The Blue Peak Leadership Golden Rule

Lead others in the way they need to be led and deserve to be treated.
 

Leadership requires more than treating people the way we would want to be treated.
 

The traditional Golden Rule is grounded in a worthy idea: treat others with the same dignity and consideration you would want for yourself. But leadership adds another responsibility. Leaders cannot assume that what works for them—or what they would want from a leader—is necessarily what someone else needs.
 

That leads to the Blue Peak Leadership Golden Rule: Lead others in the way they need to be led and deserve to be treated.

The distinction rests on two words: need and deserve.

What They Need

People need different things from their leaders. An experienced executive taking on a familiar challenge may need little more than clarity about the objective and the authority to act. A new manager confronting that same challenge may need considerably more direction, structure, feedback, and support. Neither approach is inherently better.
 

The responsibility of the leader is to understand the person, the situation, the level of competence, and the consequences of getting it wrong—and then provide the leadership the circumstances require. Sometimes that means coaching. Sometimes mentoring. Sometimes teaching or training. Sometimes it means giving clear direction and establishing firm boundaries. And sometimes the best leadership is to step out of the way.
 

People-centric leadership does not mean leading everyone the same way. It means knowing people well enough to lead them appropriately.
 

What They Deserve

Needs change. Deserves does not.
 

People deserve dignity and respect regardless of their experience, performance, position, or the difficulty of the circumstances. A leader may need to correct poor performance, deliver difficult feedback, make an unpopular decision, or hold someone accountable. None of those responsibilities require diminishing the person on the receiving end.
 

In fact, the moments when leaders must be most demanding are often the moments when this part of the Golden Rule matters most.
 

Accountability and respect are not competing ideas. Effective leadership requires both.

The Leader Has to Adapt

This is where the Blue Peak Leadership Golden Rule becomes demanding. It places the responsibility for adaptation on the leader.
 

It is easy to lead people who think like we do, communicate like we do, and respond to the same things that motivate us. Leadership becomes more difficult—and more important—when they don't.
 

The question is no longer: How would I want to be led?

It becomes: What does this person need from me to succeed—and how do I provide it while treating them with the dignity and respect they deserve?

That is a much higher standard. And it is at the heart of people-centric leadership.