The Day Leadership Had Nothing to Do With Business

Leadership doesn’t always look like your team. Or your company. Sometimes leadership looks like the way you treat someone who could do absolutely nothing for you.

My manager and I spent time with a gentleman back when I was just starting my career. He was in his 90’s and was one of our customers. Every once in a while he’d wander into our office.

His memory was fading and he lived alone. The area he lived in was kind of bad too.

So whenever he’d come into our store, we checked on him. Made sure he was okay. Talked with him. Took him home if we had to so we knew he’d arrive safely.

We weren’t doing this to make a statement. We were simply doing the right thing. Until we got a new branch manager.

It wasn’t long before he pulled us aside and told us we needed to stop wasting so much time with “that old man.” I’ll never forget that.

Not because it angered me. Well, yeah, it did. But…I remember it because it taught me how people can look at the same individual and see them differently.

He saw an inconvenience. We saw a father. We saw a grandfather. We saw someone who mattered.

That’s where leadership becomes real for me.

Leadership doesn’t look at people through the lens of what they can do for you. Leadership cares about people because people are worth caring about.

Empathy without care is just performance. Vision without care is ambition.

Being decisive without care is being controlling. Communicating without care is manipulation and hypocrisy.

Care is what separates real leadership from everything else.

Without care. Leadership becomes selfish. And in some cases, cold and dangerous. And people notice.

They notice when you don’t care. They can see right through fake. But they also know when your care is real.

So what’d we do when we were told to stop?

We continued to help him.

We were sneakier about it. But we still made sure he got home safe.

Because sometimes doing what’s right is easy like that.

It just may cost you some time. Some convenience. And maybe approval from someone who doesn’t understand.

I believe that care is one of the most telling attributes of true leadership.

And your lack of it will impact everyone around you.