The Selfless Leader
What drives you to lead others?
This can be a tricky question to answer! As a leader, you probably want to serve your company's vision, reach your goals, and help other people as much as you can.
These goals often work in harmony. But what do you do when leading and serving someone puts more work on your plate? What do you do when leading someone who cannot offer you anything in return?
Leaders can easily fall into the trap of serving others to gain something from them, not because they truly care. This mentality occurs when leaders get so focused on their own desires that they forget that leadership is actually all about service!
The New Living Translation puts it this way:
“Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.” Romans 12:9-10
We live in a world that does not fully understand what it means to love and serve others. People tend to have transactional relationships where they are only willing to serve someone if they think they can get something in return. Leaders who pretend to love others will say one thing to their employees during one-on-one meetings and another to their boss or coworkers later in the day. They will see their employees as someone who can help them reach their goals, not as individuals with their own hopes and dreams. Leadership requires selflessness and a continued dedication to serving others.
If you’re not sure how to be a selfless leader, start by trying these three things:
1. Examine your motives. Take some time to examine your heart and be honest with yourself. Helping people who can help you does not make you a bad person! Everyone can fall into this trap from time to time. However, this mentality will limit your impact, so it is essential to identify and correct it as soon as possible.
2. Be a giver. Try to give more than you take. I end all of my meetings with my employees, contractors, or volunteers if there is anything I can do for them. Sometimes, their requests have nothing to do with the job at hand. People have asked me for a reference, an introduction to someone I know, or even help with a personal problem. If people don’t give you any suggestions, find creative ways to give to them!
3. Recognize effort. Leaders are hard-wired to find problems and fix them. As a result, we can overlook the excellent work that people are doing. Schedule blocks of time to appreciate people! You can do something as simple as writing a thank you note or giving them a public compliment in your next meeting. Recognizing people will also ensure you don’t take your team’s work for granted.
The true meaning of leadership isn’t just reaching a sales goal, getting a promotion, or achieving an organizational goal. Leadership is about helping other people reach their full potential.
There have been times in my life when I have had to decide to serve selflessly. Sometimes, I had to provide extra support for an employee who was going through a personal crisis. In other situations, I gave my time to mentor and coach people who had nothing to offer me in return. It would be easy to claim that I’m too busy or the mission is too critical to serve selflessly. But in reality, the mission is too critical not to serve selflessly.
Leaders have a high calling and the opportunity to change people’s careers and their lives for the better!
Think about the leaders who made an impact in your life. Were they leading for their own sake? Or did they genuinely want you to succeed? My guess is the latter.
So my final question is this: Are you willing to serve selflessly to make the same impact in another person’s life?