The Best Way To Be Successful Is To Empower Others To Grow
Make others look good and you will look good
Haruka Nishimatsu was a leader like no other.
He was the CEO of Japan Airlines when the company faced economic depression in 2010. To avoid the prospects of the workers laid off, he sacrificed his corporate perks.
He took actions to maintain high morale among the employees. When profits went down, he lowered his salary to avoid laying staff off or cutting their pay. He took a public bus to work.
All these actions ensured he kept a stronger, loyal, and more dedicated workforce.
Haruka lived by a simple philosophy. He believed that “to be a leader, one must not act as a ruler of their company”. Leaders must set examples for their employees.
The concept of good leadership separates bosses and leaders.
In an era where CEOs received huge bonuses for leading their organizations to fail, Haruka Nishimatsu showed a good example. He walked the talk of leadership.
He made it known that “a CEO shares the economic pain and doesn’t motivate by how many millions he makes, but by convincing employees, you’re all together in the same boat.”
Leadership for him meant he looked out for his employees in all aspects. He wanted them to look good and encouraged them to think for themselves.
In his words, “if management is distant, up in the clouds, people just wait for orders. I want my people to think for themselves.”
Employees want a leader who looks out for them and makes them look good.
Make people look good and you look good.
This is the Canvas Strategy.
Be lesser, do more
Haruka Nishimatsu showed a good example by acting differently at a time other CEOs earned huge bonuses. He put his people first.
These actions showed a leader is first a servant. If you will serve, you will grow.
According to Lord Mahon, “great men have always shown themselves as ready to obey as they afterward proved able to command.”
Regardless of what you do, leadership begins from the inside. It is an art that we learn.
In the ancient Roman Empire, potential leaders played certain roles to grow. It starts like the one who clears the path.
Ryan Holiday explains the concept in his book, Ego is the Enemy.
Anteambulo required the person to go ahead of his masters when they traveled. He then passes on messages before the patron arrives.
This approach enabled young men to interact with influential and successful people in society. They learned from their experiences, received favors, and exposed to countless opportunities.
Great arts developed because some world-renowned artists at the time went through this system. It was a case of taking one step back to take many steps forward.
It was about providing support so that others can look good. Ryan Holiday puts it aptly, “find canvases for others to paint on. Be an Anteambulo. Clear the path for people above you and you will eventually create a path for yourself.”
The Anteambulo must be humble, keep his head down and be willing to serve.
This message resonates with Haruka Nishimatsu's actions. He worked to better individual lives for the good of the organization. It was never about him.
He followed the Canvas Strategy.
Learning by doing
“We rise by lifting others” — Robert Ingersoll.
Servant leadership and the Anteambulo style aim to achieve the same thing.
While a servant leader builds and empowers people, the Anteambulo supports leaders to make them look good.
It takes a respectful attitude to succeed if one is new to an organization. The first is to keep your head down and serve your boss.
The realities of the workplace are different, and you must understand them. Most of the things you learned may be outdated. There are new things to learn.
If you attach yourself to successful people, you will do well. You will have insider information. Opportunities are open to you and use them to make things happen.
Learning to lead is a steep learning curve. It is so because of some people with the know-it-all attitude.
These people see obeisance as self-lowering. Why not, they have the right education and feel entitled. These are the trappings of ego.
Ego kills potential. It deceives people into believing that they are born leaders. No need to waste time learning the ropes.
They see it as grunt work.
The 4-time Super Bowl award-winning Coach of the New England Patriots, Bill Belichick, made his way to the top through the ranks.
One coach described his approach to learning as, “he was like a sponge, taking it all in, listening to everything. You gave him an assignment, and he disappeared into a room and reappeared only when he completes the job.”
Through grunt work, he mastered every department of the game except football politics.
His father taught him an important lesson on football politics. He told him, “that if he wanted to give his coach feedback or question a decision, he needed to do it in private and self-effacingly so as not to offend his superior.”
Bill mastered the trade without posing a threat to others. He used the canvas strategy to rise to the top.
Greatness is achieved through humble beginnings. Make yourself the least important person in the team until you take action to change things.
Be the gray man, do more.
Self-restraint is key to success
“I have observed that those who have accomplished the greatest results are those who ‘keep under the body’; are those who never grow excited or lose self-control, but are always calm, self-possessed, patient, and polite”–Booker T. Washington.
With the right poise and restraint, the Canvas Strategy, or Anteambulo, is easy to achieve.
Discard ego and self-entitlement, one gains rich experience. You establish new relationships and become a sounding board for people seeking advice. This brings you countless favors in return.
Some do not agree with this process and see it as humiliating. The experience is there for all to see. You come out a better person with more opportunities for future collaboration.
Regardless of the leadership style you adopt, the basic principles remain the same.
You start by helping others. The investment in relationships is your means to grow. Help yourself by helping others.
Do your best. Let people take the credit. There is always a payback time. This is a lifetime formula for success.
Remember, the best way to be successful is to empower others to grow.
Becoming a leader
“No process in history has done more to facilitate the exchange of information, skills, wisdom, and contacts than mentoring”–Keith Ferrazzi & Tahl Raz.
Under the Anteambulo system, there is something to teach and learn with every moment.
One needs only to have the courage, be strong, and shun the path of least resistance. The more open-minded you are, the more experience and better you will be.
Those who learned their trade by undergoing apprenticeship gained the knowledge and wisdom to grow. Success as a leader requires determination, self-reliance, and powerful will.
It is those who understand a life that helps you. Observing successful people and how they talk, work and live will make you learn new things.
Organizations need leaders who inspire and serve others.
The takeaways
The world needs more leaders.
Leaders who take responsibility do more. They seek to protect and support their employees. This takes time and commitment, but the benefits are there for all.
A leader who empowers his team is like a parent. He commits to their welfare and sacrifices on their behalf. Haruka Nishitmatsu took pay cuts to save his employees from retrenchment.
We must start doing small things to empower others. Be the canvas for them to paint on. If they succeed, you will also reap the reward.
It is not late to start. Do something good to enable others to grow. You will raise their levels along with your own.
Ryan Holiday sums it up aptly, “the person who clears the path ultimately controls its direction, just the canvas shapes the painting.”
The Canvas Strategy exists at all times.
