Conclusion

Many of the concepts covered during this course relate to Simon Sinek’s ideas in his book “Leaders Eat Last”. Course readings assessed the challenges faced in the Information Society on a larger scale while Sineck’s book looked at many small examples and tried to convince the reader of a trend. By assessing,”Leaders Eat Last” with course readings Sinek’s arguments were much more convincing. With the support of the course readings his claims become more grounded as an overall experience rather than just an experience of corporate America.Without effective leadership not only are our work lives impacted but also our personal lives.

People as Numbers

Lastly, Simon Sinek discusses that in an environment without connections workers have become numbers rather than real individual people.  Due to the increasing size of corporations it is no longer possible to know everyone who works in a corporation. Therefore, managers and executives must rely on documents and reports to judge the performance of the company. This is dangerous to both the health of workers and the health of the corporation (Sinek, 2014, p. 101). To explain this disconnect Sinek cites the example of the Milgram experiment. In this experiment the test subject who took on the roll of teacher was asked to deliver several different levels of shock to the student in the experiment every time a question was answered incorrectly. It was found that the teacher (the test subject) were much more willing to give the highest levels of shock even when the student complained of pain if they were in a different room and could not see who they were supposedly harming.  The test subjects expressed that they knew what they were doing was wrong but they were just following orders. Similarly, in a workplace when the individual harm cannot be seen people are willing to not do the right thing. Corporations may opt to follow the bare minimum requirements as required by the law rather than operate on a moral code.  Also, the Milgram experiment demonstrates that people tend to blindly follow authority so unethical leadership in the current workplace framework would most likely not be questioned. Overall, these numerical abstractions cause corporation executives to divorce themselves from humanity.

Tarleton Gillespie in his piece, “The Relevance of Algorithms” explains a similar phenomenon in which humans become data rather than individuals. Algorithms are meant to very quickly and efficiently group people and determine their habits. Gillespie explains that the online persona assigned with an algorithm is known as a shadow body. This means that some aspects of an individual are emphasized while other things are overlooked. This is problematic because people are being over simplified and there is the assumption that all people must fit into a set category (Gillespie 2014, p. 174).  Gillespie would agree with Sinek’s argument that assessing data on people rather than actually connecting with them is harmful. 

Works Cited:

 Sinek, S. LEADERS EAT LAST: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't (2014).

Tarleton Gillespie, “The relevance of algorithms,” in T. Gillespie et al. eds., Media Technologies (2014).

Toxic Work Environments

Simon Sinek explains that in reality very few workplaces operate in this ideal framework in which there is cooperation, Sinek goes on to explain that due to the lack of this ideal environment our jobs are literally killing us. Sinek explains that many work environments lack trust and cooperation causing employees feel unsafe and constantly feel threatened. With this feeling increasing levels of cortisol are released rather than oxytocin and serotonin, hormones that help reduce stress and increase happiness (Sinek, 2014, p. 58). These increased levels of cortisol inhibit the release of oxytocin which is responsible for empathy. This is turn makes us even more selfish causing a cycle of a toxic work environment. This stressful environment really negatively impacts health (Sinek, 2014, p. 57).

 Pellow and Park in the article, “The Political Economy of Work and Health in the Silicon Valley” explain a similar case where worker health is negatively impacted. The workers in this piece however literally work in a toxic environment filled with chemicals (Pellow and Park, 2002, p. 104). Sinek’s case explains the possible long term impact of working somewhere you are unhappy while the Silicon Valley factories cited by Pellow and Park negatively impact in the short run and most definitely in the long run. Pellow and Park would agree with Simon Sinek that our work environments have a huge impact on our health. Sinek discusses the deterioration of health due to a “toxic” mental environment while Pellow and Park presents a work environment which is literary physically “toxic” to the human body.  In order for these toxic environments to be eliminated a "circle of safety" needs to be creates which includes all employees. Sinek states that the treatment leaders give to employees must also be reciprocated by the employees to the leader. With this reciprocation a circle of safety protecting employees and the company from external threats is possible. 

Works Cited:

David Naguib Pellow and Lisa Sun-Hee Park, “The political economy of work and health in silicon valley,” in The Silicon Valley of Dreams: Environmental Injustice, Immigrant Workers, and the High-Tech Global Economy (2002).

Sinek, S. LEADERS EAT LAST: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't. (2014)

Real vs. Virtual Connections

Simon Sinek in his book, “Why Leaders Eat Last”, explains what qualities a good leaders entails and what happens to a corporation and its people when a leader does not create an ideal environment. This environment created by the leader must allow workers to feel safe and the feeling of safety cannot come about without shared trust.

