Servant Leadership. Putting others’ interests ahead of one’s
own.
In addition to things like competence, honesty, and
reliability, the above-mentioned attributes are usually the ones people mention
when asked to describe a leader who they could trust. I’ve asked thousands
across the globe, and these come up all the time. But many of the same people
fall deathly silent when asked to honestly answer if they are truly selfless
servant leaders who always put others’ interests ahead of their own, or if
their people fully trust them.
My point is this: most people reference “self before others”
type of attributes as prerequisites to trusting a leader. But if they are
totally honest with themselves, they will admit that it is very difficult, if
not impossible, to be selfless all the time. The basic human (survival)
instinct is to take care of one’s own interest first. By expecting leaders to
be selfless, are we demanding something that goes against the very grain of
human existence? What if we were to accept putting one’s own interest before
others’ as normal? Put another way, can we trust someone who is self-centered
and wants the very best for himself first?
The answer to that question ought to be a big yes, but under
one condition; the person also works equally hard to maximize your gain. In my
experience, I have found that the best leaders don’t pretend to be who they are
not . They fully acknowledge their own ambitions for themselves and take care
of others’ needs equally. They don’t believe in zero-sum games, they believe in
abundance. They practice what savvy negotiators refer to as win-win outcomes by
working extremely hard to maximize their own gain AND working equally hard to
maximize others’ gain. They understand that one’s gain need not be another’s
loss. Metaphorically, they believe in growing the pie, so that when it is
divided everyone gets an equally big slice. They also recognize that to reach a
win-win outcome, it is important to fully understand the other sides’ concerns,
needs, and priorities.
As an example of these principles, consider what happened to
me recently. After several rounds of meetings during which we established a
good relationship with a prospective client, we sent a proposal for a
consulting assignment quoting $100,000. When our contact at the client company
received our proposal, he balked at what he considered too high a price for the
work involved. He called and told us there was no way he could do business with
us for that price, and unless we were willing to negotiate, he’d go shopping
with other firms. We checked our numbers and reconfirmed that the price we had
quoted was reasonable and fair.
But before we walked away from the deal, we
asked him what his concerns were, and if there was a way to make the numbers
work. Upon further discussion, we learned that the company’s selection
committee was skeptical about working with us because we were a small boutique
firm and our pricing was very close to what was being quoted by bigger,
established firms. Our contact told us he needed a basis to justify choosing
us, so he needed a lower quote. He also said if we did a good job, there was
significant potential for follow-on business.
While we appreciated his position, we found it impossible to
lower the numbers. So, to address the selection committee’s concern about our
small size and relatively lesser known brand, we offered to do a free two-hour
presentation on digital transformation for their entire senior management
before delivering on the larger consulting work. We also offered to refund 20%
of our fees if we failed to deliver the desired results. With this offer, the
client signed off on our full pricing.
What happened here? Through honest dialogue, we convinced
our client that we had their best interests at heart and were willing to go the
extra mile to give them exactly what they wanted. We saw the opportunity to
present to their entire senior management as a good credibility building
exercise, so we had no hesitation in offering this “extra value” to them.
Furthermore, since we had completed many similar projects before, we were
confident of delivering on our promises.
Hence it was not difficult for us to
offer a refund in the event the client was not satisfied. By working to
understand our clients’ concern, we were able to offer a win-win solution. The
key here is, we did not give up on our own interest, but worked very hard to
maximize the benefit for our client as well. Once we won their trust in this
way, they showed no hesitation in signing on the dotted line … on our
originally quoted price.
Instead, they will go out of their way to make me as
successful as possible without giving up their own interest. Such a person
would be acting in accordance with basic human instinct, not against it. That’s
why I would trust them.
It is time to give up clichés about selflessness and embrace
the pursuit of self-interest and ambition as normal. If you really want to
achieve something, why pretend otherwise? The key is to think and act in a way
that creates full satisfaction (win-win) for both parties.
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