Tuesday, November 15, 2022
Leadership is not arm-twisting. Persuasion doesn’t instill intrinsic zeal. Persuasion instills fear. The most effective tool a leader has is to instill love. If the leader can’t find a reason to love it, the group won’t have enough collective energy to aspire to it. You can bark orders and demand action, but ultimately that won’t work. Share why your vision is so compelling.
People need a buy-in, a very good reason to follow you. A good leader shares why their product, their mission, or their service is so meaningful to them. A real leader shows people, by example, something greater than themselves. A good leader knows how to turn people’s attention to altruism, deeper purposes, higher existences, greater connection to life, etc. If your product, your mission, or your service is tied into something that’s related to helping others, making life deeply moving and meaningful, then it’s motivated by love. If it’s motivated by anything else, the leader cannot be as effective. It’s love that ultimately wins, and if you put people on that side, you can’t fail. We’ve seen examples of leaders who try to motivate by fear, anger, and hate – but ultimately they’re doomed.
If it’s about a kind narcissistic “love” for the leader, it will ultimately crash. If it’s about love of others, it will ultimately flourish. The good leader is a conduit, an invisible force that becomes the mission itself. A leader knows what the mission is and why it exists. People will follow love, more than anything that bolsters your ego, increases your profits, or solely focuses on “winning.” If you’re a leader, show your team how much your product or mission is tied into loving others; showing them why you care so much; and keep them focused on making a difference in life. That’s crystal clear, effective leadership.