"A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves."
Lao Tzu
We tend to picture a leader as the loudest person in the room. The one out front, holding the mic, taking the credit. Sharma makes the opposite case, and it's one of the ideas from this week's book that stuck with me most, because it reminds me of my grandfather.
He was a true leader. He served in the Navy in WWII, ran several businesses, flew his own plane, and did plenty of other things that would add up to success in today's world. But his real leadership showed in how he made people feel.
A few years ago I drove up a long, sandy driveway in a remote part of a Caribbean island. A woman who must have been close to a hundred came out of her house to greet me. When I told her whose grandson I was, she started to cry. She hadn't seen him in at least thirty years, because that's how long he'd been gone. Isn't that how we all want to be remembered? Isn't that the best legacy of all?
That's the kind of leadership Sharma is pointing at. He argues the genuinely great are usually the humble ones, because a person who's secure on the inside doesn't need the spotlight. They spend their energy lifting other people up instead of advertising themselves. The one hungry for credit usually isn't the leader. They're just the one who needs to look like one. Real strength is quiet.
One thing to try today
Find one chance to lift someone up and let them have the credit. Praise the work out loud, hand off the win, make the introduction. Then say nothing about your part.
Who lifted you when you needed it, and did they ever ask for credit? Hit reply, I read every one.
I'll go first: a guy named Andy once handed me a job I had no experience or resume to justify, only his belief in me, and my belief in myself. I've spent the years since trying to be that for other people.
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Talk tomorrow,
Mike
Practical wisdom for the life you're building