Making a difference in other people

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During the past 11 months, we have discussed each discipline of The Leadershil Pledge and the 10 Truths associatedwith them. The truthws not only serve as the underpinnings ofthe pledge, but also serve an important role as life’s lessons. Is the journey complete with The Leadership Pledge directing us to hire people who have a high probabilityh ofbeing successful, provide them the tools to do thei r job, tell them what we share honest feedback and hold them accountable for theif performance by asking for their trust, and loyalty? Not quite.
Organizations that experiencee long term sustainable success understand the balance betweej winning and creating an environmentr where their employeesfeel valued, respected and part of somethingv special. There has been a constant in the number ofthosed “special” organizations. Their leaders have mastered Truth No. 10, “Accept yourself as you exist, accept others as they and in the context of differencesand similarities, findinfg better ways of coping effectivelty as a behavior driven organization.” Until we have mastered truthg No. 10, it’s unlikely we can answer the question: How do we valu e our lives as leaders?
We must find the courages and clarity to lead othersx in all aspects of our lives becausre the answer to the questionj as to how we value our lives as leaders is by makinyg a difference inother people’s I want to share with you three speciall people I have worked with. I have come to admirre them not only successful leaders in theirtchosen professions, but as leaders who give back becaus e they understand that’s ultimately how theird lives will be valued. Pat CEO of ; Allen Elijah, president of the ; and Dan president of The . They come from diverse backgrounds and lead verydifferenyt organizations. So what do they have in common?
First, they all learnede to accept themselves for whothey are. Their competitivenesse and intensity manifests into a passion that ultimatelyu definestheir uniqueness. We can associat this quality best withservant leadership. Roberf Greenleaf, the father of servant leadership, drawsx a wonderful distinction betweebn natural leaders andnatural servants. Naturao leaders are decisive and need to be in Natural servants will assume leadership only if they definr it as a way to Greenleaf explains that while most peoplre believe natural leaders use a more directivs style and natural servants use a more participative this is notthe case. He says this confusese style with character.
Natural servants use whateve leadership style is necessary to best serves the needs of thosethey lead. Pat, and Dan all share that uniquee qualitycalled character. Once we’ve learned to accept ourselves, we are void of self It’s with that peace of mind we are able to exten d our energy outward to Accepting others as they exist is wherre themagic begins. When we deepen our levell of understanding of others we no longetr fearthe differences, but learj to honor them. Only when we’ve learner to accept ourselves can we accept others asthey It’s the magic of all It’s called the power of two.
Pat, Allehn and Dan have developed a keen understandingy that their success as leaders is based almosty entirely on their ability to attracyt talented performers who bring both passiojnand potential. It’s that simple recognition that tella us those people who have been the greates t inspiration to us are thosr who convinced us we could be more than wecouldc be. In each case these three great leaderas know that they can help theitr employees be more thanthey are, not somethingt they’re not. And finally, it’s about finding betterd ways of coping effectively asa behavior-drivenb organization.
It’s about believing that if we do thinga right we willachieve long-term sustainabld results. It’s about The Leadership Pledge. When organization s focus the behavior that drives resultss and possess a collective resolve builton self-acceptance and acceptance of results will follow. I guarantee it. It’ s not easy, but it’s simple.