Having been an employee for a reasonable number of years, I have seen my fair share of different leadership styles. Having been a leader myself, in some capacity, within these thirty-two years of corporate experience I also observed my leadership style. I observed my impact on the people I am responsible for. Having worked with foreign leaders while working abroad has opened my eyes to the impact that a leader’s style has on his people and organization. The leadership style affects clients, partners, and suppliers as well.

I can categorize the various leadership styles into two buckets; the self-serving leader and the servant leader. Interestingly, most leaders cannot accurately conclude which bucket they belong to. In reality, only followers can accurately tell which bucker their leaders belong to.

Simon Sinek once said that employees have the right to love their job. Looking back to my experience as an employee, this phase is so true. Employees that love their jobs are more productive, willing to sacrifice, better team players, and better human beings.

For employees to love their jobs, their leaders must have the humility to understand the true meaning of leaders. Their purpose is more than just giving orders and embarrassing employees. Their purpose is to develop the people they are responsible for. Their purpose is to raise the level of their team competencies. This way, their teams can better serve the organization and their clients. Their purpose is the selfless pursuit of building a strong team, and leadership. These people will then build the competencies of their direct reports and so on. Now that is the legacy that a true leader leaves behind.