On People-Centered Leadership

I always have to suppress a rant when I see “leaders” refuse to build relationships with their people in the name of maintaining distinctions of authority. It’s one of the worst, most selfish cop-outs in the business. It also happens to be ultimately counterproductive, because it’s simple human nature for followers/team members to respond best to leaders who show a genuine interest in their well-being and in their existence/identity outside of the team itself.

This requires consistent intentionality (I know, it’s my favorite word) on the part of the leader – intentionality that makes interactions count by communicating a general willingness to place the follower’s concerns and needs front and center in his own life. Old military veterans will call it “taking care of your people.” I like to call it service – a little concept that is often lost in our dog-eat-dog, self-seeking modern culture. Easy to talk about, hard to live, and requiring daily, hourly, people-centered choices on the part of the leader.

Leadership that is solely task-oriented isn’t leadership at all – it’s merely management. True leadership acquires its influence through service and focuses on the whole person, not just the role he/she plays in the mission. If you really want to build your team’s productivity, start by building up their persons first.

And get ready for the long haul – trust and loyalty are not earned in a day, but once they are given, they become catalysts for dynamic, cohesive, and unified teams.