Leadership and Being Human

Demystifying the Human Being

The story goes that Mahatma Gandhi was boarding a moving freight train when one of his shoes fell off, and although he tried to grab it, he couldn't. His immediate instinct was to take off his other shoe and throw it so that it would land near the first one. His friend, who was with him, asked, surprised: "Why did you do that?" To which he replied: "One shoe is of no use to me; where we are going, I will 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 believe we don't need to enter into a discussion about the type of leader Gandhi was and his human quality; his life story is sufficient evidence, and this account only confirms it once again.

I frequently give presentations on E.L.I.A.S., the Inspirational Leadership Model of my own creation, which includes "The Human Being" as one of its behavioral pillars. A question that frequently arises among those who become familiar with this model is: "The human being aspect is very interesting, but what about results? Companies must deliver results." It's a valid question; however, a genuine interest in the person behind the processes does not exclude the pursuit of a clear objective and the achievement of corporate results. Moreover, the latter is a consequence of the former, although we sometimes don't see it so clearly.

In my opinion and experience, if human leadership is not exercised, results will not be achieved, or at least, they will not be what they could potentially be. But even worse, any result will not be sustainable over time, and the organization's wear and tear will be very high in the long run.

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

How can we make that engine gear run perfectly? How can we get it to give its maximum potential? As leaders, we must inspire it to have the right attitude and be self-motivated to develop its best version. For this, it is necessary to understand that there will be different obstacles and possibly some failures along the way. No one reaches their full potential without making mistakes; it's the law of life. You must try many times, and it is in these multiple failures and attempts that the leader appears, to provide the necessary confidence that offers the peace of mind to try several times without fear of reprisal.

To develop trust, several elements are needed, including kindness. That is, people must be sure that we genuinely want to do them good; without this, they will never trust us, and the whole process will collapse imminently. This quality is one of the most important in human beings. We are kind when we have a genuine interest in people; we throw away a shoe that we will no longer use, like Gandhi, because we think of others and not ourselves.

Being a human leader is not an option; it is an obligation if we truly want people to give their best. Not doing so erodes trust, undermining the chances of success, and also, in the medium or long term, ends up wearing down the organization with disengaged people, higher levels of absenteeism and turnover, and countless 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 that interaction I had with him, I learned many things from an exceptional human being, among which I especially recall the following teaching: "There is no man so poor that he cannot give, nor so rich that he cannot receive." What a true phrase! If we only thought and reflected on all that we can give and receive, we would surely get rid of many complexes and egos that limit us from being better human beings.

Before being a great leader, one must be a great human being. How good it would be if this did not remain just a cliché, but if all leaders and all companies truly made the effort to make it happen. Probably each of us would truly have the great leader we so yearn for and who supports us in developing the best version of ourselves.