You’ve felt it. That cold, prickly sensation in your gut when you walk into a meeting and realize everyone is playing defense. Nobody is sharing new ideas because they’re too busy protecting their own necks. It’s exhausting.
Honestly, most modern workplaces are designed like a battlefield where the "enemy" isn't the competition across the street—it's the person sitting in the next cubicle.
Simon Sinek calls this the lack of a Circle of Safety. He first introduced this in his book Leaders Eat Last, and while it sounds like corporate fluff at first, it’s actually rooted in the raw, messy biology of how humans survived the Stone Age. If you get the environment right, people thrive. If you get it wrong, you’re just managing a group of people who are too scared to tell you the truth.
The Raw Reality of the Circle of Safety
Basically, the Circle of Safety is an invisible boundary that a leader draws around their team. Inside that circle, the "internal" dangers—like the fear of being fired, being humiliated for a mistake, or being backstabbed by a colleague—are eliminated.
When those internal threats vanish, something incredible happens. Our brains stop wasting energy on self-protection.
Think about it. If you’re constantly worried that a "Reduction in Force" (RIF) is coming or that your boss will scream at you for a typo, you are in a state of high cortisol. You're in survival mode. You aren't thinking about innovation or how to help the company grow. You're thinking about how to update your LinkedIn profile without getting caught.
It’s Not About Being "Nice"
There is a huge misconception that a Circle of Safety means a "soft" culture where nobody is held accountable. That is totally wrong.
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Actually, it’s the opposite. In a true Circle of Safety, accountability is higher because people aren't afraid to admit when they've messed up.
In Leaders Eat Last, Sinek tells the story of "Johnny Bravo," a pilot who flew his A-10 Warthog through a thick wall of clouds and intense enemy fire to protect troops on the ground. He didn't do it for a bonus. He didn't do it because of a KPI. He did it because he knew the people on the ground would do the same for him. That's the bar.
The Chemistry of Trust (Why Your Brain Cares)
Sinek leans heavily into the "Big Four" chemicals that drive our behavior. It’s kinda fascinating once you see how it plays out in a Tuesday morning stand-up meeting.
- Dopamine & Endorphins (The Selfish Ones): These are the "get things done" chemicals. You hit a goal, you get a hit of dopamine. You run a marathon, endorphins mask the pain. They are great for individual tasks, but they don't build teams.
- Serotonin & Oxytocin (The Selfless Ones): These are the social glues. Serotonin is about pride and status—the feeling we get when we know others respect us. Oxytocin is the "trust hormone." It’s released when we feel safe, when we hug, or even when we perform a small act of kindness.
When a leader creates a Circle of Safety, they are essentially creating an Oxytocin-rich environment.
When cortisol (stress) is high, it literally blocks oxytocin. You cannot feel trust and extreme fear at the same time. Biology won't allow it. So, if your workplace is a high-stress, "rank and yank" environment, you are biologically preventing your employees from cooperating. You're paying them to work, but your culture is paying their brains to hide.
What Most Leaders Get Wrong
Most managers act like "line makers" instead of "circle makers."
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A line maker is focused on the results, the numbers, and the short-term gains. They see people as "human resources"—basically just batteries to be used up and replaced.
A circle maker realizes that the numbers are a result of the people.
The "Red Card" vs. "Yellow Card" Concept
A great real-world example of this in action is how some organizations handle mistakes. Instead of an immediate "Red Card" (firing) for every error, they use "Yellow Cards." It communicates that the behavior is a problem, but the person is still inside the circle. They are safe to learn and improve.
Only "Red Card" offenses—like stealing, harassment, or intentional sabotage—get you kicked out. This distinction allows everyone else to breathe. They know that a genuine mistake won't cost them their mortgage.
The 2026 Challenge: Circles in a Remote World
It was easier to feel "safe" when we were all in the same room, grabbing coffee and reading body language.
In 2026, the Circle of Safety is under threat because of the "digital abstraction" of work. When your boss is just a Slack avatar and your coworkers are boxes on a Zoom screen, it's easy for empathy to evaporate. We become metrics.
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To fix this, leaders have to be more intentional than ever:
- Stop the "Cover Your Back" Emails: If your team is constantly CC’ing you on every minor email just to prove they did their job, your circle is broken.
- Celebrate the "Who," not just the "What": Stop only rewarding the person who hit the highest sales. Start rewarding the person who stayed late to help a struggling teammate.
- The "Watercooler" isn't a Luxury: In a hybrid world, those "pointless" chats are where oxytocin is built. If you cut them out for "efficiency," you're cutting out the foundation of trust.
Is This Theory Too Idealistic?
Critics often say Sinek is too "Pollyanna" about this. And yeah, some of the science he uses is a bit simplified. Neuroscientists like Paul Middlebrooks have pointed out that the brain is way more complex than just "Limbic system = Why" and "Neocortex = What."
But honestly? Even if the brain mapping isn't 100% perfect, the human experience is.
We’ve all worked for a boss who made us feel like a disposable tool. We’ve also (hopefully) worked for someone who had our back. Which one did you work harder for? Which one did you stay late for without being asked?
Actionable Steps to Build Your Own Circle
You don't need to be a CEO to start this. You can build a "mini-circle" within your own small team or even between you and a partner.
- Ask for help first. Nothing signals safety like a leader saying, "I don't know how to do this, can you help me?" It gives everyone else permission to be human.
- Vulnerability is a superpower. Share a story of a time you failed. Not a "fake" failure like "I work too hard," but a real one.
- Protect the perimeter. When someone from outside your team attacks one of your people, you stand in front of them. Even if they messed up, you handle the discipline internally. To the outside world, you are a united front.
- Kill the "Abstraction." Use video. Use names. Remember that "The Marketing Department" is actually Sarah, Mike, and Elena.
Creating a Circle of Safety is a choice, not a one-time event. It’s a million small, boring, daily sacrifices of self-interest for the sake of the group. But the payoff? A team that actually wants to be there. And in today’s world, that’s the ultimate competitive advantage.
To truly start implementing this, your next move should be to audit your team's communication: look at your last ten Slack threads—are people sharing ideas freely, or are they carefully "covering their tracks"?