https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_why_good_leaders_make_you_feel_safe?language=en

This Ted Talk was an obvious link to leadership, but was also very eye-opening and informative about what good leadership can look like. Simon Sinek’s talk called “Why good leaders make you feel safe” chooses to emphasize the benefits of a supportive, considerate leader or boss in order to demonstrate the positive outcomes within the followers. He first discussed a personal anecdote in which he was boarding a plane, and one of the flight attendants was extremely terse and authoritative over a passenger who tried to board too soon because if she said she needed to perform her job with 100% accuracy. Sinek then discussed how this employee was scared of her boss, of her leader, causing her to have a negative, fearful time while working for the airline, which was then relayed to the passengers. However, had she not been so panicked over making one mistake, the experience of the customer could have benefited, improving the overall potential quality rankings of the business.

After giving an example for a leader who instills fear in their followers, Sinek then gives an example of a boss who gives their workers a sense of support and comfort. Charlie Kim started a tech company called Next Jump implemented a policy within the company of “lifetime employment.” If someone were to receive a job at Next Jump, they could never be fired for performance issues. Rather, if an employee did run into performance issues, the company will provide support and coach you through the problems. Kim relates his policy to the idea of how we would treat our children if they were to make a mistake. If your kid creates an issue within the family or household, you do not simply “lay them off.” Instead, you help them through the problem, so that you can solve it together. Sinek then says that a good leader would never sacrifice his people in order to save the numbers, but would sooner sacrifice the numbers to save his people. 

If this idea were to be implemented in companies and societies worldwide, there may be a positive impact such as an increase in community within the followers. It does not necessarily seem feasible to implement Charlie Kim’s “lifetime employment” within every business, however ridding of the fear tactics that are installed to followers in order to benefit the leader is a good step in the right direction for any company.