Leadership is a choice. It is quite possible that a person in the higher echelons of a corporate giant is not a leader whereas her subordinate is.

Management Theorist Simon Sinek gave a very relatable example of leadership in one of his talks.

‘In the military, we give medals to people who are willing to sacrifice themselves so that others may gain. In business, we give bonuses to people who are willing to sacrifice others so that we may gain.’

At first, one may think that people in the military are better people and that’s why they are attracted to the military and to the concept of service in the very first place. But that’s completely wrong. It’s actually the environment, and if we get the environment right, every single one of us has the capacity to do these remarkable things.

A good leader is one who can make others around him feel safe enough to be able to trust and cooperate with each other. Without a feeling of safety and without enough trust in each other, no person would be willing to do anything for any other person, let alone risk her life.

Haven’t we always felt safe in our parents’ caring leadership? It is because they make us feel safe. Fifty thousand years back, when man lived in the wilderness and was surrounded by countless dangers, several men got together and divided the responsibility of protecting the entire circle at night. People within that circle felt safe because they could trust and cooperate with each other.

If everybody knew how to create an atmosphere of trust and cooperation, then anyone could make a good leader

If everybody knew how to create an atmosphere of trust and cooperation, then any one could make a good leader. But trust and cooperation are not instructions. These are feelings. A good leader makes us feel safe because he knows how to create an environment of trust.

A good leader is not only positive, self-assured and courageous in terms of making decisions and standing tall by them, but also takes on full responsibility of ensuring an environment conducive for his co workers’ growth.

If employees feel that they ‘belong’, remarkable things can happen.

Like the dangers of the wilderness from fifty thousand years ago, the present business world is also filled with many. It could be the ups and downs of the economy, stock market uncertainty, unstable government, unfavorable policies or a new development that has the potential to render your product or service obsolete. The common thread running through all the above factors is that we have no control over them. They are constant and they are not going away. The only variable are the conditions inside the organization, and that’s where leadership matters, because it’s the leader that sets the tone. When a leader makes a choice to put the lives and safety of its employees first and makes them feel like they ‘belong’, extraordinary things, and even miracles can happen!