Ask yourself, who is the best boss I ever worked for? If you were asked why they were the best, you would probably say things like:
- “She was so positive.”
- “He made me feel appreciated.”
- “She took the time to know me and coach me.”
- “He listened carefully.”
- “I felt like she would do anything for me.”
Most likely you wouldn’t say things like:
- “He was really good with processes and numbers.”
- “She knew how to really keep us on task.”
- “He was good at sticking to rules and plans.”
- “She was great at making sure we always came in under budget.”
- “He could really dish out consequences if something went wrong.”
The former set of statements speaks to a leader, the latter speaks to a manager. While the skills of managers are important, to be considered a great leader, you have to be and do so much more. You must focus on improving productivity, but you must deeply care about improving people’s lives. Changing numbers and processes is part of your duties, but changing lives is your calling.
When you deeply care about those you lead, they will deeply care about you. And it is always easier to lead a group of people who care. It’s what I call heart based leadership. And heart based leaders create loyal and results focused teams and organizations. Managers create a following of people that do just enough to get a paycheck. They protect themselves from getting in trouble and do just enough to stay out of trouble. Heart based leaders create a following of people who believe and are willing to give every bit of focus and energy they have to accomplish the team and organizations vision and goals.
If your team was asked what kind of leader you are, what would they say?
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