Are you an important person? Are you perhaps even a Very Important Person? Are you so important that you’re more important than someone else?
If the answer to those first two questions was a resounding yes then good for you. Understanding that you have value in this world and to those around you is healthy and in fact necessary for success.
If however, your answer to that third question was also a yes, even a hesitant yes, well then not so good for you.
It’s great to know that no one in this world is more important than you. But…. it’s only useful to know if you also know that you’re no more important than anyone else. As you’re sitting in the back seat of a limousine watching someone board the city bus for their commute to work you may start feeling pretty good about your station in life. That’s fine, you have likely earned what you have. But it’s vital that you understand that “what you have” doesn’t make you a better or more important human being than someone who may have less “stuff” or a lower position in their organization.
Leaders are people, just people. They begin to fail as a leader the moment they begin to think they are something more. They begin to lose touch with the world and the people who make them a leader. Their view of reality begins to cloud over and they begin to believe that they “deserve” more than the people they lead.
Leaders who think they are better people than those they lead build walls between themselves and their people. They kill the morale of the people that both the leader and their people will need to succeed. Leaders who think they are better people than anyone else are very limited leaders.
They miss the most vital part of leadership: an understanding that leadership is about people, people and only people. Anything in business, or life, not related to people is just management or process. When people are involved, it’s leadership.
Anything that someone in a leadership position does that separates them from their people makes them a less effective leader. ANYTHING!
No one is more important than you and you’re no more important than anyone else. When you live your life with that simple balance people will be drawn to you. Your leadership experience will be one that makes a difference for everyone it touches.
Now that’s pretty darn important!
I learned that you have to create an atmosphere that causes people to want to do their best for you. Sounds difficult, but really easy to accomplish. If every time something goes wrong just have to ask yourself how you would like to be approached first. Then treat all ppl. as equal to yourself as it’s a team and one excels the team excels, the same if one fails, it’s a team failure.
Hi Robert, there’s a name for people like you….its Leader! I agree with you 100#. If a leader just demonstrates respect for their people the way you describe everything becomes possible.
Reblogged this on Gr8fullsoul.