Recently, we had John U. Bacon to Service Express for our Leadership Speaker Series. The most recent session focused on diversity, and a few key takeaways stood out to me. Here are a few reminders that are crucial to good leadership:
- Have each other’s back.
To lead successfully, we need to care about each other. Caring about each other and having each other’s backs is key to success. People need to know that you care about them. As John C. Maxwell says, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
We have to have each other’s backs; if one of us is struggling, all of us are struggling. Don’t point fingers or tell people to do better. Ask, “how can I help you? What can we do? We’re all in this together.” That’s a vital part of building a strong culture.
- Lead with humility and empathy.
I cannot stand arrogant leaders; I don’t like arrogance in any shape or form. I don’t like it when people think they know it all. Some people are too proud or arrogant and don’t think they can learn anything from somebody else, especially someone below them. I cannot stand that and will not have that within the organization.
We need to lead with humility and empathy. We don’t know it all. Everyone has blind spots. We need to recognize that, understand it and surround ourselves with people who expose those blind spots so we can learn, grow and get better together.
- Walk in someone else’s shoes.
You don’t know somebody else’s experiences. This applies to diversity, but also leadership and different departments. You can’t point fingers at another teammate or department and say they’re not performing, or that’s not how it should be done. If you want to help them, go walk in their shoes. Learn and understand their experience or their job. That will help you become a better leader and team member.
There are so many applications for the reminders above, I had to share them with you. Always lead with humility and empathy and have others’ backs!