Simon Sinek explains that the first step in creating this environment is creating real connections. Only with these connections can the trust be built. This is something that can often be lost in the workplace environment.  Increasingly these connections have been lost most likely due to the increasing use of technology. Also, there has been a shift in most workplace cultures causing connections to not be as valued. Sinek gives the example of the shift in the culture of the United States Congress. Rather than the two parties priding themselves in working together to accomplish the most now there is a greater desire to just win the a majority vote or to get reelected. Without cooperation and instead just competition congress has been extremely unproductive (Sinek, 2014, p.159). This shift in goals can be attributed to many factors however a major factor is that members of congress nowadays usually do not live in Washington D.C. Instead they now fly into D.C. during the work week from Tuesday to Thursday and then return to their home states. Therefore, the members of congress and their families are not as connected as the used to be in the past. Without the connections its seems as though the members of congress focus on themselves and their parties instead of truly serving the people who have elected them (Sinek, 2014, p. 160).

Similarly, S. Craig Watkins in his piece “The very well connected: Friending, bonding, and community in the digital age” explains this same phenomenon of the importance of real contact. Watkins piece agrees with Sinek’s claims of the important of connections. Watkins explains that people increasingly turn to virtual connections and these are not the same as a real life connection. Our real life connections can translate into the virtual space by “friending” someone who is already a friend. However, he explains that if we make a friend strictly in the virtual space it is not the same sort of a friendship. Watkins gives the example of your car breaking down. You would never call up your virtual friend because you do not actually know who they are or where they are from. The physical connection is always needed for humans to make meaningful connections (Watkins, 2009, p. 54). In the workplace this connection is missing due to increased use of technology or the impossibility of actually knowing everyone.    

Sineck also provides the example of AA meetings where effective connections are present and explains what the experiences of the people in this environment are. AA meeting cannot happen in online chat rooms or via email because the connections needed to beat addiction must be real (Sinek, 2014, p. 204). Real connections result in inclusion and trust which allows for what is known as the circle of safety to be created. With the circle of safety the team can pull together and thrive and survive any external or internal threats.  Sineck provides a compelling and well supported argument with the ideas he presents.

Works Cited:

S. Craig Watkins, "The very well connected: Friending, bonding, and community in the digital age," The Young and the Digital (2009).  

Sinek, S. LEADERS EAT LAST: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't (2014).

Leaders Eat Last

Buy a Copy at: http://www.amazon.com/Leaders-Eat-Last-Together-Others/dp/1591845327/ref=asap_B002CB2SDC?ie=UTF8

Author Biography: Simon Sinek

Simon Sinek is the author of bestselling books, “Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t” and “Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action”. He was born in Wimbledon, England and currently resides in New York. He received his BA in cultural anthropology from Brandeis University and is now a author and motivational speaker. He has worked for many major ad agencies and currently is a staff member at the think tank RAND corporation. Through his research and experiences he has found many patterns of what kinds of environments people perform the best in. His Ted Talks are some of the most watched on the Ted Talks website. Additionally, he has been invited to give talks at many Fortune 500 companies and government agencies. Through his talks and writing he hopes to bring positive change which will allow employees to go home satisfied after each day. His optimistic ideas have inspired many to take action and create work environment that align with basic human needs.

Works Cited:

Simon Sinek. (n.d.). Retrieved December 15, 2014, from https://www.startwithwhy.com/Portals/0/Bio and Press Kit/simon_bio_long_2014.pdf

Simon Sinek Ted Talk:

How Great Leaders Inspire Action:

https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action


Why Good Leaders Make you Feel Safe:

https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_why_good_leaders_make_you_feel_safe

Author Information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Sinek
http://sinekpartners.typepad.com/refocus/

http://www.theartof.com/speakers/simon-sinek

Leaders Eat Last Outside Reviews

Stephan Vaughan in his review of, "Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't" explains that he found the ideas presented in this book to be very thought provoking. He felt the examples presented in the book really supported Simon Sinek's ideas well. For example, Simon Sinek gives the example of Jack Welch a former CEO of GE who is viewed very highly in the business world. Sinenk argues that his contributions to GE were very short- term so he did not actually better GE and its employees. Additionally, Stephan Vaughan argues that some people may find this book to be too "warm and fuzzy". There isn't really a plan that can be put into action to create this environment it is more just an idea (Vaughan, 2014, pg. 797). Overall, however, Stephan Vaughan's review of this book was very positive. 

"This book is as refreshingly simple and easy to follow as it is thought-provoking, and it gets a hearty recommendation from me." 

http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.wisc.edu/docview/1501548997?accountid=465

"Books: Lessons from the Marine Corps." Management Today (2014): 22. ProQuest. Web. 16 Dec. 2014.