What type of personality do you have? What
type of personality does your leader have? Have you ever been in a situation in
which your personality clashes with the personality of your boss? Maybe there
is something about you that your boss doesn’t like. Our fourth trait of a
selfish leader according to the article “What Makes a True Leader” by JeroldAust is playing to personalities. This trait ties together with number three, playing
favorites. Often times leaders click with someone’s personality and they end up
showing favorites to that person.
There is another aspect of this trait and
that is when the leader seeks power for selfish reason. They will seek out
other leaders who might be in a position of greater influence in order to
eventually gain more power for themselves. You may have seen this in someone
who is give a position of leadership and all of a sudden they ignore those they
used to work with because they perceive them as below them. They instead seek
out other leaders and you will see them hanging out and trying to fit into the
leader circles.
If you want to be a true leader you don’t
need to only hang out with other leaders. In fact you want to make a point to
continue building those relationships with those you worked with or those in
lesser positions. Here is why.
- One day you will need those people to help you with something. They will be less apt to help or to do a good job if you have alienated them.
- People talk. Ignoring some to obtain power for yourself will be noticed and people will say you have changed.
- If you want to move forward in your leadership and grow you have to look behind. Your future happens because of what happened in the past. The past for your future is now so make the most of it by not burning any bridges.
- Be a servant leader. Servant leaders care about others above themselves and they are unselfish. You will find more success in serving as a leader then seeking power. Eventually the power will go out and you will crash and no one will be there to catch you.
Stop seeking the power personalities and
start being yourself and serving those around you. It is then others will see
true leadership in you and not selfish leadership.
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