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

Marine leaders are expected to eat last because the true price of leadership is the willingness to place the needs of others above your own

if a politician is in perfect alignment with us they are not being completely honest.

Leadership is not a license to do less; it is a responsibility to do more. And that’s the trouble. Leadership takes work. It takes time and energy. The effects are not always easily measured and they are not always immediate. Leadership is always a commitment to human beings.

Just as a parent can’t buy the love of their children with gifts, a company can’t buy the loyalty of their employees with salaries and bonuses. What produces loyalty, that irrational willingness to commit to the organization even when offered more money elsewhere, is the feeling that the leaders of the company would be willing, when it matters, to sacrifice their time and energy to help us. We will judge a boss who spends time after hours to help us as more valuable than a boss who simply gives us a bonus when we hit a target.

why some organizations do better than others

for an organization to be successful its leaders need to understand the true purpose of their organization—the Why

the true cost of the leadership privilege comes at the expense of self-interest

Marine leaders are expected to eat last because the true price of leadership is the willingness to place the needs of others above your own

the importance of leaders being focused on their people

to create a new generation of men and women who understand that an organization’s success or failure is based on leadership excellence and not managerial acumen