Richness vs Greatness in Leadership

My perspectives stem from conscious thinking, science, nursing, and public health. My target audience is everyone, so the language is as non-medical and neutral as possible. I challenge my readers to dream, imagine, and consider contradictions and controversies, encouraging them to make their own interpretations. As an opinion column, it is not data-driven and is not intended to replace any research study.

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The role and responsibility define leadership, whereas the mindset refines leadership. Let us explore two concepts that frame the mindset of true leadership: Richness vs Greatness.

What do we mean by Richness?

Richness in funding? Richness in resourcing? Or Richness in knowledge?

To be a successful leader, an individual may focus intently on one area of strength and perform the bare minimum in others. A part of the reason could be the role they hold in leadership, or the particular area that demands more of them, or, in other words, what works for them.

Now, let's break this down.

Richness in funding - Let us say Leader X is capable of funding the expenses to build a business on a large scale, but his team is not well-prepared in terms of knowledge and skills; richness in funding alone would not help Leader X succeed.

Richness in resourcing - Let us take Leader Y. He is excellent at providing resources, including tools, software, and manuals, for his team to learn and update their skills. He provides workshops, webinars, and conferences for them to attend. He offers benefits to his team members, enabling them to focus on their work. However, if there is poor collaboration within the team, there is little sharing of ideas and innovations. The environment becomes unhealthy. The team is unable to utilize the available resources effectively.

Richness in knowledge- Leader Z is a well-known expert in his field. He holds immense expertise and has a great deal of experience. He is rich in knowledge. However, if he is unable to secure funding and resources or lacks the skills to execute his plans effectively, his team will not benefit from his mentoring.

Therefore, a rich mindset is essential, which works as a tool to bring a vision into reality. A true leader knows the value of having a rich and open heart, allowing the vision to flow without cutting corners. Holding onto all three riches is the way to go for sustainability.

I see rich mindset leadership as fitting into three styles:

• Transactional- evaluates periodic performance score.
• Transformational – shares vision and communicates.
• Democratic Leadership- brings team members into good collaboration.

What do we mean by Greatness?

Greatness starts at the individual level. It means working on yourself to be great and not mediocre. To stand out above the average and become great, we must first work on ourselves. A few examples of great leaders in history include Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, and Nelson Mandela.

Have you pondered what made them achieve their greatness? First of all, it is not about being perfect. They did not fit or check all the boxes of the qualities of an ideal leader. They rose for a cause. They had a purpose, a mission that served as their north star and guided them throughout their lives.

They never hesitated to include strangers in their mission and were always eager to learn from their fellow human beings. Their primary driving forces were a commitment to serving humanity, a dedication to making a greater impact, and alleviating the burden on their people. They faced insurmountable battles, criticism from others, and unknown challenges, yet they persevered and pioneered in complex tasks.

This would be our definition of greatness in leadership. The great mindset leadership fits in:

• Servant-type leadership- inspires and motivates team members to acquire new skills.  
• Situational leadership- adapts leadership style according to the need.

Unfortunately, in today’s world, leadership takes on a different form. Leaders are expected to know everything. People often do not wish to appear novice, hesitate to ask questions, and are reluctant to take a pioneering role.

People are more inclined towards immediate gratification. Very few people would enroll in a course where they have to dedicate their time and effort to drilling in the knowledge and learning the essence of that course. Some leaders may tend to take a “fake it till you make it” attitude. But until when? When will we, as leaders, acknowledge that the “yes, I don’t know everything, but I will learn from my team members” approach is acceptable?

A healthy mindset with both richness and goodness in Leadership will start from:

Removing the debris of old guidelines, structures, and silos and adopting new ways of thinking. The leader may sit with their early-career members and discuss new ideas. Early-career individuals possess fresh knowledge that may be more effective in the current paradigm. A novice team member may have a limited amount of expertise in a broader spectrum than a well-experienced individual in one particular area. I am not implying that experienced leaders in the field possess outdated knowledge; instead, I am encouraging experts to seek out novices and vice versa. Both sides have something to learn from each other.

In conclusion, we do not have to do extraordinary stuff to be a leader with richness and greatness. We can support and guide our team towards a mission that serves a purpose bigger than ourselves.

With this, I will leave my readers to envision their own leadership, considering their leadership in personal life and professional life. Where do we see ourselves inclining towards in the spectrum?

More richness & less greatness, or more greatness & less richness?

Sidenote: spiritual leadership would be:

1. Take care of yourself (mind, body, and spirit) so that you can better care for those who seek your light.
2. When you take care of others, do it only with love, a whole heart, and good intentions.
3. Always build others with thoughts, words, and actions—uplift people's spirits and not tear them down.

 I would appreciate your feedback and constructive criticism.