In his book Leaders Eat Last, Simon Sinek explains the secret to team success. Sinek found himself amazed, even a bit humbled, by the character of the men and women in our armed forces. But where does this character come from? Initially, Sinek kept arriving at the same assumption: “These are just a special class of people. They’re better than us.” But while working in Afghanistan, Sinek had an experience that revised this premise. He explains:

Everything on our trip went wrong. We actually got stuck there because the base came under rocket attack when I was there. And it was (through) this experience where I learned what service really means.

Service means giving to others with no expectation of anything in return. Fulfillment, calm, security, peace of mind, confidence, all come from a willingness to serve others. Because … only when I decided that I would look after others … did I find calm, security, peace of mind.

Sinek discovered that our service men and women have a special role in defending our country, but they are not just in a class by themselves. He concludes that all of us can become a good leader by serving others:

The rank of office is not what makes someone a leader. Leadership is the choice to serve others with or without any formal rank … Leaders are the ones who run headfirst into the unknown. They rush toward the danger. They put their own interests aside to protect us or to pull us into the future. Leaders would sooner sacrifice what is theirs to save what is ours. And they would never sacrifice what is ours to save what is theirs. This is what it means to be a leader.

Simon Sinek, Leaders Eat Last, (Portfolio, 2017), page 116