Easier is not always better.
It may be easier to do it ourselves, but can you really do it all? You can’t.
There is an old adage – “You can give a man a fish and feed him for a day or teach him how to fish and feed him for a lifetime.” But teaching someone how to fish takes a lot more time than just giving them a fish if you compare the two for just the day. There is a near-term investment in time that pays off in the long run and this benefits both parties.
It’s the same in real life. When you take the time to teach someone else, everyone benefits.
This is the tip of the iceberg regarding nurturing.
Being a Servant Leader is about putting the needs of others before your own. You are intentional about taking time to focus on them. You encourage, you take the time to support and help them grow, you take the time to care.
In his book, “Leaders Eat Last,” Simon Sinek describes a scene he witnessed with the US Marine Corp. When gathering to eat, he noticed the most junior were served first and the leaders ate last. The leaders were focused on ensuring everyone else ate before they did. Their role was to ensure everyone else was taken care of first.
Too often in corporate America and other places, you see leaders expecting to go first, focusing more on themselves than the teams reporting to them.
What’s the difference, you ask? Plenty.
People that are taken care of by their leaders have a higher morale. They are more willing to give their all and even go above and beyond for those they trust and feel loyal to. People that work for selfish leaders will tend to do what’s required, but no more. There is no sense of loyalty and those are the environments with higher turnover because people don’t want to stick around there.
Yesterday I mentioned how you didn’t have to have a manager’s title to be a Servant Leader, everyone can be one. Nurturing others is something we can all do and will make our environments and lives better. Take the time and make the effort. Invest in others.