REQUISITE HR BOOK CLUB, AUGUST 2016
Issue 4
42
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Requisite HR Book Club August 2016 LEADERS EAT LAST BY SIMON SINEK
Welcome to the latest Requisite HR Book Club share. We will be continuing with Leaders Eat Last (Why some teams pull together and others don’t) by Simon Sinek (author of Start with Why) Part 2 – POWERFUL FORCES Chapter 7 – The Big C Starts with discussing the benefits of group living. The primary benefit being that every member of the group can help look out for danger. If one individual in the group senses danger, the whole group can help to spot it before it is too late. The feeling that something is wrong is a natural early warning system, that is designed to alert us to threats and heighten our sense to prepare for possible danger. Without it we only see the danger when it is it occurs. That ‘gut feeling’ we get is caused by a chemical called Cortisol and it causes stress and anxiety and is the first level of our fight or flight response. The stress we feel in these moments will distract us from getting anything else done until we feel that the threat has passed. However, if the threat eventuates, then adrenaline is released giving us energy to address or run away from the threat. When we experience cortisol, we cycle through any number of things we did or did not do in an attempt to understand the feelings, but cortisol is just doing its job, finding and preparing for the threat. Where the danger is real or imagined, the stress we fell is real, and our bodies do not
CHAPTERS SEVEN AND EIGHT
react like our rational minds. Our body does not seek to understand, it simply reacts to the chemicals flowing through it, it does not distinct between life threatening threat or not. Cortisol should fire off and then leave when the threat has past. If it stays in our bodies, then the manner in which it reconfigures our internal systems can cause lasting damage. As social animals we feel stress when we feel unsupported. There is a subconscious unease, the feeling that we are responsible for ourselves and no one is here to help, the feeling that most of the people we work with care primarily for themselves. However, it is not the people that are the problem it is the environment. When we work in an environment in which the members don’t care about each other’s fate, they keep threat information to themselves, which results in weak bonds of trust or none at all as so we are left without an option but to put ourselves first. If we do not feel safe within the Circle of Safety cortisol seeps into our veins. When this occurs it inhibits oxytocin (the chemical responsible for empathy). A weak Circle of Safety makes us more selfish and less concerned about others. Working in an unhealthy, unbalanced culture is like climbing Mt Everest – we adapt to our surroundings. Even though the conditions are dangerous, the climbers spend time to adapt so that they can persevere and we do the same in an unhealthy culture. If the conditions were violent or shocking we wouldn’t stay, but when the conditions are subtle, we adapt because we believe we are fine and that
we can cope, despite the fact that we aren’t built for these conditions. However, just because we become accustomed, just because it becomes normal, doesn’t mean it’s acceptable, plus the long term damage to our bodies and the organisation is challenging to fix. One of the side effects of cortisol is that it shuts down non-essential functions, to provide energy for the flight or run reaction. One of the ‘non-essential’ functions shut down is the immunity system, leaving us vulnerable to illness, unlike Oxytocin which boosts our immune system. Strong organisational culture is good for both organisational and its team member’s health. When Serotonin and Oxytocin flow though the organisation people start to love their jobs, staying despite opportunities for more pay or other incentives. A culture with free flowing selfless chemicals results in greater organizational stability and better long term performance. Your Chapter Challenge: 1. Consider your work environment. Do you have the right balance of chemicals flowing through your organisation? If not determine opportunities to rectify the imbalance. 2. Have you clearly defined your culture and values? Yes - What things can you do to uphold the values and integrate them so that people walk the talk, to have serotonin and oxytocin flowing. No – Call us to have our Communications specialist run a workshop to define and clarify your business goals, culture and values.
