Simon Sinek: Great Leaders Eat Last

As the old saying goes leaders are chosen by the people. In a highly competitive environment, employees tend to be egoistic and afraid. Why not create a great and complementary team based on trust and cooperation? It's not a coincidence that Patagonia's owner Yvon Chouinard hired friends and friends of friends to his company in its early innings. It's all about creating a great environment so people feel comfortable to give their best efforts for the company and his co-workers.


If you have the time, watch the complete speech.



If you are still interested, check his most recent book Great Leaders Eat Last.

Yvon Chouinard - Patagonia Founder- Speech at UCSB

Financial analysts usually use sophisticated terms - almost another dialect - to describe and analyze businesses. The thing is: in the real world stuff is simpler. The world is made by givers, doers and shakers, not takers.  

Besides, when analyzing a business it's important to consider the open-ended story with "infinite duration" (using financial wizards' terms). Sustainability is a key word, not on the environmental aspect solely, but one should understand if the company's culture is sustainable and what are its drivers - to mention one aspect only. Another buzz-wordy question would be: Is the moat widening or at least maintaining its original width?

His speech is easy to watch due to his sense of humor and amazing story. Main takeaways were: (i) despite his amazing trajectory, most things happened naturally or by accident; (ii) common values among people is key; (iii) sustainability concept came from a financial crisis, not from environmental causes - later on they made the term widespread in different spectrums; (iv) let people free to create and express themselves; (v) do not grow just for getting bigger - grow if it's the best option for all your stakeholders.


Below follows his two published books:

• The Responsible Company: What we've Learned in Patagonia's First 40 years

http://www.amazon.com/The-Responsible-Company-Learned-Patagonias/dp/0980122783/ref=reg_hu-rd_add_1_dp

• Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of A Reluctant Businessman

http://www.amazon.com/Let-People-Surfing-Education-Businessman/dp/0143037838/ref=reg_hu-rd_dp_img