Great leaders help people to improve, to capitalize on their talents, and to learn to be the best version of themselves. They coach, guide, direct, and facilitate others as a means of making them more skillful, productive, and satisfied. They challenge others with long-term goals and visions that are larger than themselves. They make them a part of a cohesive team and include them in the decisions that affect them. They sacrifice their time, energy, and focus so others can excel.
Leadership, in its best form, is a wildly generous act.
But every time a leader teaches, coaches or mentors others to a better outcome, they also make themselves better. By working to improve others, they invariably improve themselves. By explaining and showing others how to make the most of situations, they absorb their own lessons, creating a clarity of thinking and doing that informs their own choices.
Great leaders work hard for others as a means of making themselves better. In this way, leadership is both an act of generosity and an act of self-focus.
Ironically, the more selfish a leader is to achieve personal growth and development, the better they are at helping others succeed. They learn about themselves with every choice they make for others. Even servant leaders appreciate the fact that they derive great self-satisfaction from service. The more they serve others, the more they learn how to serve themselves.
Perhaps the professor turned spiritual guru Ram Dass said it best: “I help people as a way to work on myself, and I work on myself to help people.” Working on themselves by helping others is what great leaders do. Think about it.
A Daily Dispatch from the Front Lines of Leadership.
