While it may seem counterintuitive, the best education leaders often act as servants. If you want to be great, if you want to be important; then you must find a way to serve others. When we put others in a position to win, it helps the entire organization to win. Unfortunately, it is hard for most people to understand this concept because most people are selfish. They believe that to be great, they have to outshine everyone else. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Servant leadership 101

As an education leader, you have more resources at your command than the average person; you must share them with people on your leadership team. You want them to have everything that they need to be successful. When they shine, the whole team shines. When they do, you want them to get all of the praise, and you want to stand in the background. Also, when they fail, you want to step up and take the blame.

Great education leaders believe that success should be shared with everyone because there is no “I” in team. When you share credit and accolades with others, you build loyalty, trust, and admiration that enables you to push the envelope even further.

What? So you want me to take none of the credit when we win and all of the blame when we lose? This is hard for most would-be education leaders to understand. If you can’t, you are exhibiting weak leadership character, and you will never reach the pinnacles of leadership. It means that you still don’t get it. Being a leader is about serving others, not your self-interest.

Concluding thoughts

A selfish leader can be successful but not as successful as they could be if they were selfless. That is because being selfless is the best way to empower others and to develop leaders within their organizations. You are not afraid of people outshining you, because like a parent, you want your mentees to eclipse you in life.