Giving Leadership

There are numerous books, articles and YouTube videos that address different leadership styles, but not many of them used the terminology “Giving Leadership”. The first time I came across this terminology was in one of the most wonderful books that I have read recently, “The Go-Giver Leader” by Bob Burg and John David Mann. It is really what I call an attitude-changing book and can be considered a complementary to their famous best-selling one “The Go-Giver”.

Actually, the giving mentality in general is an approach that can be applied in all business and life aspects and leadership is just one of them. It is a way of living. You can apply it within your family, team at work or within a group of your friends, for instance, during a trip.

It is about empowering people, giving them the trust they need to move forward, and the trust in their competence to maximize the outcome of their efforts. It is about deploying your capacity to positively influence their attitude and may be the whole of their lives. It is about putting their interests first. It is about persuading them to go in the direction that comply with your vision to achieve the agreed upon business objectives happily and enthusiastically.

Leading a group of people requires “TRUST”, and your team should feel this trust. They should see your belief in their competences and your confidence in them. A true leader should believe in his team, promote them, respect their ideas, never neglect their suggestions, and support them. He should be accessible to give them the support they need when they are in a valley, and the encouragement and praise they expect during their peaks. He always put the interests of others first. Trust should be mutual. I mean the leader should trust his team and they too should trust that by following your directors and guidance, they will be closer to achieve what they are opting for. 

A true leader is always a good example. As quoted in the book aforementioned at the begging of this article, “You offer least of all through what you say, in greater part through what you do”. We all know, deeds have much more impact on others rather than words.

Finally, your team should not feel that they are your tools to achieve your objectives or even the business ones. On the contrary, they should believe that you are the steward of their dreams, something that only materialize with mutual trust and synergy.