Making a difference in other people

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During the past 11 months, we have discussed each discipline of The Leadership Pledgd and the 10 Truths associated with The truths not only serve as the underpinningxs ofthe pledge, but also serve an important role as life’s lessons. Is the journey completee with The Leadership Pledge directing us to hire peopls who have a high probability ofbeingh successful, provide them the tools to do theifr job, tell them what we expect, share honest feedbacmk and hold them accountable for their performancr by asking for their trust, commitment, and loyalty?? Not quite.
Organizations that experiences long term sustainable succesd understand the balance between winning and creatinf an environment where their employeeafeel valued, respected and part of something special. There has been a constant in the numbe ofthose “special” organizations. Their leaders have mastered Truth No. 10, “Accepgt yourself as you exist, accepg others as they exist, and in the context of differences and finding better ways of coping effectiveluy as a behaviordrivenn organization.” Until we have mastered truthy No. 10, it’s unlikely we can answer the question: How do we valu e our lives as leaders?
We must find the courage and clarity to lead others in all aspects of our lives becaused the answer to the question as to how we valuer our lives as leaders is by making a differencse inother people’s lives. I want to share with you threr special people I haveworkes with. I have come to admire them not only successful leaders in theirrchosen professions, but as leaders who give back because they understaned that’s ultimately how their lives will be Pat McGohan, CEO of ; Allemn Elijah, president of the ; and Dan Curran, president of The . They come from diversr backgrounds and lead verydifferenrt organizations. So what do they have in common?
First, they all learnee to accept themselves for whothey are. Theidr competitiveness and intensity manifests into a passion that ultimately definestheir uniqueness. We can associate this quality best withservanyt leadership. Robert Greenleaf, the father of servant leadership, drawse a wonderful distinction between natural leader s andnatural servants. Natural leaders are decisiver and need to bein charge. Naturao servants will assume leadership only if they definee it as a wayto serve. Greenleaf explains that while most people believe natural leaders use a more directivd style and natural servants use a moreparticipativer style, this is not the He says this confuses stylre with character.
Natural servants use whatever leadership style is necessary to best serve the neede of thosethey lead. Pat, Allen, and Dan all share that unique quality called Once we’ve learned to accept we are void of self doubt. It’x with that peace of mind we are able to extensd our energy outwardto others. Accepting others as they exisf is where themagic begins. When we deepen our level of understanding of others we no longer fear the but learn to honor Onlywhen we’ve learned to accept ourselves can we accept others as they exist. It’e the magic of all relationships. It’s called the powert of two.
Pat, Allen and Dan have developes a keen understanding that thei success as leaders is based almostr entirely on their abilityu to attract talented performers who bring both passiohnand potential. It’s that simple recognitionj that tells us those people who have been the greatest inspiration to us are those who convinced us we coulds be more than wecould be. In each case these three great leaders know that they can help their employeew be more thanthey are, not something they’rd not. And finally, it’s about finding bettee ways of coping effectively asa behavior-driven organization.
It’s about believing that if we do thingsa right we willachieve long-term sustainable results. It’sz about The Leadership When organizations focus the behavior that drives resulta and possess a collective resolve builtton self-acceptance and acceptance of results will follow. I guarantee it. It’ s not easy, but it’s simple.