Great Leaders Are Other-Focused

By Linda Fisher Thornton

There are many important roles leaders play. The common thread through all of them is that leadership is about enabling the success of others. Leaders are supporters, developers, guides, team builders, and imaginers. They are culture caretakers, roadblock removers and inspirers. All of these roles require being other-focused.

As leaders, we seek to bring out the best in individuals, the best in teams, and the best in organizations, pulling together diverse collections of people striving toward common goals. We create the conditions for success, we build trust and we model and reinforce ethical choices. Doing these things consistently enables those we lead to do their best work.

How do we define our success as leaders using this mindset? It’s simple – Great leaders create the conditions for success, intentionally building trust and an ethical culture, enabling people to do their best work. Their best work fuels the economic and social success of our organizations. We succeed when they succeed.