A  Leader  is  Like  a  Parent  Andrew  Brunhart  January  31,  2014    Leadership  expert,  Simon  Sinek,  has  dazzled  over  14  million  people  with  his  TED  talk  “How  Great  Leaders  Inspire  Action.”  He  has  continued  his  educating  the  public  about  leadership  with  his  new  book,  “Leader’s  Eat  Last:  Why  Some  Teams  Pull  Together  and  Others  Don’t.”    The  driving  point  of  his  new  book  is  that  fundamentally,  a  leader  is  like  a  parent.  Parents  put  their  children’s  needs  in  front  of  their  own.  They  fight  for  their  children’s  success  and  hope  that  their  children  will  live  a  better  life  than  their  own.  Sinek  notes  that  these  are  all  the  same  attitudes  of  a  great  leader.  On  the  CBS  This  Morning  he  said,  in  regard  to  parenting,  “Leadership  is  exactly,  exactly  the  same.  Leaders  are  the  ones  who  are  willing  to  risk,  when  it  matters,  their  own  interests,  so  that  others  may  advance.”    Sinek  also  mentions  that  both  roles  are  fun  in  the  beginning  before  the  hard  work  begins.  The  joy  of  having  a  baby  is  quickly  followed  by  the  reality  that  a  ton  of  hard  work  follows  with  raising  a  child.  Sinek  equates  that  to  a  company,  “Starting  the  company,  that’s  the  fun.  But,  actually  becoming  a  leader  and  choosing  to  put  peoples’  interests  before  your  own,  that’s  a  choice.”    Sinek  stresses  that  great  work  environments  are  based  on  trust  and  cooperation.  These  are  not  things  that  you  can  simply  tell  people  to  do.  A  great  leader  must  create  an  environment  that  fosters  trust  and  cooperation  because  of  dependability.  Employers  can  do  this  by  choosing  to  be  a  great  leader  and  putting  their  employees  first.    The  title  of  Sinek’s  new  book,  “Leader’s  Eat  Last,”  came  from  a  Marine  general.  “When  you  go  to  any  chow  hall…you  will  see  the  Marines  line  up  in  rank  order-­‐  most  junior  first  and  most  senior  last.  It’s  not  in  any  rulebook  and  no  one  tells  them  they  have  to.  They  do  it  because  that’s  how  they  view  leadership.  We  view  leadership  as  rank;  they  view  it  as  a  responsibility.”      

Andrew  Brunhart  is  currently  leading  the  start-­‐up  of  new  functions  for  the  Bureau  of  Engraving  and  Printing  focusing  on  strategic  change,  portfolio  and  project  management,  order  management  and  delivery  systems,  and  quality  assurance.  Previously,  Andrew  Brunhart  was  Chief  Operating  Officer  of  the  United  States  Mint  charged  with  leading  a  turnaround  to  become  a  learning,  accountable,  results-­‐oriented  organization.  Prior  to  this  service,  he  was  Chief  Executive  Officer  of  the  Washington  Suburban  Sanitary  Commission  (WSSC)  in  Laurel,  Maryland,  the  nation’s  eighth  largest  combined  water  and  wastewater  utility  serving  2M  citizens  of  two  counties.  In  that  capacity,  Andrew  Brunhart  led  utility-­‐wide  turnaround  efforts  and  guided  revitalization  of  Engineering  and  Capital  Programs  ($1.5B)  proactively  addressing  WSSC’s  aging  infrastructure  via  1,500  employees.  During  his  tenure,  WSSC  received  recognition  as  one  of  the  “Best  Places  to  Work”  in  Maryland  for  three  consecutive  years.