Anyone who has ever worked with me will know that my leadership style is very much about "We" and not "Me". I derive much more satisfaction from helping someone, or a team I work with, achieve something they didn't believe possible than getting credit or plaudits of my own.
At work we know how much more rewarding it is to have the freedom and trust of your bosses and peers to suggest and make changes which are in the interest of improved employee safety, customer satisfaction, product quality, process efficiency and reduced waste.
As leaders it takes courage to trust those we work with and often the way in which leaders themselves are measured and rewarded often pushes them to be more about telling and dictating to achieve personal gain. This can ultimately suck the fun and motivation out of those around them.
The irony is the higher up the organisation you get the further you are from and less able to directly control those people who have the biggest role in driving value for customers and consumers and hence your success
So you need to make a decision "fear and punishment" or "engage and inspire"
In recent years the terms "Humble Leadership" and "Servant Leadership" are becoming more common.
I came across this article from the Harvard Business Review which is spot on for me in capturing the essence of what this style of leadership is and why we all need to be that bit more humble if we are to create success for ourselves and others. Theres some great further reading too!
Enjoy!
