True Leadership Grows People, Not Ego

“The most valuable lesson in leadership is that it’s not about you, but about the growth and empowerment of your team."

Anton Wiryawan

MBA, Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania

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Written by: Luke Abernathy

Reflecting on a quote contributed by Anton Wiryawan for Lead Forward's Words To Lead By

Harriet Tubman led more than seventy enslaved people to freedom, yet she rarely drew attention to herself. She based her leadership not on her own strengths and skills but on those she guided: their needs, their fears, and their strengths. She learned who needed encouragement, who needed explicit direction, and who could manage only a slow and safe pace. She was not interested in looking strong; she was interested in making others strong, even in the most hazardous situations conceivable. Her leadership granted people courage they didn't know they had.

This idea reaches into everyday life, too. It is here that healthy leadership makes the shift from "Look at what I can do" to "Look at what we can do together." When you share responsibility instead of holding everything yourself, you help others discover their own ability. When you explain the reasoning behind decisions, you help people grow instead of simply following. And when you ask for the ideas of quieter members, you make leadership a space big enough for everyone.

Consider a group project when usually one drives the effort. When that person now decides to divide the roles, ask for input, and give opportunities for others to lead small parts of the work, the whole team gets stronger. The project is improved as more people feel a real ownership of it.

True leadership does not need to control everything. It's about lifting others' strengths so the entire team succeeds. Growth becomes real once people feel they can be trusted, valued, and supported.

When you lead in a manner that empowers, you help others rise, and when others rise, the whole group rises with them.