On Leading with Greatness

Tell me if you’ve seen something like this: You’re at work (or working from home), toiling away, when suddenly there’s an announcement. Your coworker just got the big promotion everyone was vying for. Let’s call him Chad. This isn’t the first time our buddy Chad reaped the rewards, which would be great if Chad were the go-getter his win streak suggests, but everyone knows Chad’s a dud.

Have you ever thought about your legacy?

For leaders, legacy is paramount. But the leader’s legacy is not about self-congratulation and ego-stroking. In fact, the leader’s legacy is largely the result of leaders just doing what leaders do, making a significant impact that happens to reverberate long after they’ve left the building.

“One day…”

Only two words, but what an impact! It’s the battle cry of the chronic procrastinator. We promise ourselves and others that we’ll get around to that task or fulfill that desire…one day. Our intentions may be innocent and pure, but our motivation is slippery—that is, if it even exists.

Great leaders work to build relationships and cultures that eliminate assumptions. They engender mutual trust, transparency, and open communication. It’s an ongoing process, sure, but well worth it. What’s more, great leaders also ask (and answer) a lot of questions, and not just when they are new! Dump the assumptions and give it a try. Thrill as you discover your team’s unexpected skills. You never know who might turn out to have that secret ability you need. They may even know how to drive stick.

Let me tell you about this truth my friend Jeff laid on me a few weeks ago. Jeff is a serial entrepreneur and all-around wise man, and he observed, “in any communication, the listener has all the power.” That profundity has been tumbling around in my head ever since. It’s a great way for leaders to think about communication. When it comes to a delivered message, the ear has it all over the mouth.

In Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl, the Austrian psychologist, philosopher, and holocaust survivor, writes of his experience: “From all this we may learn that there are two races of men in this world, but only these two—the "race" of the decent man and the "race" of the indecent man. Both are found everywhere; they penetrate into all groups of society. No group consists entirely of decent or indecent people.”

To be clear, Frankl isn’t drawing a simplistic line between the camp overseers—the perpetrators—and the prisoners—their victims with the former as the indecent race and the latter among the decent race. His observation comes after recounting a surprising act of compassion by a camp foreman who risked his life to slip Frankl a piece of his own bread rations. This kindness, small but monumental, illustrates Frankl’s assessment of human nature that “the boundaries between groups overlapped.” That decency can exist in the most indecent of places.

In this episode of On Leading with Greatness, Jim Salvucci of Guidance for Greatness delves into the counterintuitive reality of leadership where we often favor flashy, incompetent leaders over consistent, capable ones. By contrasting the styles of a crisis-loving manager named Carl and a reliable, drama-free manager named Pam, Jim highlights the societal bias influenced by the Dunning-Kruger effect and the action fallacy. Discover why marketing and sensationalism overshadow true merit and learn how to identify and nurture genuinely effective leaders.

So which is it? Are leaders born or bred? Are they delivered by the proverbial stork, or are they mainly a product of their story? As I cruise the podcast circuit as a guest, this question keeps popping up: Is leadership innate or something that must be cultivated over time?

How effectively do you market yourself? How actively do you ignore the hype and elevate merit?

Great leaders have a duty to discover merit amidst the noise of marketing, and I can help.

Unlock the Great Leader Within! Download my free resource, the Transform To GREATness Toolkit, now!

I look forward to hearing from you.

If you want to invite me speak at your event or appear on your podcast, visit these pages for more information:

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Dr. Jim Salvucci is an author, keynote speaker, coach, and consultant. He served higher education for 30 years as an English professor, dean, and vice president before founding Guidance for Greatness to guide young bosses to become the next generation of great leaders. He is a certified Tiny Habits coach as well as a certified Thrive Global coach and life coach and holds leadership certificates from Harvard University and the Council of Independent Colleges. Central to Jim’s leadership philosophy is that all great leaders are decent humans as well as great teachers, guiding their people and their organizations through values toward success.

Benjamin Franklin wrote, “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.“

Good ol’ Ben Franklin was onto something. Sacrificing our sacred freedoms for some fleeting security is foolish, but we see it all the time. The backstory of this quote is a bit tangled, but the core message remains as sound as a hundred dollar bill. Don’t undersell what’s most important.