Lead

EPILOGUE

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE PEOPLE

I've mentioned before that leadership can be lonely. “Uneasy is the head that wears the crown,” moaned a sleepless Henry IV. And it is true that as a leader, always thinking and acting with both the organization's and your employees' well-being in mind, you experience a certain remove. Total accountability does that.

And yet, twenty-first-century leadership, now more than ever, is not unilateral; it requires others. That is the pervasive theme of this book, and the key insight to lightening your burden. Despite all of the technological innovations of the last century, it is people that make businesses successful. Yes, a leader needs to know how, what, when, and why, but in the end, a leader is in the people business. The reality is that you're not doing it alone, and the more you connect emotionally and authentically with your colleagues, the more you find ways to make them leaders in their own spheres, the less you will mistake leadership for a lonely throne.

Elevate your colleagues—yes, they are your colleagues, if not your peers—closer to your level by defining a common purpose—the “why”—that inspires them to invest themselves in their work as much as you do because doing so satisfies their own hopes and dreams. Empower them to make decisions that matter, and to enjoy, and occasionally endure, the consequences of independent thought.

As the leader, if you are looking for people to believe in you, you will be waiting for results—rather, believe ...