EGOless Leadership: Serve Your Way to Success

Peter PsichogiosLeadership, Learning & Development

Gone are the days where leaders can rule with an iron fist and expect their employee to respond with their loyalty and productivity. Talent nowadays feel a lot less like they owe their organizations something, when they don’t get something in return. Talent want to feel empowered and enabled to do a good job to the best of their ability. They want to feel like they have the skills and competencies to help their colleagues and customers.

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Leave Your Ego at the Door

What would it look like in your organization if your leaders were ego-less? Think about it, if you’re a leader who leaves their ego at the door, you’re going to have a more pleasant, less confrontational work environment. You’re going to have better, more open communication because your talent won’t be afraid to tell you about problems that get in the way of their service. You’re going to have more employee engagement because they want to serve a leader who cares about them and not just him/herself.

There are many reason why being an ego-less leader will have benefits for your organization and it’s bottom line including, increased productivity, better safety, improved morale, and improved word of mouth from both your employees and customers.

How to Serve Your Way to Success

If you are truly committed to leaving your ego at the door and serving your way to success in business, there are some helpful things that will help you to get there:

Focus on your employees needs and wants. Get to know your people beyond the job they do and find out what motivates them. Do they want opportunities to learn and grow in a certain position? Provide them with development and they will be more engaged, energized and committed to your company’s success.

Recognize your employees for a job well done. This is not a one size fits all approach, and you absolutely cannot pollute the winner’s circle with losers. But recognize each individual employee for their personal contribution to your company’s success. When you do so, others will see these behaviors being recognized and will follow suit. Plus, it reinforces a positive, reward driven work environment where your employees will be acknowledged for doing good work.

Provide one-on-one coaching to see employees excel. If you give your employees personalized feedback and direction, you will be able to play upon their strengths and improve on their weaknesses. It’s important to communicate openly and effectively with them so that they know what your expectations are and how they can meet and exceed them.

Discussion

These are just a few ways that being an ego-less leader will help you serve your way to success.

  • Do you have any examples of an ego-less leader in your organization? How are their interactions with employees different than other leaders?
  • What are some ways that you have seen improvement in your employees by being an ego-less leader?
  • Do you have any guidelines you follow for being an ego-less leader?