To be most effective, leaders must also be laborers. Now this does not mean micro-managing nor feeling like you have to know and do everything. Quite the opposite. Rather; leaders must see themselves as servants. As a leader, your job is to serve your team and stakeholders to enable them to be effective, to be successful. It is the leader’s job to prepare his/her crew for the flight, to protect them when in turbulence and to coach them to a safe and on time landing. As a leader, it’s not about you, it’s about your crew.
Every crew member brings their own flavor of experience, expertise and personality. Value it all. Value each individual and the collective group.
Know when it’s not working and pivot. You may have to climb (or lower) to a different altitude to get beyond the present storm. Oftentimes, adversity and challenges serve as escorts to a better place.
Listen. Listen. Then listen again. Always listen! When flying in the midst of a storm, listening to the crew and other pilots gives the captain insights on the conditions that otherwise might not be visible.
When the leaders demonstrates servant leadership, their values penetrate the character of the team “like a sweet aroma that spreads and lingers”. When pilots and co-pilots demonstrate that shared accomplishments are more important than individual achievements, then the team sees the importance (and benefits) of teamwork. Servant leaders are those who realize that their job is to empower, to enable, to remove road blocks, to provide vision and direction with a common goal in mind….to land the plane.