Is Our Leadership Meaningful?

 

by John Keyser

At a church service this weekend, the priest asked the question “Are you happy with your life?” I jotted a note, as it’s a great question and I wanted to remind myself of it.

Then shortly after, the priest raised the question, “Is your life meaningful?”

Later in the day, I thought about relating these questions to our leadership in business.

“Am I happy with my leadership?” and “Is my leadership meaningful?”

What are the keys to being happy with our leadership? Of course, achieving our goals is important. If we don’t, we may suffer financially.

Let’s realize, though, our responsibility as a leader goes well beyond ourselves. We have a responsibility to our team members, to help them with their learning, growth and success. That is our responsibility as a leader, to help them with our encouragement, teaching and coaching.

And that is why the second question is so impactful. Is my leadership meaningful? As a friend and thinking partner pointed out to me, that question takes our focus off ourselves and places it rightfully on our team members and our company.

Are we helping our team members feel appreciated and valued, that they are heard and their ideas matter? Do they feel that they and their work are important to our results? Do they feel that they are growing and developing towards their personal business goals? If the answers to these are all yes, then our leadership is meaningful.

The timing of this message was significant to me as it captured the essence of a meeting on Thursday. I was with the leader of a very successful team, the top performing team of a major global financial company. In discussing their 17% growth, he was all about what the team did, how well and collaboratively they work together, and how happy they are to be part of the team.

It was not about him. He gives full credit to the work, dedication and contributions of his team members. With leadership like that, I assure you, they will continue their superior results.

Yes, his leadership is meaningful, because of their results and also because he cares about his people and their needs and wants. He has a personal as well as a professional interest in their success.

My invitation over the next several weeks is to think about whether our leadership is meaningful and how we can make it even more meaningful in 2016.