One of my all-time favorite leadership quotes, is from actor and politician, Clint Eastwood:
“It’s not about you. It’s about them.”
Why? The very best leaders I have ever been around have this type of ‘servitude mindset.’ They realize that their team and their customers are the most important part of the business. They realize that they would not have a job if not for the their team and the team serving the customers.
Richard Branson even goes so far as to say: “Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of your clients.”
Conversely, poor leaders (I call them managers) think, or at least act, like the world revolves around them. Preventing team members from serving customers better than anyone else, by having them build and analyze endless, mindless reports.
The worst CEO I ever reported to focused intensely on reports and analytics. The analytics were great because they showed us losing great people and loyal customers. Yet, with all that information, the CEO blamed the team for the market share and value erosion. and responded by further cutting costs and limiting the team’s ability to serve the customers. This CEO proved that their most important focus was their personal priorities.
Leadership is servitude. And servitude is making sure that your team has everything they need to deliver value to customers. If there is a stupid process that was designed by some manager for the comfort and convenience of the company, then the leader needs to blow it up and ensure that the replacement process is for the comfort of customers.
Sound simple? It should be and it is when leaders put themselves last and their teams first.