Human Leadership: Trust and Kindness as Keys to Success

As the story goes, Mahatma Gandhi was boarding a moving train when he dropped a shoe. Despite trying to catch it, he was unable to. His immediate instinct was to take off his other shoe and throw it so that it would land near the first. His friend, who was with him, asked, quite surprised, "Why did you do that?" To which he replied, "One shoe is useless to me; where we're going, I'll have to buy another pair. But the person who finds those two shoes will be able to use them, so at least one of us benefits." I don't think we need to debate Gandhi's type of leadership and his humanity; his life story is sufficient evidence of his kindness, and this story only confirms it.

I frequently give presentations on E.L.I.A.S., the inspirational Leadership Model I crafted, which includes "Being Human" as one of its behavioral pillars. A question that often arises from those introduced to this model is the following: "The human aspect is very interesting, but what about results? Companies have to deliver results." It's a valid question. However, a genuine interest in the person behind the processes doesn't exclude the pursuit of a clear objective and the achievement of corporate results. In fact, the latter is a consequence of the former, although we don't always see it that way.

In my opinion and experience, if human leadership isn't practiced, results won't occur, or at the very least, they won't be what they´re expected to be. Worse however, without this practice, no result will be sustainable over time, making the organization experience significant wear and tear in the long run.

If we assume that the engine of an organization is made up of its products, financial resources, and people, and that it's the people who make the other two components work, then it seems evident that this last link in the engine must function as well as possible.

How do we make that engine's gear run perfectly? How do we get it to reach its maximum potential? As leaders, we must inspire to encourage the proper attitude and self-motivate to develop employees’ best versions. For this, it's necessary to understand that there will be different obstacles and possibly failures along the way. No one reaches their maximum potential without making mistakes; it's part of life´s course. You must try countless times, and it´s through these multiple failed attempts that the leader provides the necessary confidence that offers peace of mind to forgo trying repeatedly without fear of reprisal.

To develop trust, several elements are needed, one being kind. In other words, people must be sure that we genuinely want to do good for them. Without this, they will never trust us, and the whole process will inevitably collapse. This quality is one of the most important in human beings. We are kind when we have a genuine interest in people, when we throw away a shoe that is no longer useful to us because we think others might need it.

Being a leader is not an option; it's an obligation if we truly want people to give their best. Not doing so perishes trust, undermining the possibilities of success, and also, in medium or long term time spans, wearing down the organization through people´s lack of commitment and higher levels of absenteeism/turnover, amongst other implications.

As a final anecdote, I want to share my experience from several years ago where I had the opportunity to meet Jaime Jaramillo, "Papa Jaime" as we know him in Colombia, a man who from a very young age dedicated his life to rescuing and saving thousands of children who lived under the sewers in the country, an impressive story that I recommend everyone learn about. In the interaction I had with him, I learned many exceptional things, among which I especially highlight the following teaching: "There is no man so poor that he cannot give, nor so rich that he cannot receive." What an honest phrase! If only we thought and reflected upon everything we can give and receive, we could surely get rid of the ego´s that limit us from being better human beings.

Before being a great leader, you must be a great human being. How great it´d be if this statement didn't remain a cliché but rather was applied by all leaders and companies. This would probably give each of us the great leader we long for, who supports us in developing the best version of ourselves.