If you were to spend some time thinking about it, could you name at least one person that did something of great significance for the overall improvement of society all alone? I don’t believe you can. The reason for this is that no one can accomplish greatness all on their own. No matter what field, sport or era you consider, all the great leaders in our history were surrounded by a awesome team or staff of people that assisted them in accomplishing a great feat. There is a correlation between successful leaders and the people around them. What people may not comprehend is the investment of effort these leaders put into forming their teams and staffs. This type of investment yields a return of growth the for the individuals and collective team ultimately make the leader look amazing.
The successful leaders understand that they must play an active role in the growth and development of everyone around them if they are going to build a winning team. The greatest of leaders know that the way to ensure this type of success is by empowering their people so they can grow and become active and successful. Once this is established as the culture of the group, team or organization, everyone involved can be endowed with the confidence to be the back bone of that leader and may ultimately become a leader who must one day develop a team of their own. They will most likely understand how to do that because they will then have a sound, fundamental idea of how the process works, because they have gone through it.
Leaders who do not grasp this concept will struggle and most likely stunt the growth of the people who follow them. This could create an environment that does not embrace growth, but rather dependency. These types of leaders are most likely insecure within themselves and would rather keep their people in an inferior place then to allow them to grow for fear that their followers may surpass them in ability as well as skill. Sometimes, leaders who don’t believe in empowering their people because they do not trust them. Trust is a big factor in the relationship between leader and follower. One thing that is certain is this. If a leader is unwilling or unable to trust the people who follow them, it will be impossible for that leader to empower them in a way that will transition into permanent growth.
To take a page out of Army structure, military commanders always have a staff that works for them and advises them. Those commanders must develop trust between themselves and their staff in order to be successful. The most successful commanders always have a solid staff behind them who have been groomed, developed and very well trained. Like the structure in the military, we as leaders should strive to empower and train our followers for them to develop and continue our legacy when we move on.
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