Powerful Examples of Leadership Styles from 'Leaders Eat Last'

Sinek opens with one of the best-known examples of leadership styles from Leaders Eat Last: U.S. Marine Corps officers literally eating after their troops. No speech. No slide deck. Just a quiet rule: the people you lead eat first.

This isn’t about food; it’s about safety. When leaders consistently put their people’s needs ahead of their own comfort, they create what Sinek calls a “Circle of Safety” – a culture where people feel protected from internal threats (blame, politics, fear) so they can focus on external threats (competition, market shifts, or in the Marines’ case, enemy fire).

If you manage a team in 2024, the mess hall line might look like:

• You take the heat with senior leadership when a project slips, instead of throwing a junior teammate under the bus.
• You protect people’s focus time instead of booking over their calendars because your priorities feel more important.
• In a round of budget cuts, you cut perks for executives before cutting learning opportunities or benefits for frontline staff.

This is the clearest example of servant leadership in the book: leaders absorb risk and give away safety. In a world where layoffs, AI disruption, and constant reorgs dominate the headlines, this is still one of the best examples of what people are desperately looking for in their bosses.

Corporate Greed vs. Protection: Examples of Leadership Styles from ‘Leaders Eat Last’ in Business

Sinek contrasts the Marines with corporate stories, and those comparisons give us some of the sharpest examples of leadership styles from ‘Leaders Eat Last’.

Jack Welch vs. Costco: Two Very Different Examples

Sinek points to the era of Jack Welch at GE as an example of a leadership style built on short-term performance and shareholder value above all. The “rank and yank” system, where the bottom 10% of performers were regularly fired, sent a clear message: you are expendable. That’s a leadership style too—one that shrinks the Circle of Safety and floods the workplace with cortisol and fear.

Now look at Costco, which Sinek praises as a contrasting style. Costco has long been known for paying workers above industry average and providing strong benefits. Even during downturns, the company has been slower than competitors to slash staff. That is a very different example of leadership style: treat employees like long-term partners, not short-term costs.

Fast-forward to 2024, and you can see similar patterns:

• Some tech companies respond to economic uncertainty with rapid-fire layoffs via email. That’s a modern example of fear-based leadership that prioritizes stock price over trust.
• Others, like Patagonia, keep doubling down on employee well-being and long-term environmental commitments, even when markets wobble. That’s a continuation of the kind of leadership Sinek admires.

If you want examples of leadership styles from ‘Leaders Eat Last’ that still matter today, watch how companies handle layoffs, remote work, and return-to-office mandates. Leaders who invite dialogue, share data, and share sacrifice are practicing the kind of style Sinek champions.

The Circle of Safety in a Hybrid World: Modern Examples Include Remote Teams

When Sinek talks about the Circle of Safety, he’s describing a leadership style where people feel protected enough to take risks, admit mistakes, and tell the truth. In 2014, that mostly meant physical offices. In 2024–2025, it includes Zoom rooms, Slack channels, and people you’ve never met in person.

Here are real-world examples of how this leadership style shows up in hybrid work:

• A manager starts every one-on-one asking, “What’s getting in your way?” and actually acts on the answers. That’s a small but powerful example of putting the person before the task.
• A remote-first company publicly commits to no Slack messages after certain hours in each time zone, and leaders actually follow it. That’s creating psychological safety around rest, not just productivity.
• During AI rollouts, leaders explain not only the business case but also how jobs will be redesigned, what reskilling support will be offered, and where there is real uncertainty. Being honest about unknowns is a leadership style too.

Research backs this up. Studies on psychological safety, popularized by Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson, show that teams where people feel safe to speak up perform better and innovate more. You can explore her work directly at Harvard Business School.

These are modern examples of leadership styles from ‘Leaders Eat Last’ adapted to a world where your “team” might be scattered across four time zones and three continents.

Hormones and Habits: Biological Examples of Why Leadership Styles Matter

One of the more surprising examples of leadership styles from ‘Leaders Eat Last’ is biological, not organizational. Sinek walks through four key chemicals: endorphins, dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin.

He explains that:

• Endorphins and dopamine are the “achievement” chemicals – they feel good when you hit a target, close a deal, or check off a task.
• Serotonin and oxytocin are the “social” chemicals – they show up when you’re trusted, appreciated, and bonded with others.

Leadership styles that focus only on numbers and targets overuse dopamine and underuse oxytocin and serotonin. That’s how you get burnout, anxiety, and a culture where people feel like they’re always one missed metric away from being disposable.

If you want a concrete example of how this plays out:

• A sales leader who only celebrates top performers by name at the monthly meeting is reinforcing dopamine-driven competition.
• A leader who highlights collaboration, mentorship, and shared wins is boosting oxytocin and serotonin, which stabilizes teams emotionally.

The Mayo Clinic and other health organizations have long noted the impact of chronic stress hormones (like cortisol) on long-term health, including heart disease and mental health challenges. You can read more about stress and health at the Mayo Clinic.

Sinek’s point is simple: your leadership style is literally changing the chemistry in your team’s bodies. That’s one of the most striking examples of leadership styles from ‘Leaders Eat Last’—it’s not just about culture; it’s about biology.

