Simon Sinek Analysis

Simon Sinek is a motivational speaker, marketing consultant, and author of works that have been on both the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times best-seller lists. Sinek was educated at London’s City University as well as Brandeis University in the United States where he earned a BA in cultural anthropology. Mr. Sinek is known for speaking on how leaders and organizations around the world can inspire those around them. Organizations like American Airlines, Disney, Deutsche bank, and MARS as well as big business entrepreneurs and police forces have all asked him to speak for them. Sinek has even been invited to the UN, the US Congress, and all branches of the US military to discuss his ideas regarding leadership. With all of this, it seems

Sinek said, “Where do people like that come from? What is that? That is some deep, deep emotion when you would want to do that. There’s a love there. And I wanted to know, why is it that I don’t have people that I work with like that?”. He noted that in the military, people are willing to sacrifice themselves so that others can gain, but it is the exact opposite in the world of business and in other professions as well. Maybe, Sinek thought, it is because they are just better people and that is why they are drawn to a profession of service. But, he eventually decided that it had nothing to do with the people, but everything to do with the environment that they worked in. The speaker said that he has had the opportunity to talk with those in the military and has asked them why they are so willing to sacrifice themselves for their peers and every single answer was the same:“Because they would do it for me”. This mindset was proven in the other stories that Sinek told during the TEDtalk and I have seen this in my life as well. If people do not feel safe or feel that they are not valued and truly part of a team, they shut

The way that Sinek describes how a team should run and how a leader should really act not only makes sense to me but also seems like it could create a stronger and more united workforce. I believe that the environment in which one works has a lot to do with how effective they work as a team. In healthcare, working as a team is essential and possibly life saving. Nurses and other health care professionals cannot be expected to know everything that they will ever need to know about taking care of a patient and inevitably will need to use the support of others around them. Sinek explained that for workers, “If the conditions are wrong we are forced to expend our own time and energy to protect ourselves from each other. And that inherently weakens the organization”. In nursing, if nurses perform poorly and are unable to successfully care for patients that reflects on not only themselves but also their unit, organization, and ultimately their profession. It has been found that nursing is the most trusted profession and I would absolutely like to keep it that way. I realize that I would not be able to do this without the support of those around me and without creating an environment conducive to my vision. Above everything else, as a nursing leader I would keep in mind two things that Sinek said, “Leadership is a choice, it is not a rank” and “We call them leaders because they go first. We call them