two timeless principles of effective leadership
If you desire to be a great leader, it’s crucial that you keep the following two things in mind:
- Be a doer, not a talker.
- Share the credit with others, and reserve blame for yourself.
In his play Richard III, William Shakespeare wrote, “Talkers are no good doers; be assur’d we come to use our hands and not our tongues.”
Let your actions speak louder than words. Talking — about yourself or others — hardly achieves anything; taking action is what moves the game forward.
Leaders are action-takers. They always go first and set the tone and example. When a leader jumps in and starts doing the necessary work, the team gets inspired and follows suit. Conversely, when the leader says they will do something, and then does not follow through, it sets a bad example and discourages the team members from showing up and taking responsibility.
Even when your actions bear fruit and you achieve remarkable accomplishments, it’s advisable to keep your head down and focus on your lane keeping your work ethic and daily disciplines. Under all circumstances, let grinding be your home.
Does that mean you never own your success and share your hard-earned achievements with others? Of course not. It’s inevitable that you’ll come across situations where you’ll have to tell the world how good you are. To grab the next opportunity, it would be crucial to communicate your feats and let others become aware of your achievements to date. In that case, it’ll be wise to implement another fundamental principle of effective leadership (pointed out by Napoleon Hill) that has stood the test of time: Share the credit for success with others, but take the blame for failures alone.
Achieving extraordinary success is a team sport. Most of us are ill-equipped to travel the success journey alone; you must work harmoniously with others to fulfill your desired goals. And so, when your efforts pay off and you achieve resounding success, rather than tooting your own horn, be good and share the credit with others.
Along with that, being the captain of the ship also entails taking the blame when things don’t work out. Regardless of the exact reason behind the failure, a true leader takes 100% responsibility for the outcome, rather than playing the blame game and/or belittling others.
In simple words, when success arrives, look at others, and when failure shows up, look at yourself. The harder you work on yourself and your craft, and the more you open your heart, the better leader you become in the long run.
