Loyalty Starts at the Top

Loyalty always starts with the leader. The leader must first give loyalty to the people they lead. Only when the leader freely and thoroughly gives loyalty to the people they lead does the leader deserve and receive loyalty in return.

This is the problem with leadership today. Leadership is never about the leader. Leadership is always about the people who are being lead. This means that the idea of “self-leadership” is really a total falsehood. You can’t lead if you don’t have people to lead. And, if you have people to lead, people you are responsible for, then it is always about them.

People may act loyal if they are afraid of loosing their job, but that really isn’t loyalty.

Loyalty starts at the top. Accountability starts at the top. Respect starts at the top. Integrity starts at the top. Truth starts at the top.

And, as someone who is being led, it feels different when you know the leader is loyal to you first. It feels different when you know your leader is accountable to you first. It feels different when you know your leader respects you and only deals with the truth with you first. That different feeling is what attaches people to their leader in an incredibly strong way.

A leader who leads through coercion is not really a leader. When a leader gives loyalty first the people they lead support the leader. It is really very simple.