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Help me prepare and run the exercise below. First ask for my participant count, time, setting, access needs and intended result. Check these against the stated limits. Use the supplied rules and materials. Explain any proposed changes before using them, and label them as adaptations. Do not invent source claims or require personal disclosure. Give me one step at a time when I say start. I manage the people, physical activity and clock; do not claim to observe the room. Ask me what happened before choosing a next step.

Reference revision: 28d8e37307774d69183c81e12194bef4cd6c620cd6117f0864caacfbd0b7f649

# Leaders Eat Last Workshop

Participants examine Simon Sinek's Circle of Safety model, discuss professional challenges in pairs, and complete an action plan with specific behaviors to support teammates.

**Time:** 85 minutes. Source specifies an 85-minute workshop agenda across three core modules and a closing commitment.
**People:** 4 to 24. Whole group presentation, pairs for discussion (one triad if total count is odd), and small groups of 3 or 4 for action planning (groups of 3 and 4 ensure all participants fit from 4 to 24).

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Identify behaviors that protect team members and produce a concrete action list for peer support.
**Use it when:** Use during leadership development or team retreats when groups need to define practical supportive behaviors.
**Skip it when:** Skip during acute internal conflict, active performance reviews, or when participants lack psychological safety to reflect on mistakes.

## Materials and tools

- Whiteboard or presentation slides
- Markers (1 per subgroup and facilitator markers)
- Index cards (1 per participant)
- Printed Team Action Plan Template handout (1 per participant)
- Sticky notes (1 pad per table)
- Scratch paper (optional, for remote participants)

## Before participants arrive

1. Draw two concentric circles on the whiteboard labeled Inside the Circle (Safety, Trust, Mutual Support) and Outside the Circle (External Pressures, Danger, Uncertainty).
2. Distribute printed Team Action Plan Template handouts, sticky notes, and index cards to tables.
3. Arrange seating to allow both pair discussions and small groups of 3 to 4 people.

## Say this to open

Welcome. Today we will explore what Simon Sinek describes as the Circle of Safety, where leaders extend protection to their teams so members can work without internal fear. We will look at what creates safety, exchange work-related lessons from difficult moments, and produce specific actions we can take to back each other up.

## How to run it

### 1. Introduce the Circle of Safety (15 minutes)

Present the concept using the whiteboard diagram. Explain that external threats are constant, but internal safety comes from leaders and peers protecting each other rather than competing internally. Deliver the opening script and outline the session flow.

### 2. Reflect on safety and risk (15 minutes)

Ask participants to reflect on environments where they felt secure enough to take a professional risk versus times they felt guarded. Invite 3 to 4 voluntary reflections aloud to the whole room, or invite participants to write observations on sticky notes and post them to the board. Direct contributors to focus on team conditions rather than naming individuals.

### 3. Pair exchange on professional learning (20 minutes)

Form pairs. If there is an odd number of participants, form one group of three. Instruct partners to share a professional challenge or mistake they navigated and what insight came from it. Each person takes up to 8 minutes (or 5 minutes each in a triad), with remaining time to swap notes. Participants may choose how much detail to disclose.

### 4. Reflect on sharing challenges (10 minutes)

Reconvene the full group. Ask how acknowledging mistakes impacts daily collaboration and trust. Take 2 to 3 voluntary comments.

### 5. Complete action plan in small groups (15 minutes)

Organize participants into subgroups of 3 to 4. Direct each group to brainstorm and fill out sections 1, 2, and 3 on their Team Action Plan Template handouts: feedback and communication, recognition and credit, and learning from mistakes. Ensure ideas describe observable actions, such as 'debrief project obstacles without blame within 24 hours'.

### 6. Consolidate team action plan (5 minutes)

Have each subgroup read their top concrete action from their templates. Record non-duplicative actions on the central whiteboard to create a shared reference list for the entire room.

### 7. Write personal commitment cards (5 minutes)

Summarize the workshop themes. Direct participants to section 4 of their handout and the index cards on their tables. Ask everyone to select one personal action from the shared whiteboard and write it on their index card to execute over the next 14 days. Participants keep their card or share it optionally.


## Debrief questions

- Which behaviors on our list most directly reduce fear of making mistakes?
- What makes it difficult in daily operations to extend protection to team members?
- How will we notice if our team's Circle of Safety is weakening?

**Finished output:** A consolidated whiteboard list of practical supportive behaviors and an individual commitment card kept by each participant.

## Remote

Display the Circle of Safety diagram via screen share. Run the reflection using virtual breakout rooms in pairs (20 minutes) and groups of 3 to 4 (15 minutes). Provide the action plan template as a shared digital document. Capture group actions on a shared collaborative digital whiteboard. For the final commitment, participants view the consolidated list on the shared whiteboard and record their commitment in a private digital note or on scratch paper.

## Hybrid

Pair in-person attendees with in-person partners and remote attendees with remote partners. Assign one unified digital whiteboard so all participants contribute their support behaviors to the same document in real time.

## Access and participation choices

- Participants may share a hypothetical scenario or third-party case study during the pair exercise instead of personal history.
- Speaking during whole-room debriefs is voluntary; contributions can also be submitted silently on sticky notes or chat.
- Index card commitments remain private to the author unless they voluntarily choose to discuss them.

## If the session gets stuck

**Participants turn the pair exercise into a grievance session about current management.**

Intervene and redirect attention to the prompt: focus on personal learning and recovery from the challenge, not attributing blame.

**Brainstormed actions are vague, like 'be more supportive'.**

Ask the group for an operational example: 'What would a video camera record you doing to show that support?'


## Terms used here

- Circle of Safety: Simon Sinek's model where organizational conditions protect members from internal friction, allowing them to face external challenges together.

## Participant material: Team Action Plan Template

Leaders Eat Last Action Plan

1. Feedback and Communication
What concrete habit will ensure team members receive candid, protective feedback?
Action:

2. Recognition and Credit
How will we ensure contributions are credited fairly and openly?
Action:

3. Learning from Mistakes
What process will we follow when a project fails or an error occurs to focus on learning rather than blame?
Action:

4. Personal Commitment (Transfer to Index Card):
One observable action I will take within the next 14 days:
Action:

## Sources and adaptation

Observed on WorkshopBank as an activity credited to concepts in Simon Sinek's book Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't.

Retained the three-step framework (Circle of Safety presentation, vulnerability sharing, people-first action plan) from WorkshopBank. UWT structured step timings to match the source 85-minute total, unified the action plan template with the small-group task, defined group sizes from 4 to 24 with odd-number rules, and added access options.

[WorkshopBank](https://workshopbank.com/tools/leaders-eat-last-workshop)

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/leaders-eat-last-workshop-workshopbank/