Video: Most Leaders Don't Even Know the Game They're In - Simon Sinek
December 18th, 2020
(https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RyTQ5-SQYTo)
Juniors only need to be good at their job.
They get training to do a good job.
People get promoted when they are good
When they are promoted
they stop being responsible for the work
they are responsible for the people that are responsible for the work
They don't get little or no training on how to lead people.
They micro-manage because they know how to do the job better, that's why they got the promotion.
anecdote: barista at hotel
Environment creates customer experience, not the people
barista was wonderful, at one hotel, loves his jobs, managers passing ask him if there's anything he needs to do his job better
same barista works at another place, keeps his head down, managers try to catch him not doing his job
It's not the people, it's the leadership (they create the environment)
Leaders need
Empathy
Perspective
(A) Empathy
Empathy is
asking someone how they're doing and be interested in the answer (instead of rushing to a meeting)
letting someone in front of you in traffic
"I noticed that your numbers are down for a third quarter in a row. I'm worried about you. Are you okay?" (instead of threats)
One group that can use some empathy is the millennials
Model: millennial have been dealt a bad hand
Parenting
Technology
Impatience
Environment
(1) Failed parenting strategies
Participation medals devalue winning and shame losing
School grades/honour-programs because parents complain instead of working for it
Millennials learn
They are special
When they start working they learn that all those beliefs are wrong
You are not special
This causes their self esteem to shatter
They have lower self esteem than other generations
Millennials learned with social media to curate what parts of their life to show. They will seem confident when they are not.
We say "our door is always open"
assuming they have the courage
to walk through the door
(2) Technology
Dopamine addiction to cope with stress
Dopamine gives a great feeling when you achieve something
cross off todo
win game
get promotion
find your keys
When we're very very young, the only approval we need is approval from our parents.
And then as we go through adolescence, we now crave the approval of our peers.
It allows us to acculturate outside of our immediate family into the larger tribe.
It's a time of high stress and high anxiety.
And we're supposed to learn to rely on our friends.
Adolescence is a stressful time
Youths should loosen from family into the larger tribe
Youths should learn to cope with stress by leaning on friends
Addicts learn their addiction during adolescence
Dopamine numbs stress
Alcohol, nicotine, gambling trigger dopamine
Instead of friends, addicts learn to numb the stress with their addiction
That addiction becomes hardwired in the brain for coping with stress
Coping by addiction resurfaces in times of elevated stress
Cellphones and social media triggers dopamine release
The "bing, buzz, flash and beep" that we get from our phones.
That feels so good.
Yes we all hate the emails, but we love the "bing"
Adolescents have unrestricted access to social media and cellphones
Alcohol, nicotine, gambling have age restrictions
Social media and cellphones have no age restrictions
It's the equivalent of throwing open the liquor cabinet.
And telling our young adolescents:
"I know this is a stressful time,
try the vodka it will get you through these hard times"
Our young generation isn't learning the coping skills
to turn to another human being when they are struggling or stressed
They are turning to social media and cellphones
Cellphones prevent connection with people that are present
This generation struggles to form deep, meaningful relationships
Rises of
depression
suicide
accidental death due to drug overdose
kids asking leaves of absence from universities
(3) Impatience
often accused of being "entitled"
but I would argue that they are impatient
Grew up with instant gratification
Shopping online, next day delivery
Movies: download, stream
TV show: binge
Talk to someone: text and they'll get back instantly
Date: swipe right, have 4 dates in a night
It's as if they are standing at the foot of a mountain
They know exactly what they want
They can see the summit
What they don't see is the mountain
I'm not making an impact
impact as destination instead of journey
don't know what that means "impact"
we all want to make an impact
what kind of impact
it's become generic and abstract
(4) Environment
Corporate environments that do not care about them as human beings
Our work world has changed over the past 20 to 30 years
We are suffering the side effects of business theories left over from the 80's and 90's
And they are bad for people
And they are bad for business
Shareholder supremacy
theory proposed in late 1970's, popularised in 80's and 90's, now standard form
any public company's priority "maximise shareholder value"
Mass layoffs
using someone's livelihood to balance the books
You know the quickest way to destroy trust, destroy cooperation,literally in one day?
Lay people off.
And everyone get's scared.
even people who kept their jobs
Every single decision a company makes is a piece of communication.
And 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...
Vulnerability
Vulnerability means to create an environment in which someone feels safe enough to say:
- 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 up
- I'm scared
- I'm worried
How can a company ever do well if nobody's ever willing to admit they made a mistake, they're scared or they don't know what they're doing.
We've created cultures in which every single day everybody comes to work and lies, hides and fakes.
How do I get the most out of my people
vs
How do I help my people be at their natural best
anecdote: driving and someone's trying to cut into our lane
(B) Perspective
Model: finite vs infinite games
Finite game:
Known players
Fixed rules
Agreed upon objective
Infinite game:
Known and unknown players
Rules are changeable
Objective is to keep the game in play
no winners and losers
player drops out when will or resources run out
Stable combinations
Finite + finite (eg. baseball)
Infinite + infinite (eg. cold war)
Problem combination:
finite + infinite (eg. Vietnam war, Soviet Union in Afghanistan)
Business is an infinite game
Most companies play business as if it's a finite game
"we're trying to beat the competition"
"we're trying to be number one"
"we're ranked number one"
Some companies play business as an infinite game
It's the leaders and the companies
that understand the game they are in
and organise their resources and their decision-making
around the infinite contest,
that outlast and frustrate their competition
eg. Southwest Airlines, Apple Computers, Harley Davidson
Public companies are looking to succeed for the quarter.
We're looking for the next 50 years.
-- Jim Senegal (Founder of Costco)
// only real company that gives Wallmart a run for it's money
The infinite player isn't playing to be number one every day with every product.
They are playing to outlast the competition.
They understand that
sometimes you're a little bit ahead and sometimes you're a little bit behind
sometimes your product is better and somtimes you're not
But if you wake up every morning and compete against yourself:
- How do I make our products better than they were yesterday?
- How do I take care for our customers better than we did yesterday?
- How do we advance our cause more efficiently, more productively than we did yesterday?
- How do we find new solutions to advance our calling, our purpose, our belief, our why, every single day
every bankruptcy and merger & acquisition is a player dropping out because they don't have the will or the resources to continue playing