John Adair's 100 Greatest Ideas for Effective Leadership

Idea 14: Supporting

Ducere est servire (To lead is to serve)

Motto of Britain's Chartered Institute of Management

Supporting is a broad function, covering many of the actions that you will take in team and individual circles. Setting and maintaining group standards – the invisible rules that bind a group together – by word and example, for instance, is a form of supporting, as is giving help to an individual in time of need.

There is a Japanese proverb that says: ‘If he works for you, you work for him.’ Leadership is done from in front… yes, but sometimes you have to stand behind your people and always to be ready to stand by them.

One critical way in which a leader supports the team or organization is to shoulder the whole weight of failure. ...