LEADERS EAT LAST

The true price of leadership is the willingness to place the needs of others above your own. Great leaders truly care about those they are privileged to lead and understand that the true cost of the leadership privilege comes at the expense of self-interest. “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and be more, you are a leader.” John Quincy Adams.

In the linear hierarchies in which we work, we want the people at the top to see what we did. We raise our hands for recognition and reward. For most of us, the more recognition we get for our efforts from those in charge, the more successful we think we are. It is a system that works so long as that one person who supervises us stays at the company and feels no undue pressure from above… a nearly impossible standard to maintain. There is a pattern that exists in the organizations that achieve the greatest success, the ones that outmaneuver and out innovate their competitors, the ones that command the greatest respect from inside and outside their organizations, the ones with the highest loyalty and lowest churn and the ability to weather nearly every storm or challenge. These great organizations all have cultures in which the leaders provide cover from above and the people on the ground look out for each other. This is the reason they are willing to push hard and take the kinds of risks they do. And the way any organization can achieve this is with empathy.

Why can’t we enjoy ourselves at work like we do when we’re not at work? When the people have to manage dangers from inside the organization, the organization itself becomes less able to face the dangers from outside. Truly human leadership protects an organization from the internal rivalries that can shatter a culture. When we have to protect ourselves from each other, the whole organization suffers. But when trust and cooperation thrive internally, we pull together and the organization grows stronger as a result. If certain conditions are met and the people inside an organization feel safe among each other, they will work together to achieve things none of them could have ever achieved alone. Don’t change your employees, change the conditions in which employees operate.

Happy, inspired and fulfilled employees are the exception rather than the rule in today’s corporate world. When we struggle to find happiness or a sense of belonging at work, we take that struggle home. Those who have an opportunity to work in organizations that treat them like human beings to be protected rather than a resource to be exploited come home with an intense feeling of fulfillment and gratitude. Every single employee is someone’s son or daughter. Like a parent, a leader of a company is responsible for their lives. Being a leader is like being a parent, and the company is like a new family to join. Sacrifice the numbers to save the people. Don’t sacrifice the people to save numbers.

#MMBA5