Great Leaders are Great Stewards

“Great leaders of the most successful companies in the world are great stewards.” – Jason Jennings

Those words rang in my ears as I left the 2008 HDI Annual Conference a few weeks ago, and they are still bouncing around in my head today.

Jason Jennings shared a great message, about how the organizations he studied all had a few key things in common, and sealed the deal with the quote I share with you above.

Great leaders…are great stewards.

So simple, yet so profound. Let’s break this down to try to understand what it all means.

What is a great steward?

A great steward puts his or her team before self…and doesn’t think twice about doing it. It gets done because it is the right thing to do, not because it is the easy thing to do. The right thing to do is always right, even when it hurts.

Unfortunately, I’ve seen few great leaders in corporate America, at least not in the newspaper headlines from the last 5-10 years. I read about the excess of CEOs from around the world, and even worse, politicians who are supposed to be “public servants,” who are out for their best interests so much servant leadership is the furthest thing from what they claim to represent.

The 10 companies profiled in Think Big, Act Small (the book Jason created his keynote from) consistently had leaders at the helm who took the role of steward VERY seriously and lived this every day. Many were shocked that their companies were selected, not because they didn’t realize they were successful, but instead because they felt they were doing nothing exceptional, and were amazed that others weren’t doing the same thing, the right thing.

Why is this important to leadership?

Simple really: If people don’t trust that you have their best interests at heart, if you don’t consistently model stewardship, people will stop following you.

Here are 3 ways you can be a better steward

First, make decisions with your people in the front of your mind. If the decision you make will hurt them, make sure it is the right decision for them and that you take their feelings into account.

Second, listen to what your associates have to say, and honestly value their input. This week I held a team meeting to ask my team what they felt we could should be doing to improve our team and our department. One of the things they shared was the desire to offer more flexible scheduling, and allow them to take time off without taking vacation time, as long as they make up the time during the same week. While I don’t know if HR will allow this, I value their opinions enough that I will definitely check into it and see if we can do it. I appreciate that they cared enough about our team to share this with me, and I let them know that. They know if I can do it, I will do it. I may need their help to find a working schedule, and HR’s help to ensure it’s legal, and listening to their suggestions is NEVER a bad idea.

Last, be honest in all your communication, and risk oversharing instead of undersharing. In my experience, I’ve found the more folks know, the better they feel. Yes, sometimes you may share things that need to be changed after the fact, or you may share something that you shouldn’t have shared, but at least your team isn’t surprised when things come up down the road.

Do you think it’s important to be a good steward? What are your suggestions for being a better steward? Please share your suggestions in the comments below.

Photo credit to Phil Gerbyshak