From Good To Great

What differentiates a good leader from a great leader? Good leaders have a passion for their vision. Great leaders, however, go beyond possessing passion for a vision. Great leaders also care passionately about their followers. Great leaders are energized by a vision because they understand how that vision will serve the followers. What drives great leaders is not their passion for their vision but their compassion for their followers. Great leaders understand how the vision they hold can benefit their followers. Followers respond to great leaders because the followers feel cared about. What moves leaders from being good to being great is moving from caring primarily for the vision to caring more about the followers.

There is no set formula for leading. Different approaches are employed by different leaders with equal success. What really matters, in my view, is the connection between leader and follower. The great leader answers the key question in followers’ minds—“Why does this vision matter?” Great leaders make the vision relevant to followers’ lives now and for the future.

Great leading, then, fulfills the call to serve. It is not a mission or a vision or a goal that leaders are called to serve. Leaders serve human beings. If leaders do not serve who they lead, then it does not matter how good the leadership techniques. It is when followers experience what is in the hearts of their leader that the leader will move from being a good leader to being a leader who is great.