April 17, 2023

“I must follow the people. Am I not their leader?” —Benjamin Disraeli

In the past 35 years, I’ve had the opportunity to develop and mentor several thousand leaders from 24 different countries. The most successful leaders I’ve trained and consulted with all have one thing in common – they’re all versatile in the way they communicate to the individuals they are responsible to develop under their tutelage. They do this by adapting their leadership approach regarding the amount of guidance, structure, direction, and support they provide based on their observations (following the people) of the ability level of each individual to understand what their assigned responsibilities and expectations are. However, and most importantly, they adapt their communication approach when providing guidance, structure, direction, and support in a manner that meets others’ interpersonal style requirements to clearly understand what is expected of them. Regardless of their titles, these leaders don’t expect the team members they’re responsible for to be versatile with them, they expect the versatility to begin with themselves. Their consistent versatility encourages trust in them as leaders, this trust encourages commitment, and this commitment ultimately encourages versatility right back to the leader from their team members. These leaders don’t exalt themselves but are humbled by the greatest opportunity they have been blessed with – to serve others. The greatest leaders among us must first be a servant to those they lead.