Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't

Abstract

As I picked up Leaders Eat Last, with its preface written by a retired Lieutenant General and its focus on business, I wondered if its contents would connect to those of us in health care. However, as I read the book I was struck by the similarities. As academia becomes “more like a business” and medicine becomes increasingly businesslike, the challenges discussed and insights offered seem very relevant. A key statement in the forward was particularly resonant, “Organizations where people share values and where people are valued succeed over the long term in good and bad times.” Mr. Sinek's description of leaders of great organizations, who “do not see people as a commodity to be managed to help grow the money,” but instead, “see money as the commodity to be managed to help grow their people” also was insightful. Hospitals, schools of chiropractic, and outpatient practices all are organizations that require excellence from every person within them, making this admonition very relevant. In chiropractic education this impact is magnified further as young professionals build their professional identities, and the values that will guide their care of others throughout their careers. Thus, the relevance of this book to us.