Soft Management for Decisive Results. Marco Bensen

also will never claim to be managers, to be ‘the boss’ or to be important. They are simply there to help.

      Ego

      “The two biggest obstacles to good decision making are your ego and your ignorance,” says stock market guru Ray Dalio. His thesis is confirmed by many experts who study the subject. When a leader needs to make good, informed decisions, he is able to leave his ego out of it.

      Oh yes, we all have egos, and that’s a good thing, otherwise we wouldn’t survive at all. Our ego protects us and helps us take care of ourselves when necessary. The question is, when do we let our ego take precedence and when do we hold it back? Are we able to control our ego? We have already found that authoritarian personalities often are not able to control their ego and are accordingly led by it. This leads to situations in which they appear authoritarian, arrogant, harsh or inconsiderate, regardless of whether this is appropriate or what effect it has on the environment.

      “Do not strive to be a successful person; strive to be a valuable one.” Albert Einstein

      Bold leaders have a firm grip on their ego and do not make the mistake of letting it lead them. They understand that leadership is ‘influence’, and that the quality of that influence is critical to the team and the organization. Leaders do not lead for themselves, but for a greater good. This is authentic leadership or better, servant leadership.

      Servant leadership is more an attitude than a leadership style and is indisputably highly valuable in organizations and teams. Such leaders see themselves as servants of the team and have as a goal to lead the team members to high performance.

      As a Servant Leader, you first and foremost need the ability to lead yourself. Do you know yourself? Do you know your strengths, weaknesses, skills and knowledge? Do you know your values, preferences, personality type and representation system? Do you know where you are going, where you want to go and why you want to go there? Are you satisfied with yourself? Only if you can lead yourself, you can take along others with you.

      Servant Leaders are courageous; they are not yes-sayers but problem solvers. They are not brakers, but promoters. They are not critics, but caretakers. Servant Leadership is one of the best examples of soft management and needless to say, it takes a strong personality to live it consistently.

      Key takeaways

       There is a big difference between authority and authoritarian; authority is a personality trait, a charisma. Authoritarian refers to the behaviour.

       ‘Servant Leadership’ is an attitude, a mindset. Servant Leaders do not lead for themselves, but they serve a greater good.