Who Deserves It?

Is it you? Do you deserve the credit for leading your team? Are you the one to thank for the success your department or organization has achieved? Of course! It is you who provided the vision, policy, and made all the decisions that helped you achieve all of your goals! So naturally you deserve the credit for being an amazing leader. Where would your team be without your direction and wisdom?

Your team would more than likely be a lot more successful without you, than with you at the helm. If your outlook on your departments or organization is like the one described above, you operate from Position Leadership versus Servant Leadership. And if that is the case, I assure you your team can fair a lot better if you were not in their way. Position leaders have a way of directing all great things back to them—including the work their team has accomplished. Servant leaders are always looking for ways to help their teams be successful and ultimately give them the credit for their success.

I wrote about the difference between Position Leaders and Servant Leaders some time back and defined each role. The bottom line was and is—you can’t do anything without your team. If for one minute you believe your success is because of your ability, test your ability without anyone around you. See how productive your department or organization is if you are the only one left to get the work done. The reality is that the more people you lead, the less you impact the bottom line.

It is your team that processes requests, meets all customer demand and provides outstanding service. It is your team that starts early and leaves late to ensure every task is accomplished. It is your team that executes every directive or decision you make—good or bad. Never fall into the trap that you are more than what you actually are, and as a result deserve the credit for your team’s efforts. YOU are only as good as YOUR TEAM…they deserve all of the credit, not you!

If you're interested in developing in this area, John Maxwell wrote a great book titled The 5 Levels of Leadership, the first level being Position. I'm sure I don't have to mention that the goal is to get to level 5 and not stay at level 1. You will notice as you read through the book that the closer you get to level 5, your focus will shift from you to those around you, the people who deserve it.