“Leadership is not about being in charge. It’s about taking care of those in your charge.”
Simon Sinek
Who do you serve? That’s the real question. Leadership isn’t about holding a title or standing at the top of the mountain; it’s about the people standing with you. Ask yourself: How am I serving the people I am charged to lead?
Leadership is often expressed in terms of results, goals, and objectives. That is management, where we focus on performance metrics and achievements. Leadership is aligning people towards a shared vision, enabling and empowering their best work, and serving others. Real leadership is about ensuring the success and well-being of those we’re entrusted to lead. (Even if that makes they find that success elsewhere…) What if the measure of leadership is not how well we hit our targets but how effectively we empower others to hit theirs?
Think about the best leader you’ve ever worked for. What made them stand out? Did they make you feel like your success was important to them, or were they more concerned with their own accolades? The best leaders don’t lead for themselves; they lead for others. They are servant leaders focused on elevating those around them. These leaders understand that their role is to serve their teams, not the other way around. I wrote about this previously in a post titled, “It isn’t about YOU,” about my first mentor’s impact on how I view and understand leadership.
It’s easy to get caught up in the idea that leadership is about being in control, calling the shots, or driving the agenda. But true leadership requires humility, empathy, and a genuine desire to make others better. If your leadership is about you, your impact will always be limited. But if your leadership is about others, the effect can be limitless.
I highly recommend Simon Sinek’s book “Leaders Eat Last,” which is the source of today’s quote.
How are you taking care of those you lead today?
