The best leaders add value to other lives

WE ALL resonate with the clarion call for leaders to build on their strengths, be authentic, and show emotional intelligence. We envisage these noble, resonant, and genuine leaders as icons of effective leadership. But these virtuous leadership attributes are not the essence of leadership effectiveness.

Building on one’s strengths is incomplete unless one’s strengths strengthen someone else. Authenticity without a positive impact on someone else is more narcissism than leadership. Effective leaders turn their emotional intelligence into helping others find their purpose. A principle of effective leadership is that value is defined by the receiver more than the giver. This value-added principle applies in almost every relationship.

When I give my wife a gift, she defines the value of the gift. When I was newly wed, I got her tickets to sporting events.

I have learnt that the real gift is figuring out what will be meaningful to her, not me. Likewise, effective leaders recognise and serve the stakeholders who are impacted by their strengths, authenticity, and emotional style. They then work to deliver value to these stakeholders.

Creating value

When leaders focus on value that they create for others, they think less about who they are and rather how who they are will make others better. They realise that their value is that others will achieve what matters to them. Ultimately, leaders are measured by what they leave behind and how their present actions shape future success.

Leaders should be asking themselves, “Who are the stakeholders that I care about? Who do I want to make better because of what I do? Who will benefit from my choices today? How will my actions be seen by and affect others?”

When pondering and responding to these questions, leaders matter because they create sustained leadership in others.

Value-creating leaders talk more about “we” than “I”; they build on what is right more than what is wrong; they help others feel better about themselves when leaving an interaction with them; they work to institutionalise their ideas so that those ideas are sustained; and they relish success in those things. It is time to look beyond a leader’s personal strengths, authenticity, and emotional wellbeing to define how leaders build value for others.