As a leader, what do you think about helping other leaders? This is big deal in our world today. At one extreme, are those who say, “If I help someone else leader better, then she may take my job someday.” At the other extreme are those who say, “I rising tide raises all the ships. Therefore, when I help someone else lead better, we all benefit.” Who’s right? I come down on the side of the continuum that says we’re all better off when we help each other become better leaders. Yes, I’m a church leader, so my goal may be different than a business owner, because my goal is for everyone to know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. I want to see as many pastors and church leaders as possible become effective in achieving that common goal.
At the same time, I’ve known pastors who didn’t want to share their best practices with “the competition,” who they saw as the church down the street. In every sphere of human endeavor some of us are more collaborative and others are more competitive. As leaders, our natural bent in one of those two directions will influence whether we want to help other leaders or not. An additional factor is the overall culture of the business or organization of which we’re a part. Some cultures produce a climate of secrecy and hierarchy, which means knowledge and skill are power. In that kind of culture collaboration will be viewed more negatively than in a culture where opens and teamwork are emphasized.
In my experience, the more I help other leaders lead effectively, the more I learn about leadership, the better leader I become and the more effective the organization I lead becomes. One of the realities all of us face when we consider this question is the radical shift we’re seeing in leadership styles among generations. Baby Boomers inherited rigid hierarchical structures in business, church and society as a whole. The Gen Xers and Millennials are much more collaborative and cooperative. Millennials in particular want to see the church as a family, and perhaps even their work places. They have never known a time when information was secret. The information age accelerated by the internet age means instant access to information: best practices, leadership studies, etc.
Those of us who are older, and who may well be in positions of leadership need to understand that one day someone else will be in our positions. Most likely those someones will be younger than we are, perhaps significantly so. Our best hope of impacting the future as leaders is to invest in future leaders. That means we will become the mentors for the next generation of leaders, and not necessarily in the areas of best practices, policies and procedures and the like, although that will be part of it. Our more significant contributions will likely be in helping future leaders understand their personal and our corporate “why” than the hows and whats. Again, it won’t be either or when it comes to what we share, but helping those who are younger than us learn to lead from “why” will be a great contribution.
If you think passing on leadership will make you obsolete, I understand the train of thought, but have come to realize whether we want to pass on leadership or not, one day we will. I encourage all of us to do it willingly, because what I have seen is those who are most willing to help others become more effective leaders, become the most valuable leaders in their situation. Working yourself out of a job by equipping others, is one of the best ways to make sure you’ll always have work!
Here’s to leading better by helping someone else lead better–today!