Introduction
Why would anyone follow you? If you’re the smartest one in the room, that’s a problem – you’re supposed to surround yourself with people smarter than yourself. If you’re the domineering, brow-beating type, you may get compliance in the short term, but will excellent people really stick around when far more fulfilling options exist? The best leaders truly serve their colleagues. They create environments where individuals can grow, excel, and have impact. They live by the organization’s values, and they subjugate themselves to the organization’s Mission. Maslow’s famous hierarchy is easily applied to careers: through employment, people can gain their most basic needs – food, shelter, and clothing, but they can also gain property and security, friendships, belonging, and connection to others, respect and recognition, and yes, even self-actualization. If a leader can create an environment where we are all free (autonomy) and supported to become our best selves (mastery), and we each have an opportunity to put a dent in the universe (purpose), who wouldn’t want to follow?
Resources
- The Endurance / Shackleton & Shackleton’s Captain (True leadership vs. Hollywood leadership)
- The Aviator (Leadership, Innovation)
- The Admiral (Leadership, Context
- 12 Angry Men (Leadership, Empathy, Negotiations)
- O’Clock High (Leadership, Operational Excellence)