In order to be a great leader, youu2019ve got to be comfortable with the fact that you donu2019t always have to be the smartest person in the room. In fact, itu2019s better if you surround yourself with people who are better than you are in significant ways. Success is not about your ego and making your employees suppress their own ideas so that you can look good! You donu2019t want employees who are going to work harder at making an idea seem like it comes from you than at coming up with a stellar thought that benefits the entire organization. Someone who is comfortable in their own skin is going to be comfortable around people who outshine them in various ways. And a good bossu2014a good leader, regardless of whether or not that person is in a supervisory positionu2014is one who surrounds herself with the smartest, most capable people whose values align with hers. A good boss is going to be equally comfortable with having those values and the reasoning behind them challenged. That process only makes those values, and the results of realizing them in practice, better.
Powered by Purpose, Scott Demingu00a0u2014 author of Powered by Purpose: How to Engage and Retain Your Team Through Meaningful Leadership.