We Must Respect Our Position

We all know ego is the killer for anyone in a leadership position. We know that self-promotion, craving for praise, can fracture an organization in half. Narcissistic behavior from the top destroys any chance an organization has of achieving excellence. The egoless leader, combined with an egoless workforce, is damn near unbeatable.

When examining toxic work environments, look no further than the relationship shown in the ESPN docuseries The Last Dance between Michael Jordan and most of the members of the 1997 Chicago Bulls toward their general manager, Jerry Krause. Because Krause coveted the credit for his contributions toward winning, he comes across in the documentary as petulant, ego-driven, and unwilling to compromise. He appears power-hungry, even though he has most of the power within the organization.

The 19th-century historian and politician John Dalberg-Acton once wrote, “All power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Krause allowed his power to corrupt everything around him. His treatment toward players and coaches who were helping him achieve the team goal inevitably led them to lose respect for his position. When we hold a leadership position, the connection we gain from others first starts with how we respect the office that we hold. If we believe the office allows us the freedom to skirt rules, live outside the culture and always talk in the first person, we’ve already lost respect before any of our work is actually evaluated. No one respected Krause on the team, not because he was a bad person or a poor evaluator, or never paid players. They didn’t respect him because he himself never appreciated the privilege of his power.

When we become a head coach, a leader of a large organization, or a teacher in a classroom, how we show respect toward our job demonstrates to those around us how much we care. When we are asking ourselves the question, “How will this impact the team?” instead of “How will this affect me?” we are demonstrating true admiration of the work we have been tasked with.

In professional sports, there will always be a conflict between the players’ feeling of how much they’re worth and the actual value the team pays. That will never change. What must be part of the foundation of any organization is the leader respecting their work, with egoless actions. Once that occurs, then the players might not agree, might not want to have a beer with you, but they will believe in their hearts that the best interest of the team is your driving force.

Once we show great respect for our position, others will respect our work. Krause never respected his position.

P.S. If you are in search of a book recommendation, our team at The Daily Coach highly recommends Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't by Simon Sinek. Too many workplaces are driven by cynicism, paranoia, and self-interest. But the best ones foster trust and cooperation because their leaders build what Sinek calls a "Circle of Safety" that separates the security inside the team from the challenges outside. Sinek illustrates his ideas with fascinating true stories that range from the military to big business, from government to investment banking.

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