Effective leaders value those they lead 

This month, I am doing a series of life lessons that came through for me as I attended the Maxwell International Leadership Conference in Florida, Orlando in USA in March 2023.
I am intentionally using the word effective before leader because, whereas we are all leaders, not every leader is an effective one. Simon Sinek appears to agree with my observation because in his book, The Infinite Game he observes thus “exhibiting the qualities of leadership is what makes one an effective leader”. He then gives us a list of some of the qualities that effective leaders display these include honesty, integrity, courage, resilience, perseverance, judgment, decisiveness, vulnerability  and trust. 

In the Maxwell Certified Leadership Team, our mantra is “we are people of value who value people and add value to them”.  Every Maxwell Coach, Speaker or Trainer knows this mantra and we do our best to live it out. Our Founder, John Maxwell tells the story that when he was starting out his career after theological school his late father Malvin Maxwell told him these words “John, if you want to succeed in your career do these three things i) believe in people, ii) value people and iii) unconditionally love them.

I wish I could raise my hand and say I belong to the team of effective leaders because this is how I have lived my life. Instead, I will go ahead and plead guilty to not having always been the leader who valued people as I should have. However, the words of the late Maya Angelou “do the best you can until you know better, then when you know better, do better”, provide the assurance I crave as I determine to always do better now that I know better. You know what, you too can take this pledge and then take your seat among the club of effective leaders.

In today’s world, in order for us to get the best out of those we lead, we need to embrace the qualities Simon lists above and more. Effective leaders always remember that our customers are the ones who enable us to keep our doors open. Grace Christine Obonyo Kyayonka in her book, The Fearless Leader: Inspiring Legacy of Ivan Kyayonka, quotes her late husband then CEO of Shell Uganda Limited who observed that “our employees are the most important people, they are the ones who look the customer in the eye”.   This in effect means, as leaders and employers, ours is to ensure that the atmosphere we create for our employees at work is one that fosters wellbeing so that when our clients interact with them, they get a positive look when they meet eye to eye. Effective leaders know for sure that how one feels often affects how they do their job. 

Simon Sinek again provides guidance on this issue when he authored a whole chapter in his book referred to above. In this chapter which he titled Trusting Teams, he teaches us about the benefits organisations and leaders enjoy when they take time to build teams that foster trust. He starts by reminding us of the sole responsibility of effective leaders according to him, “leaders are not responsible for the results, leaders are responsible for the people who are responsible for the results”. From this observation, it appears safe to conclude that to drive performance and positively impact the bottom line, leaders need to value people both in and outside their organisation and create environments that allow for free flow of information.

If you ask me about my highlights when I attend a Maxwell Conference I will tell you it is usually the faith service that John Maxwell holds on day 2. This time is not compulsory and is held first thing in the morning and yet the room is often full as John takes us through the message he has for that day. I love this time for the simple reason that I often see John practicing the three rules his late father gave him. He often shares in a simple and practical way the words of his faith. Having started off as a pastor and then taking over the leadership space, John often gives us practical ways to leave out the words of our Lord Jesus.

Wamambe is a transformational leadership coach with the Maxwell Certified Leadership Team    [email protected]