We Before Me

This book opens Heart of Leaders by presenting its first core principle, We Before Me, which the authors place first because they consider it the most important. The argument starts from a simple observation: when an organization or team is dysfunctional, selfishness usually sits at the root, whether it appears as rivalry over budgets, credit, or promotions, or as an ego-driven urge to claim the credit for a team's wins. Since people achieve the most by working together, the authors treat cooperation as a practical instrument, and they suggest that companies and even nations compete best by out-cooperating their rivals.

The authors come from varied backgrounds. Their faculty includes an astronaut, a mountain climber, a chief executive, an actor, and a Navy SEAL, all of whom have led high-performance teams through hard challenges in finance and corporate life. Despite very different careers, they share a similar view of leadership, which the authors call We Before Me Leadership. The same ideas drive the yearly program for high-potential leaders known as The Heart of Leaders, run by the Center for Heart Led Leadership in Denver, Colorado.

The central claim is that putting team members first is a transformational strategy that can help any organization reach its goals more quickly and profitably, reduce stress, and deliver outstanding customer experiences. The authors draw on research from Harvard, Gallup, and Fortune's list of the 100 Best Companies to Work for to support this. The book is aimed at leaders and managers who want concrete, practical steps for building a We Before Me culture in their own companies.