Welcome to a brand new column that talks about recruiting and retaining your most valuable asset – people.
Are You a Ruler or a Leader?
I was recently given the opportunity to speak with the group of Junior Achievement (JA) students who comprise the program’s vice presidents of human resources. The JA program prepares students for the business world by offering students the opportunity to create a business model, sell a product or service and – best of all – share in the profits.
“Name someone who you associate with greatness.” This is the question I posed to these bright, young students. The resounding answer provided was “family and friends”. Surprisingly, the students did not mention people who possess prestigious titles such as Queen Elizabeth II or Prince Charles.
Upon further discussion, it was made clear why the students associated their friends and family with greatness. Personal sacrifices for the students had been made by these individuals and they had proven over time that they genuinely cared about the student’s best interest. They have earned the respect of the students and have, therefore, been given the prestigious title of “great”.
Similarly, in the world of business, staff members associate their management team with greatness if the management team has made professional sacrifices for the staff members and has proven they genuinely care about the staff member’s best interest.
Two distinct categories of people were apparent in the Junior Achievement discussion – rulers and leaders. A ruler is one who demands respect from people while a leader is one who earns respect from people. Rulers are given respect as a result of their titles; leaders earn respect as a result of their toils.
These two distinct categories of people are also apparent in the business world. While it is true that staff members will respect their manager because the title demands it, true respect must be earned and great business professionals understand this.
Historically, people have fought for the causes they believe in more readily than the causes in which they were forced to believe. Similarly, your staff members will work harder for you if you have earned their true respect rather than having been forced to respect you. Buy-in to your leadership must be earned rather than demanded in order to get the best performance out of staff members.
Great business professionals also find that staff members will, typically, model their performance after the performance of their leader. As a result, these staff members will more readily reach their potential for greatness. If a business professional has staff members who are not reaching their potential, the question that should be asked is, “Am I a ruler, or am I a leader?”.
While these Junior Achievement students may be young in age and lack practical business experience, they already understand what it takes to be a “great” leader in the Cayman Islands business community.
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Kathleen Jackman, President of BrightStaff
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