April 9, 10:43 am
Would you rather be tolerated, or valued?
Lately I’ve been reading a book called “Leadership” by Peter Northouse, a textbook in a class required for my doctorate. It provides a rather comprehensive analysis of various leadership theories and models, but it falls on its face in places and I wince a lot as I read it.
Here’s an example:
When analyzing how leaders are to “know thyself” and the other members of their teams, Northouse says one model “requires leaders and followers to assess their own ways of acting, to accept those ways, and to tolerate the ways in which others behave.”
I readily agree with the first two assertions, but the third piece of advice falls way short. In my opinion, if leaders want passion-driven teams, they must go beyond “tolerating” the styles of others — they must VALUE them. It’s a more difficult choice, but valuing yields an exponentially greater return than mere tolerance.
Think about it: Would you rather be “tolerated” or “valued?” It’s almost a rhetorical question, but its answer begs another: Which is the better way to treat those around you?
Filed in Motivation, Management, Team Building, Workplace, Retention
Discussion
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