Chapter 8 – Why We Have Leaders This chapter starts with the history of alphas within society, how they are treated and why. It discussed how for most our goal is to be seen as smart and strong and worthy of the advantages of an alpha. Worth of the respect of others, all to raise our status in our community. It should be noted that companies also try to raise their status in the community, with rankings and awards. Although leadership comes with advantages, these do not come for free, they come at quire a steep price. ‘The Cost of Leadership is self-interest”. If our leaders are to enjoy the trappings of their position in the hierarchy, then we expect them to offer us protection, to be the first one to rush towards the danger to protect the rest of us. The leaders social contract is that they were willing to make sacrifices for the good of those who chose to follow them, they considered the well-being of others before themselves and sometimes suffered as a result. When this occurs people are not resentful of leadership perks. This can be applied to companies as well. Companies earn their reputation by being willing to do the right thing for their people and their clients. That reputation suffers when they break the social contract of leadership. Unless a company or person is willing to make personal sacrifices for the good of others to earn their place in the hierarchy, they aren’t really ‘alpha material’. Simply acting /faking the part is not enough. The rank of office is not what makes someone a leader. Leadership is the choice to serve others with or without any formal rank. It is okay to enjoy the perks of leadership but you must be willing to give up those perks when it matters. Trust is not simply a matter of shared opinions; trust is a biological reaction to the belief that someone has our well-being at heart. Leaders are the ones who are willing to give up something of their own for us. Their time, their energy, their money, maybe even the food off their plate. When it matters, leaders choose to eat last. You can only become a leader when you accept the responsibility to protect those in your care. If you choose to sacrifice those in your ‘tribe’ for personal gain, you will struggle to hold onto the leadership position. What makes a good leader is that they eschew the spotlight in favor of spending time and energy to do what they need to do to support and protect their people. And when we feel he Circle of Safety around us, we offer our blood and sweat and tears and do everything we can to see our leader’s vision come to life. The only thing our leaders ever need to do is remember whom they serve and it will be our honor and pleasure to serve then back.
ceramic cup, etc) he had received when he last attended the conference as the Under Secretary. He then compared it to his treatment at this conference (i.e. own arrangements, coach class, taxis, own check in, standard access, found and made his own coffee in a Styrofoam cup, etc), as a person who was no longer the Under Secretary. It was worlds apart. He gave them this thought to consider: “All the perks, all the benefits and advantages you get for the rank or position you hold, they aren’t meant for you. They are meant for the role you fill. And when you leave that role, which eventually you will, they will give the ceramic cup to the person who replaces you. Because you only ever deserved a Styrofoam cup.” In the market crash of 2008 a US company instead of laying people off introduced a mandatory furlough program for every employee form the CEO down, where everyone took 4 weeks’ unpaid leave, whenever they wanted and they did not have to be taken consecutively. When announcing the program “It is better that we all suffer a little, so that none of us has to suffer a lot”. Unlike a company that did layoffs and had everyone go into self-preservation mode, people spontaneously and completely on their own, set out to do more for each other. Those that could afford the time off traded with those who could afford it less. The overwhelming feeling across the company was one of gratitude for the security they have been given. When business improved and entitlements restored, the company was left with intense loyalty, wanting to do whatever they can to help the company. The reason why good leaders do well in hard times is because their people are willing to commit their blood, sweat and tears to see the tribe/company, advance and grown stronger, not because they have to, but because they want to. As a result, the stronger tribe/company, is able to guarantee a greater sense of safety and protection to even more people for longer. Fear in contrast, can hurt the very innovation and progress so many leaders of companies claim they are trying to advance with every re-organisation. We cannot motivate others, as motivation is determined by the chemical incentives inside every one of us. Any motivation we have is a function of our desire to repeated behaviors that make us feel good or avoid stressor pain. But we can create the right environment in which the right chemicals are release for the right reasons. If we get the right environment and culture the result is a group of self-motivated people. The goal of a leader is to find the right balance between all these chemicals. When the system is in balance, courage, inspiration, foresight, creativity and empathy will flow. Your Chapter Challenges: 1. Are you a leader that your team is proud of? Do you walk the talk? When was the last time you put employee welfare over your own? If your answers aren’t good enough consider what can you change, because people hearts don’t follow leaders because they say so, they follow leaders because they are inspired to do so.
A former US Under Secretary of Defense’s was speaking at a large conference. When he interrupted his own speech to illustrate the preferential treatment (i.e. arrangements made for him, business class, a driver, pre-check in, VIP access and handed coffee in a
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