The Importance of Leading on the Margins

I wonder how many of today’s Fortune 1000 company leaders are in touch with the persons they have been called to serve?

When someone reaches the pinnacle of business power and position, it’s easy to forget where you started or to acknowledge how staying in touch with one’s roots might be a valuable leadership practice.

There is a level of arrogance that befalls most of these leaders. They spend more time scheming how to hold on to their spot rather than imagining ways to share leadership with others.

Is it any wonder so many corporate and political leaders are despised?

Leadership on the Margins

Any leader would benefit from leading on the margins. Let me explain.

I learned this leadership approach from my earliest business mentor, a self-made successful entrepreneur. This man was raised in a home without a father. He never earned a college degree or benefited from a wealthy pedigree. As his business prospered, those experiences were never far from his memory.

On a typical day, he might be found navigating a forklift in the lumber yard, interviewing a prospective employee, chatting with customers, or on the phone placing an order.

His office wasn’t a glass and wood monument symbolic of his achievements but more like a cluttered, cozy space for a candid conversation.

Nothing he said or did was designed to elevate or separate him. Instead, he spent most of his time interacting with and learning from the persons he served.

He understood that leading requires listening and so he practiced those skills on a daily basis. His employees spent many years in service to the company because they knew their leader wasn’t taking any of them for granted.

A Final Word

When leaders approach their work as a contest to win, or a turf to protect, employees will notice and feel marginalized.

If those same leaders valued and respected the persons they serve, their employees would respond with a higher level of engagement.

As a leader, are you drawn to the finer trappings of the office or the opportunity to serve on the margins?

When you fail to get that coveted promotion are you motivated to work even harder so you will be in a better position to win the next time?

Or, will you turn your attention back to the team and continue serving others because that is what you are called to do?

Photo Credit: istockphoto.com