It ain't the Heat, it's the HUMILITY that warms the Leader's Heart

 “Seek not good from without: seek it from within yourselves, or you will never find it”

~Epictetus

I have just returned from attending a camp in Taiwan hosted by Tzu Chi, an organization based on selfless love, shared leadership and environmental responsibility.

Coming from nothing, I listened and observed how this organization attracted millions of volunteers all over the world to create this sustainable billion dollar organization…simply put people have an opportunity to give meaning to their life and actively live into values that resonate with them personally. Hence, creating a collective organization where people are inspired to give selflessly; emotional intelligence was in full motion. When humility is the cornerstone of a culture, equality emerges. I witnessed success in pooling strengths from all societal backgrounds; everyone contributes; everyone is a leader; everyone feels valued and purposeful.

 “Organizational acceptance and leadership demonstration of expressive soul and spiritual leadership capacities attested to the relevance of influence on motivation, spiritual well-being, job satisfaction, profit, and productivity.” (Mendoza, 1998).  The top factor among the highest performing businesses was not the pooled strength of the leadership team, but their ability to attract and retain quality people. People are more important than any process. Good people will outperform ordinary people with a process every time. (Booch,1996). Selfless participation will create an environment where people pool together, improve process and rise above average.  Hiring people culturally aligned with the organization's values is key to success. Empowerment becomes easy because the people are actively engaged in the creation.  If you have the right people, you will move faster and accomplish more in the same amount of time. The “right people” will create a value based culture that will catapult sustainable success through an environment that reflects the strengths of self and shared leadership.  

   Research suggests that contributing factors such as group attitude, teamwork, leaders’ and employees’ commitment to company goals, and a quality-oriented culture were key factors to organizations that have seen sustainable success (Wanser, Lester and Nygen, 2007).   Fast forward to almost eighteen years from the prediction of Booch (1996), in the organizational era of the millennial generation we find that having the right people is still key, however, we can now further define the “right people” as those who have alignment to the organizations values and who practice shared leadership. Hiring the right people, those with high emotional intelligence will create a cultural environment poised for sustainable success.

Goleman (2005) equates the right people in terms of self-awareness, altruism, personal motivation, empathy, and the ability to love and be loved. According to H.F. Johnson, Sr. (1927), “The goodwill of the people is the only enduring thing in any business.  It is the sole substance… the rest is shadow.”