3 timeless principles of leadership

When I began studying leadership in the 1960s, top-down leadership reigned. Leaders made the rules, gave the orders and presumed all the brains were in their office — leaving employees to hope for the best, do what they were told, and try not to rock the boat. 

As time went by, I became more and more interested in a different style of leadership, —one I’ve been teaching now for more than 50 years. It’s a philosophy called servant leadership, where leaders set the vision and direction for the organization, then turn the traditional hierarchical pyramid upside down and work side-by-side with their people to help them win and —achieve their goals. Over the years, my colleagues and I have embraced numerous ideas about leadership that fall under the category of servant leadership. Three timeless leadership principles have risen to the top. 

Principle no. 1: Leadership is a partnership

In our 1969 book, “Management of Organizational Behavior,” Paul Hersey and I presented a situational approach to leadership, which our company now calls SLII®. This approach is based on our findings that the best leadership style is the one that matches the developmental needs of the person you’re working with.

Using SLII®, leaders partner with people, using directive and supportive styles as needed to help each person reach their highest level of development. Regardless of what style a leader uses, the principle underlying SLII® is that leadership is a partnership between a leader and their direct report. 

Unfortunately, plenty of leaders persist in believing command-and-control leadership is the only way to lead. The person in charge uses their position power to tell people what to do and how to do it. These leaders still use words like subordinate (which literally means “less important”) to describe someone who reports to them, and discipline to describe how they might treat an underperforming employee in the same way a parent might punish a child. This kind of leader might find it hard to switch to a mindset where they see their team members as partners. Many of them wouldn’t even think of asking a direct report for their opinion or involving workers in important decisions that may impact them. 

But leaders with a partnership mindset know they are better off partnering with their team members. They gain each other’s trust and work together on team goals. The trusting relationships and extraordinary results that come out of this kind of partnership just don’t happen to leaders who stay in their office, make all the decisions, bark orders, and take credit for every success. 

Principle no. 2: Catch people doing something right

Like the first principle, this one was revolutionary for its time. Bosses were widely regarded as people whose job it was to catch their workers doing something wrong. Managers would evaluate someone’s performance, reprimand them, demand improvement and disappear until it happened again. To me, it sounded like the opposite of a motivational environment. It seemed that leaders should focus less on evaluating and judging people and more on catching them doing something right.

Back in the day, I learned that most people had never looked at their boss as a friend or colleague. When people saw their boss coming, they would hide because they knew they were going to get in trouble. After all, that was the only time the boss ever showed up. I couldn’t help but think: What if that were reversed? What if the boss walked around catching people doing things right, praising their progress, and cheering them on? And if there was an area where the boss noticed behavior or performance wasn’t great, what if they said, “How can I help?”

 Would that make a difference? You bet it would!

Catching people doing something right is a powerful tool for bringing out the best in others. This principle is consistent with how my parents raised my sister and me. I remember as a kid when my good friend and I were on the same team and our families would get together after the games. If our team won, we would all celebrate. But if we lost, my friend’s parents would get on his case and tell him everything he did wrong.

 In contrast, my folks would tell me not to get down on myself, that I played the best I could, and they would give me a chance to talk. They always led with encouragement. That’s where I got the idea of praising people not only for doing things right, but also for doing things approximately right. People shouldn’t have to be perfect to earn a little praise.

I had several teachers through the years who were also encouragers and cheerleaders. It was easy to see that they got better results and formed better relationships with their students than the teachers who were tyrants or bullies. Positive reinforcement is a better way for parents to get the best from their kids, teachers to get the best from their students, and leaders to get the best from the people on their team. 

I’ve said for years that if someone took away everything I’ve taught except one thing, it would be the concept of catching people doing something right. It’s in the first leadership parable I ever wrote, “The One Minute Manager®,” which I co-authored with Spencer Johnson in 1982 — and it’s also in my latest book, “Simple Truths of Leadership: 52 Ways to Be a Servant Leader and Build Trust,” which I co-authored with Randy Conley in 2022. Just think, that’s 40 years of catching people doing something right!

When somebody does something right or approximately right, praise them. If they stumble on the way to a goal, help them get back on the right track. To me it’s just common sense. And the best leaders make common sense common practice.

Principle no. 3: Leadership is love.

I’ve always believed that in order to be a great leader, you have to care deeply about your people. It’s a way to acknowledge that we’re in this thing together. It’s the ultimate we, not me. It says, “I really care about you. I honor you. I see you and I hear you. I love having you on my team.” The best leaders are servants who love their people and want to bring out their best. 

People look a little surprised initially when I use a term like love in a business setting, but after I share some of these behaviors, it starts to make more sense. What do you do when you love somebody? You’re there for them. You’re praising them. You’re noticing them. You’re involving them. They’re part of your team. And that’s what great leadership looks like.

You might think that leading with love is too idealistic. What happens when people don’t behave well or financial results aren’t what you need them to be? How can you approach the tough reality of leading people with something as soft and fuzzy as love? 

The answer is: By treating the people you lead with care, candor, and respect — no matter what. This is the essence of leading with love. Over time, people who report to the leader emulate the leader’s behavior and start extending care and respect to others. This creates a culture where people feel safe, seen, and acknowledged. People throughout the organization become passionate about the company. On the receiving end of that passion are clients and customers, who become raving fans of the organization. In turn, the organization thrives. 

My wife, Margie, sums it up beautifully: “Leadership is not about love — it is love. It’s loving your mission, it’s loving your people, it’s loving your customers, and it’s loving yourself enough to get out of the way so that other people can be magnificent.”