Beware of letting your ego lead…

 

An Excerpt from 212° Leadership by Mac Anderson

 
A gardener at the Disney studio left some tools in an empty parking space. When a producer drove up and saw the tools in his space, he honked at the gardener and gave the poor man a chewing out. Walt walked up and interrupted the producer’s tirade. “Hold it!” he said. “Don’t you ever treat one of my employees like that! This man has been with me longer than you have, so you’d better be good to him!”
That was Walt. To his employees, he was not only a leader. He was their defender and their servant. That’s what separates leaders from bosses.
Serve I’ve always been fascinated with the qualities and characteristics of great leaders. History has identified many qualities and characteristics of great leaders, and, of course, no person embodies them all. But the great leaders I’ve known, or read about have one simple thing in common: They have developed their leadership styles around their personalities and their values, and in the end, their actions are consistent with what they truly believe.
The goal of many leaders is to get people to think more highly of the leader. However, the goal of a great leader is to help people to think more highly of themselves.
John Maxwell said there are three keys to becoming a great servant leader:
Let go of your ego. The truly great leaders are not in leadership for personal gain. They lead in order to serve other people.
Become a good follower first. Rare is the effective leader who didn’t learn to become a good follower first. That is why a leadership institution such as the United States Military Academy teaches its officers to become effective followers first—and why West Point has produced more leaders than the Harvard Business School.
Give your power away. One of the ironies of leadership is that you become a better leader by sharing whatever power you have, not by saving it all for yourself. If you use your power to empower others, your leadership will extend far beyond your grasp.