The disease of indifference to others. This is where each leader thinks only of himself or herself, and loses the sincerity and warmth of [genuine] human relationships. This can happen in many ways: When the most knowledgeable person does not put that knowledge at the service of less knowledgeable colleagues, when you learn something and then keep it to yourself rather than sharing it in a helpful way with others; when out of jealousy or deceit you take joy in seeing others fall instead of helping them up and encouraging them.
Gary Hamel
There are several schools of thought regarding who is and what makes a leader. To simplify the conversation, I’d like to highlight the two extreme opposites: a) those who state that leaders are just a few anointed, appointed, or imposed to rule, command, or guide others; or b) those who believe that everyone is a leader, though at different times, regardless of position or title.
I am convinced that option b) is preferable, that we are all leaders at different moments and that not all the ‘anointed’ are necessarily the ones with the greatest set of skills nor the largest capacity to influence and lead. However, there are good arguments to support option a) and if you subscribe to it, I’d love to further discuss the matter. It is a fascinating topic and there is much to be learned if we eagerly engage to learn rather than to teach.
Regardless of which school of thought you subscribe to, either on the extreme opposites or on any of the possible shades of gray in between, the ‘disease of indifference to others’ could be better understood if we undertake its analysis assuming that we -you and me- are the leaders’ Pope Francis is addressing the message to, instead of looking outwards to pontificate to the ‘anointed’ or ‘appointed’ ones.
How many times have you seen someone on the verge of making a mistake -including your supervisor- and you’ve decided to look the other way, instead of offering your support and sharing your perspective? How many times have you denied knowing something, just to avoid taking action or getting involved? When was the last time you thought -or said- this is none of my business, while an internal voice invited you to ‘do the right thing’?
We are who we are, and we are where we are, due to very many people who had a say or input in our lives. Some we know -and hopefully appreciate- but several we don’t remember, or even know about them. The fact of the matter is that -regardless of whatever your current position is- we ‘owe’ it to other people paving our way, lighting our paths, rooting for us, advocating in our favor, believing in us, and taking a chance on us. Don’t take me wrong, I am sure that you worked hard to achieve your goals and you should be proud of your accomplishments. However, you’d be fooling yourself if you do not factor in the myriad of people who -in the worst-case scenario- facilitated it, or -in the best-case scenario- enabled it.
Consequently, when we fail to support others, when our position, knowledge, wealth, means, and influence are solely or mostly used as platforms to further our ambitions, we are not only sick with the “disease of indifference”, but we are breaking -at our own peril- the chain of good that has so far allowed us to move forward.
I know it is comforting to create -and believe- the narrative of the self-made person, but it is not accurate and if COVID has taught us something by now is that ‘it takes a village’ to succeed in any human endeavor. Perhaps if we start assuming that we are indebted to many for our achievements, we might be able to start helping others achieve theirs.
I am not saying that if you decide to follow my advice your efforts will always yield good fruits, that they will always be valued, appreciated, or noticed by their intended beneficiaries? Not at all. I am only saying that your current success is partly due to the efforts of others, some of which very likely you did not notice, appreciate, or value. In a nutshell, I submit that the vaccine against this leadership disease is 50% humility and 50% gratitude, to be delivered through the ‘pay it forward’ injection daily.
Are you ready to get vaccinated?