A short transcript excerpt of Simon Sinek's talk arguing that leadership is not about formal authority but about choosing to support and elevate others. He emphasizes that businesses train employees on tasks but often fail to train new leaders in interpersonal leadership skills (listening, difficult conversations, feedback), and that teaching these skills produces better leaders.
Chapters
Leadership has nothing to do with being in charge. I know many people who sit at high levels in organizations who are not leaders. They have lots of authority, and we do as they tell us because they have authority over us. But we don't necessarily trust them. We wouldn't follow them. I mean, I know people at low levels of organizations who have no formal authority, but they made the choice to help the person to the left of them and help the person to the right of them, and we would follow them anywhere. And that's basically what leadership is. It's the responsibility to see those around us rise. And one of the opportunities for businesses is to teach leadership. When we're junior in a company, the company gives us lots and lots and lots of training. And we'll teach how to use the computer systems, we'll teach how to sell. And if they're good at the job, we promote them. And eventually we promote them into a position where they're responsible for the people who do the job they used to do. But we don't teach them how to do that. We know we have to train people when they're new. So why don't we train people when they're new leaders? There are skills that go along with leadership, like listening, how to have difficult conversations, how to give and receive feedback. We should teach them, and that's the way you get good leaders.
