I Love Chocolate and I can’t help myself but to use it as analogy for the other big part of my life, leadership. So how does sharing Chocolate compare with being a leader?
Here is 3 very different leaders here to talk about chocolate.
“Ah, it’s good to be leader. I get to sit back here and tell everyone else what to do. All the good stuff I get to keep all to myself. All this chocolate is mine. It is far too good for the likes of you. After all, it is my reward for all the hard work I have done and for putting up with all you useless dummies. Nope, no chocolate for you, it is all for me.”
Have you ever worked for someone like this? Really, this style is quite archaic however there is a few dinosaurs around that think it is ok to treat people with this kind of dismissive behavior, keeping all the good things in life for themselves.
“How can I get them to do what I want them to do? I know, I just give them a whiff of this fine chocolate. That’s what they need, the thought of a reward. If they succeed in the tasks that I give them, then I will reward them with a piece of this delicious chocolate. But only one piece, don’t want them to think the stuff grows on trees.”
The old donkey and the carrot trick. Do you think this works today? Do you want to be treated this way? Are you going to give this leader your full commitment and loyalty? I think not. I had a boss a bit like this, he was always promising the world, but when it came to it, didn’t deliver. So, no-one else did.
“OK everyone, gather round, we have to solve some problems and find ways of working together. Let’s sit down with a cuppa and some chocolate and have a conversation about where we are at and where we can go in the future. I’m sure that together we can come up with some great solutions that will work for all of us.”
Leadership to me is about creating an environment where people can grow and collaborate to create their ultimate impact together. It is not about being the center of attention, collecting followers or persuading people to agree with me and it is definitely not about keeping all the chocolate to myself.
It is about being aware, consciously lifting up people to becoming the best they can be. It’s about creating an atmosphere of co-operation and communication. It’s about holding the space where each person can shine as an individual, while working together as a team to bring out their highest future potential as one.
This is the leadership approach the I prefer to work with.
Lao Tzu said “A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.”
And so, I end with the question I began with “Do you share your chocolate?”