Successful companies don’t necessarily hire the most expert employees. Rather, they employ groups of people that work together the most effectively. Much business literature suggests that teams will perform best with proper management. Yet, the fact is, employees cannot be managed out of a crisis, nor into victory; they can only be led.

Many discussions of management theory and practices often fall short in explaining what Simon Sinek believes truly makes a difference for a corporation’s culture and financial success: leadership. His latest book, the New York Times bestseller, Leaders Eat Last, presents a unique perspective on leadership, exploring what makes for an effective team and why often overlooked qualities of leaders, like self-sacrifice and empathy, are crucial.

Sinek’s 2009 TED talk explains themes from his previous book Start With Why. In the speech — which became the second most viewed video in the history of the TED website, with over 15 million views to date — Sinek provides case studies and witty insight to communicate the importance of a strong business mission. Leaders Eat Last shows that while the heart of an organization is its mission, its strength is its people.

In this interview, Sinek explains why empathy is more than just a nice feeling for a leader to extend to his colleagues. Empathy is actually strategic (in a positive way), with significant implications for the bottom line. We also discuss why Genereration X and Y are so often misunderstood as “entitled” and what it really takes to effectively lead these ambitious groups. Even though he and I both agree that selfishness and self-interest seem prevalent across many companies today, Sinek also explains why he remains confident that his argument for empathic leadership can and will be applied by more corporations going forward. We end on a personal note as Sinek shares examples of his own growth as a leader and why his grandfather was the exemplar of unconventional but transformational leadership.

Leaders Eat Last is available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and 800ceoread. Order an autographed copy here.