
head under the radar and just get
through the day so I can get my paycheck
he says here at the Four Seasons I feel
I can be myself same person
entirely different experience from the
from the customer who will engage with
Noah so we in leadership are always
criticizing the people we're always
saying we've got to get the right people
on the bus I've got to fill my run my
team I gotta get the right people but
the reality is it's not the people it's
the leadership if we create the right
environment we will get people like Noah
at the Four Seasons if we create the
wrong environment we will get people
like Noah at Caesar's Palace it's not
the people and it was so quick to hire
and fire you can't hire and fire your
children if there's if your kids are
struggling we don't say you gotta see at
school you're up for adoption so why is
it that when somebody has performance
problems at work why is it that our
instinct is to say you're out we do not
practice empathy what does empathy look
like here's the lack of empathy this is
normal in our business world you walk
into someone's office someone walks into
our office and says your numbers have
been down for the third quarter in a row
you have to pick up your numbers
otherwise I can't guarantee what the
future will look like how inspired do
you think that person is to come to work
the next day here's what empathy looks
like you walk into someone's office
someone walks into your office and says
your numbers are down for the third
quarter in a row are you okay I'm
worried about you what's going on we all
have performance issues maybe someone's
kid is sick maybe they're having
problems in their marriage maybe one of
their parents is dying we don't know
what's going on in their lives and of
course it will affect performance at
work empathy is being concerned about
the human being not just their output we
have for some reason our work world has
changed over the past 20 and 30 years we
are suffering the side effects of
business theories left over from the 80s
and 90s and they are bad for people
and they are bad for business
let me give you an example the concept
of shareholders Supremacy was a theory
proposed in the late 1970s it had it was
popularized in the 80s and 90s it is now
standard form today you talked to any
public company and you ask them their
priority and they say maximize
shareholder value really that's like a
coach prioritizing the needs of the fans
over the needs of the players how you
going to build a winning team with that
model but that's normal today we don't
even perceive it as broken or damaged or
wrong or outdated remember the 80s and
90s were boom years with relative peace
and a Kinder gentler Cold War nobody was
practicing hiding under their desks in
school anymore we are no longer in those
times these are no longer boom years
these are no longer peaceful times and
those models cannot work today here's
another one Mass layoffs using someone's
livelihood to balance the books right
it's so normal in America today that we
don't even understand how broken and how
damaging it is not only to human beings
but to business you know companies talk
about how they want to build trust and
cooperation and they announce a round of
layoffs do you know the quickest way to
destroy trust and Destroy cooperation in
a business literally in one day lay
people off and everyone gets scared
right can you imagine sending someone
home to say honey I can no longer
provide for our family because the
company missed its arbitrary projections
this year and forget about the people
who lost their job think about the
people who kept their jobs because every
single decision a company makes is a
piece of communication and the company
cut the company has just communicated to
everybody else this is not a meritocracy
we don't care how hard you work or how
long you've worked here if we miss our
numbers and you happen to fall on the
wrong side of the spreadsheet I'm sorry
we cannot guarantee employment in other
words we come to work every day afraid
and we're asking our youngest generation
to work in environments where how would
any of us ever stand up and admit I made
a mistake we're constantly being told
you have to be vulnerable leaders are
vulnerable what does that even mean it
doesn't mean you walk around crying I'm
vulnerable right no what vulnerability
means is you create an environment in
which someone feels safe enough to raise
their hand and said I don't know what
I'm doing you've given me a job and I
haven't been trained to do it I need
help I made a mistake I screwed
something up I'm scared I'm worried
all of these things no one would ever
admit inside a company because it puts a
Target on your head in case there's
another round and so we keep it to
ourselves and how can a company ever do
well if nobody's ever willing to admit
they made a mistake that's scared or
they don't know what they're doing and
so we've literally created cultures in
which every single day everybody comes
to work and light hype lies hides and
fakes
and we're asking our youngest generation
to work and succeed and find themselves
and build their confidence and overcome
their addiction to technology and build
strong relationships at work we're
asking to do this and these the
environments we've created
we keep saying to them you're the Future
Leaders we're the leaders now
we're in control
what are we doing
this is what empathy means
[Music]
thank you
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