Lead by serving

I am thinking a lot about leadership. What is it? How can people tell the fake goods from the real deal? So, I enjoyed reading Michael Useem's piece in the Harvard Business Review,"The Leadership Lessons of Mount Everest." He took a group of professionals to hike up to the 18,000 foot line on Mount Everest. They had adventures and came to a very Buddhist understanding of leadership, as he relates in his article. First, leadership is built by serving. Second, leaders truly serve when they subordinate their private needs and welfare to that of all others. Do both, and the real-deal leader gets something the faker never will achieve: moral authority. Useem writes: “In business, executives and managers are frequently tempted to put their own careers first. They may let their egos cloud their thinking or find convenient ways to rationalize decisions that are based purely on their own interests. . . . Ultimately, though, much of the strength of an organization depends on leaders who are concerned with doing what is best for their followers.” So which are you? If you’re a follower, which type of leader do you follow? I know some guys who subconsciously equated being tall with being a leader. Our two greatest leaders were very tall: Washington and Lincoln. But you know what? It wasn't because they cast a shadow when they walked that made them great leaders. They both displayed the integrity, ethical strength and moral fiber to check their egos for the greater good.