Real Examples of Leaders Who “Eat Last” in 2024–2025

If you’re looking for modern, real examples, include leaders who behave the way Sinek describes, even if they’ve never read the book.

Consider these kinds of behaviors:

• A CEO takes a voluntary pay cut during a downturn so the company can avoid layoffs. That’s a textbook example of eating last.
• A startup founder decides to slow growth rather than burn out the team with relentless sprints. They publicly explain the decision and share the trade-offs.
• A hospital administrator, during a staffing crisis, spends nights and weekends on the floor helping cover shifts, not just sending out encouraging emails.

Healthcare is a particularly vivid arena for these examples of leadership styles from ‘Leaders Eat Last’. During and after the COVID-19 pandemic, leaders who rounded with staff, listened to nurses and doctors, and fought for protective equipment and mental health support showed what it looks like to protect the Circle of Safety under extreme pressure. Organizations like the National Institutes of Health and CDC have published guidance on supporting health workers’ mental health, and it’s often the leaders who decide whether that guidance becomes reality or just another PDF.

When you evaluate leadership styles in your own organization, ask: who is sacrificing for whom? That question will give you some of the clearest real examples of leadership styles from ‘Leaders Eat Last’ you’ll ever see.

When Leaders Don’t Eat Last: Negative Examples Include Fear, Blame, and Burnout

Sinek doesn’t just give inspiring stories; he also offers tough examples of what happens when leaders put themselves first.

You see this in:

• Leaders who publicly shame people in meetings to “keep standards high.”
• Executives who quietly secure retention bonuses for themselves while cutting teams.
• Managers who hoard information so they can stay powerful.

These are all examples of leadership styles that shrink the Circle of Safety, trigger chronic stress, and push people into self-protection instead of collaboration. In 2024, you can see it in how some companies handle return-to-office: rigid mandates with no explanation, no listening, and no flexibility. That’s not just a policy decision; it’s a leadership style that says, “I don’t trust you unless I can see you.”

Contrast that with leaders who co-create hybrid policies with employees, pilot changes, share data transparently, and adjust based on feedback. Those leaders are practicing the kind of style Sinek praises, even if they never use his language.

These negative examples of leadership styles from ‘Leaders Eat Last’ are powerful because they’re familiar. Most of us have worked under someone who led with fear. The question is whether we repeat that pattern when we’re the ones in charge.

Turning Insights into Action: How to Model the Best Examples

It’s one thing to admire the best examples of leadership styles from ‘Leaders Eat Last’; it’s another to live them when you’re under pressure, behind on deadlines, and worried about your own career.

Here’s a practical way to translate Sinek’s stories into your daily leadership style:

Start with one relationship. Not the whole company. One person.

Ask yourself:

• Have I taken a risk for this person lately, or only asked them to take risks for me?
• Do they feel safe telling me bad news early, or do they wait until the last minute because they’re afraid of my reaction?
• When something goes wrong, do I instinctively look for who to blame, or what to learn?

Then, pick one small behavior change that matches the examples of leadership styles from ‘Leaders Eat Last’:

• Publicly take responsibility for a team mistake in your next leadership meeting.
• Ask your team what they need from you to feel safer speaking up—and act on at least one suggestion.
• Share credit by name when talking about wins, especially with senior stakeholders.

Leadership styles don’t change because you read a book or an article. They change when you repeatedly choose to eat last—especially when it costs you something.

FAQ: Examples of Leadership Styles from ‘Leaders Eat Last’

What are some concrete examples of leadership styles from ‘Leaders Eat Last’?

Some of the clearest examples include Marine Corps officers eating after their troops, CEOs taking pay cuts to avoid layoffs, companies like Costco prioritizing long-term employee well-being, and leaders who protect their teams from blame and internal politics. All of these are an example of leaders creating a Circle of Safety.

How do these examples of leadership styles apply to remote or hybrid teams?

For remote teams, modern examples of leadership styles from ‘Leaders Eat Last’ include leaders who set clear boundaries around work hours, share information openly, invite dissent in video calls, and make sure remote employees have equal access to promotions and visibility. The core idea is the same: people should feel safe, trusted, and protected, even when they aren’t in the same building.

What is one simple example of “leaders eating last” I can use this week?

A practical example of this style is to take responsibility upward and give credit downward. In your next update to senior leadership, highlight your team’s contributions by name, and if something went wrong, own the failure as a leader rather than pointing fingers. It’s a small but powerful way to model the kind of behavior Sinek describes.

Are there negative examples of leadership styles in ‘Leaders Eat Last’?

Yes. Sinek uses negative examples of leadership styles—like rank-and-yank performance systems, fear-based management, and leaders who prioritize personal bonuses over staff security—to show what happens when the Circle of Safety collapses. These examples include high turnover, low trust, and employees who focus more on self-preservation than on serving customers or innovating.

How do these examples connect to well-being and burnout?

Leadership styles that ignore safety and trust push people into chronic stress, which is linked to burnout, anxiety, and health problems. Organizations like the CDC and NIH emphasize the importance of supportive environments for mental health. The best examples of leadership styles from ‘Leaders Eat Last’ show leaders actively creating those supportive environments by protecting their people, not just pushing for performance.