A Great Worker Isn't Always a Great Leader

We have a tendency in business to take people who are great at their jobs and eventually put people underneath them.

Those are two completely different skills.

I learned that pretty early in my career.

I once worked for someone who was incredibly talented and creative, but after one meeting, they completely belittled me.

I remember walking away thinking:

If I ever have the opportunity to lead people, this will never be the way I leave them feeling.

That experience changed how I think about leadership.

Today, when I’m looking for leaders, I’m looking well beyond how good they are at their individual job.

Can they get people to believe in the mission? Put people in positions to succeed? When someone is struggling, do they look for what’s wrong with the person or find ways to help them get better?

Talent helped propel my own career. But so did attitude, energetic leadership and an almost unhealthy desire to be great at everything we did.

A great worker can produce great work.

A great leader creates the environment for an entire team to do it.