Are you (Or do you work for) a leader or a politician?

During my professional career I’ve had the privilege of working with some very good leaders that were able to win the hearts and minds of their teams and lead their teams/companies to victory. On the flipside, I’ve also witnessed people in leadership positions that were only concerned about money, power and prestige. I’ll refer to the latter as politicians for this article.

There are many historical figures that come to mind when I think of what it means to be a leader. Some great leaders would be people like; Abraham Lincoln, Gandhi, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, George Washington, and Martin Luther King Jr.  When I think of these leaders, they all share some common traits; Honesty and integrity, confidence, vision, empathy, and bravery.

Great leaders find ways to unite people to advance the mission, not for the benefit of themselves but for the benefit of those they serve. Great leaders are not thinking about their prosperity but instead are focused on posterity. A good leader doesn’t put people in boxes, instead they see everyone as partners that they can work with.

A politician will typically align with popular public opinions vs standing up for the right thing to do. They are constantly overpromising in order to gain power, but under deliver once they have that power. They don’t have permanent friends or allies; they are loyal to the extent that their interests are taken care of. They are selfish.  As German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche put it “A politician divides people into two classes: tools and enemies.” Politicians mix lies with truths leaving people confused. So, the more you look, the less you see. A leader on the other hand says the truth, as unpopular as it may be. They are open and transparent. With a leader, the more you look, the more you see.

We can all agree that the world needs more leaders and less politicians. For me leadership is a journey, I’m certainly far from perfect but I strive to be better today than I was yesterday. There are many great books to read and mentors to learn from. One book I recently read, and I highly recommend is “Leaders Eat Last: Why some teams pull together and others don’t” – by Simon Sinek.

Life is too short, find a good leader to learn from and be the type of leader your teams need and deserve.