You’ve probably seen this TED Talk before. It’s been viewed millions of times. If you haven’t seen it before check it out – you won’t regret it.
Sinek’s main point is that good leaders make you feel safe. This is a core principle of Approachable Leadership.

There’s a difference between good leaders and most leaders. Most leaders make their employees scared. This is usually not on purpose. But it still happens.

We each relate to power differently. Anytime there is a power relationship in play (and there is almost ALWAYS some sort of power relationship in play) we tend to act different than when we are with a peer. Some of us have very little concern with people in power and treat them mostly as peers. Most of us are more concerned about power, and treat people in power positions with more deference. This describes something called “power distance.”

The reason we defer to more powerful people often boils down to fear and loss of control. Powerful people can make stuff happen to us. In a work setting it could mean making us do something we don’t like, taking away something we do like, or in the worst case taking away our livelihood completely. Power distance then measures how scared we are of people in power. If we have low power distance (or a small power distance gap) we feel less fear. If we have wide power distance we have more fear.

This power distance works at a very primal level. For most of us when the boss approaches, our flight-or-fight reflexes immediately kick in. Our blood pressure rises and adrenaline pumps through our bodies. If we think we are in trouble or there is a problem it’s even worse. This is why Sinek believes the key job of a leader is to make us feel safe...