The Selfless Leader: Some Thoughts on Acting Responsibly When in a Position of Authority
When you are in a position of authority, for example, as a supervisor, manager, leader, parent, or politician, it is very easy to feel that you have earned the right to behave selfishly. After all, that is the way many people, including many of our role models, really behave. Certainly, temptations are always present. Each and every small step taken can be justified and then followed by a commitment not to repeat it. Soon you find yourself taking another step and then another. Eventually, you stop worrying about the need for self-justification. Surely you have earned the right to behave how you want and the way most others behave.
We seem to have gotten stuck in a rut, where the only strategy for personal success is apparently based on pushing everyone else to the ground. Since almost everyone follows the same strategy, it becomes difficult to see real alternatives. Especially since this strategy seems to lead to success. But it is a hollow success. It is like a building that has been eaten by termites. On the outside, everything looks fine, but as soon as you touch it, it starts to fall apart. All strength, vitality and goodness have been removed from within. It takes very little for the facade to crumble into dust.
This is the risk that many people take with their careers following a selfish strategy. If things go wrong, and when things go wrong, they have no strength or support left; everything has been devoured by your selfish actions in the past. There is another way to achieve success. Is not easy. It requires hard work, commitment and effort. But it leads to better, stronger, longer-lasting, more solid success. One that can withstand the setbacks that will inevitably arise and will help you deal with them.
That is the value of the selfless approach to leadership. Selfless leadership is defined in the pioneering research by Dalton and Thompson that led to the four stages of contribution model. Effective leaders consistently demonstrate behaviors from Stages 3 and 4.
Read on for some thoughts and ideas to help you on your way to becoming an effective and selfless leader.
Selfless leaders take the time to develop and act on the following;
- Constantly ‘letting go’ of detailed work. The selfless leader knows that his job is to understand the big picture. To help interpret what’s going on out there for the benefit of those inside. He cannot do this if he spends too much time on detailed work. This is what the selfless leader delegates to others.
- Focus more on the results achieved than on the exact methods of completion. Don’t assume you have a monopoly on the best way to get the job done. Different people work in different ways. Value and encourage this diversity, even if it leads to awkward moments. Encourage your people to learn to understand more about their most and least effective ways of working. And do the same for your staff.
- Use the time to learn more about the organization and broaden your understanding of the market. You cannot be effective if you only ‘see’ the world through your specific narrow functional area. Learn to appreciate the context in which your organization operates, to better understand what other functions contribute to the purpose and overall success of the organization.
- Engage in activities outside your functional area of expertise. An extension of 3 above. Participate in additional assignments and projects that expose you to different areas of the business. Learn, learn and learn some more. Meet people, get to know them. Build strong relationships of mutual support. These relationships are the foundation of your future success. Treat them as they wish to be treated and you will earn their respect.
- Delegate best or choice assignments as well as routine. It is very easy to reserve the best and most exciting projects and tasks for you. So easy and so selfish. Whose! Let your people take care of them. Let them learn from them. Show that you have their best interests at heart. It will help ensure that they develop their skills, increase their commitment and motivation. That means they are more likely to tackle essential but mundane everyday tasks with the same enthusiasm and commitment.
- Make time to help others. Be generous with your time and share your skills, experience and ideas with others.
- Let others learn from their mistakes. If you want people to learn, you have to give them a rope and, from time to time, hang themselves. It is much more effective than telling them what will happen. Of course, you may be surprised. What you expected to fail can become a success. Either way, giving people room to miss sometimes without getting shot is another powerful way to build their confidence, skills, and motivation. As a selfless leader, your role is to give them that space. It does so having measured and understood the risks. That is still your responsibility.
- Allow others to come up with their own answers to problems.. Too much storytelling turns people off. If you persist in giving people the answers to their problems, they will soon stop trying to learn for themselves. They quickly become dependent on you. You will discover that they cannot take the initiative. Avoid this by becoming a great trainer. Empower people to help them discover answers for themselves. Step by step you will be developing stronger and more effective people, who will see you as the great selfless person that you are. Someone who has helped others succeed.
- Allow others to be the ‘experts’. When you were climbing, you were expected to be the expert. That’s what your reputation was built on. Now that you’re on top, you need to stop trying to be the expert. Let others do that. It is one of the most difficult aspects of being a selfless leader. Because every fiber of your being wants you to stay in your comfort zone. You’ve been there, you’ve done it, and you’ve received the jersey. So what? You cannot be a functional expert and be good at leading. What you, your people and the business need is to increase the breadth of your knowledge.
- Share the credit when others succeed. Be delighted when others do a great job. Make sure your successes are communicated. Promote them instead of yourself. Let them become your ambassadors. Others will see this and decide they want to work for you. You will have access to the best talent in your organization.
- Share your internal and external networks with others. Selfless leaders know that their primary role is to ensure the success of their organizations. Connections and networks have the power to do this, so they happily share their networks and make the necessary connections.
- Successfully sell or defend the ideas and work of others.. If someone has a great idea, be open to it. Actively support and promote it. Avoid the ‘not invented here’ syndrome. You have no time for negative or insular thoughts. Only selfish and insecure managers take this approach.
- Allow others to do their work without micromanaging them. Micromanagement is the hallmark of the Selfish Manager. For the Selfless Leader it is something to be avoided at all costs. Letting go, through effective delegation, builds the trust of your staff and increases their trust in you. It does the same for you. As your people grow in capacity, so does your trust in them and you let yourself go even further. Over time, you build a team of people who can do more and faster than you could on your own.
- Successfully coordinate and integrate the work of others to create business solutions.. This is the main role that selfless leaders play. They create better futures based on the work of others. They do this by harnessing people’s talents and passions to deliver much more than any one person could alone.
If you can approach the rest of your life as a selfless leader showing true and unconditional “generosity of spirit” to all with whom you work, live, and play, sooner or later you will reap considerable benefits.
