“Leadership means you will be asked to give more than you receive. You’ll carry things nobody knows you’re carrying. ”
There might not be a sentence that exposes someone’s leadership ceiling faster than this one: “You don’t pay me to do that.”
I understand what people mean when they say it. There are job descriptions, responsibilities and boundaries. People should absolutely be compensated fairly for the work they perform. But I’m not really talking about compensation. I’m talking about mindset.
There’s an old leadership principle that says, “One of the penalties of leadership is the necessity of willingness, upon the part of the leader, to do more than he requires of his followers.” I love the word penalty because leadership costs something. Everybody wants the title, the authority, the compensation and the influence, but leadership comes with a bill. Eventually, that bill comes due.
Leadership means you will be asked to give more than you receive. You’ll carry things nobody knows you’re carrying. You’ll have conversations nobody else wants to have. You’ll solve problems you didn’t create and take responsibility for things you didn’t personally screw up. And sometimes, you’re going to pick up the broom.
That’s servant leadership.
Somewhere along the way, we turned leadership into moving away from the work. We think advancement means, “I don’t have to do that anymore.” I don’t have to take out the trash. I don’t have to help that crew. I don’t have to stay late. I don’t have to deal with that customer. That’s not my job.
Maybe it isn’t your job. But leadership has never been about doing only what is required of you.
Look at the core of almost every great leader you’ve ever followed and I bet you’ll find someone who consistently did more than they were paid to do long before anyone paid them more to do it. They served before they had the title. They took responsibility before they had the authority. They saw something that needed to be done and didn’t stop to figure out whose job description it belonged to.
That’s the part we get backward. We want the position to create the behavior instead of realizing the behavior is what qualifies us for the position.
I’ve watched people spend years waiting for an opportunity while repeatedly walking past opportunities because they were disguised as extra work. They want more responsibility, but they won’t take responsibility. They want more money, but they won’t create more value. They want more influence, but they won’t serve unless there’s something in it for them.
Then they wonder why nobody gives them more. Maybe the thing you believe is beneath you is the very thing revealing whether you’re ready for what’s above you.
Servant leadership doesn’t mean allowing people to take advantage of you or that organizations shouldn’t compensate people appropriately. It means you stop keeping score. When your team is buried, you don’t stand on the sidelines reminding everyone that you’re the boss. You jump in. When something goes wrong, you don’t immediately ask, “Who did this?” You ask, “What do we need to do to fix it?” When your people are carrying something heavy, you grab the other end.
Leadership isn’t standing on top of people. Leadership is getting underneath them and helping carry the weight.
If you lead people, ask yourself: Would I willingly do what I’m asking them to do? Would you follow the standard you’re enforcing? Accept the accountability you’re demanding? Stay late? Make the difficult phone call? Have the uncomfortable conversation? Pick up the broom?
You cannot demand sacrifice while modeling entitlement. You cannot preach teamwork while protecting yourself from inconvenience. And you cannot call yourself a servant leader when you’re only willing to serve when people are watching.
The greatest leaders I’ve known don’t have to constantly remind people they’re leaders. Their people already know. When things get hard, they move toward the problem instead of away from it. When there is credit to give, they point outward. When there is responsibility to take, they point inward.
And here’s something I’ve learned: Doing more than you’re paid for has a funny way of eventually making you worth more than you’re being paid.
Maybe nobody notices tomorrow. That’s okay. You’re building something bigger than your next paycheck. You’re building your capacity, reputation, discipline, character and influence. You’re becoming someone who can be trusted with more.
So when that little voice starts whispering, “Ugh, That’s not my job. Someone else can handle it. They don’t pay me to do that,” catch yourself. Never allow the minimum requirement to become the maximum effort you’re willing to give.
Anybody can do what they’re paid to do. Anybody can meet the minimum. Anybody can serve when it’s convenient.
Leadership begins when you become willing to give something that wasn’t required of you.
So maybe the question isn’t, “Are they paying me to do that?”
Maybe the better question is, “What kind of leader am I becoming when nobody requires me to?”
Before you ask for the next title, the next raise, the next opportunity or the next level of influence, take a look around.
There might be a broom sitting in the corner.
Pick it up.