The Quintessential Leader

How people in leadership positions approach the responsibilities of leading their teams is just as important as what they should be doing to fulfill those responsibilities.

Whether people in leadership positions are subjective or objective in their approach determines whether they are quintessential leaders or unquintessential leaders.

Let’s talk first about what being subjective and being objective means.

A subjective person responds to everything from the vantage point of how it relates to and will affect them personally. This is primarily an emotionally-driven, narrow-view response that involves the following mindset:

• What’s best for me?
• What’s in it for me?
• What is my experience?
• How do I feel?

It should be apparent that a subjective person has an approach that includes bias, narcissism, self-absorption, and selfishness.

An objective person, on the other hand, responds to everything from the vantage point of how it relates to everybody. This is primarily an rational, logical, and big-picture response that involves the following mindset:

• What’s best for everyone?
• Will – and, if so, how – this benefit everyone?
• What kind of input can everyone provide to consider?
• What are my responsibilities to everyone?

It should be apparent that an objective person considers the whole, considers cause and effect, and considers consequences.

So which approach defines quintessential leadership and which approach defines unquintessential leadership?

We need look no further than consistent jerks and loose cannons who are in leadership positions – both types are unquintessential leaders – to see that their approach is always subjective.

No one else but themselves is ever on their radar as they go through life, whether it’s in their business dealings, their social dealings, and their personal dealings. Everything is simply and completely all about them and how they will benefit.

As a result, unquintessential leaders often make really poor decisions and they are continually confronted with negative or really bad consequences from those decisions.

Conversely, then, the people who are objective in their approach are quintessential leaders.

Everyone else is on their radar in every part – business, social, and personal – of their lives.

Quintessential leaders are always considering the impact of their words, their actions, and their decisions – even on people who may not be directly affected, but may be watching and/or learning from afar – on everyone else.

Quintessential leaders will solicit input.

Quintessential leaders will consider the people involved.

Quintessential leaders take their own wants – these are subjective and we all have them – off the table and their personal wishes and desires out of the equation.

Quintessential leaders will always strive for fairness, for equity, and for unwavering honesty and integrity.

We all struggle with subjectivity as the driving force of who we are and what we do, because, let’s face it, we all hold our self interests in pretty high order of priority in our lives.

It takes conscious intent and action to achieve objectivity in every corner of our lives.

Even though we are striving to become quintessential leaders, this will always be one of our ongoing battles and we will all lose some of those battles from time to time.

Our goal, though, should be to reach a point where the battle wins are consistent and far exceed the battle losses.

How are we doing?