Walt Disney, arguably one of the exemplary leaders America has produced, in his life, and since his death, did more to touch the hearts and minds of millions of Americans than any other person in the past century.
If we study Walt Disney closely, we find how he toiled all through his life to make a difference in the lives of everyone who had interactions with Walt Disney Productions. He was always striving to make people happy, had a strong commitment to his employees, worked hard to build relationships with them and knew each person by name. He wanted his employees to be happy, and he worked closely with everyone in his company. One of the best examples of his willingness to develop relationships is evidenced by his eagerness to help his employees learn more about animation. Walt offered the chance for his employees to attend art school, at his expense. Many of his animators took advantage of Walt’s offer, and as a result, their work improved greatly. They were enthusiastic about this opportunity and were grateful to Walt for taking an interest in their futures.
“You don’t build it for yourself. You know what the people want and you build it for them.” -Walt Disney
Radhanath Swami puts it all into perspective while defining the true characteristics of a leader. He says, “Leadership means taking responsibility of others, which means one must be selfless. Selflessness means putting aside our own well-being and desires as secondary and to think primarily of what is best for the persons who are looking up to us.”
When we focus on our selfish agendas, we move away from drawing strength from the divine realm. We find ourselves in the grips of fear, frustration and anxiety: fear of losing, frustration sets in because of rigid roadblocks in the race to succeed, and we are always anxious due to excessive competition. The fall outs of these conditions that we bring upon ourselves have far-reaching effects on our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual well-being. However, when we focus on executing our job as a selfless service to others, for their welfare, we draw strength from the divine realm, we find our energies refreshed and revitalized, and we see happy people around us willing to help us in our cause. Inadvertently we earn more respect. What’s more, we find nature and the whole ecosystem conspiring to make us successful. This, I believe is the secret of success of stalwart leaders of the world, be it Walt Disney or Mahatma Gandhi or Abraham Lincoln or Mother Theresa, as they always put the needs of others before their own and in return received the grace of the divine.
Today’s ego-centric world is strewn with people in leadership positions with vested interest. It needs a cleanup for sure. There seems to be a revolution-in-waiting, and the hour of the wakeup call is only nearing! Calling selfless leaders for a better today and a better tomorrow! Are you listening?
Some people are born with traits of selflessness, but the good news is that we can cultivate selflessness as our personal characteristic with practice. Remember, nothing great is ever achieved without hard work and personal sacrifice! Here are some insights into developing a selfless service attitude:
- Learn to subordinate our personal feelings, needs and ego for a higher cause. When we commit ourselves to a cause, we will often need to put the cause ahead of our personal goals. This may mean sacrificing our pet project or sharing our strongest resources for the greater good of the organization or the team.
- Practice, practice, practice. We can’t just wake up one morning and become selfless leaders. It takes practice and discipline. Selflessness often goes against our natural instincts for self-preservation. It requires us to build and exercise new muscles. We have to look for opportunities, both big and small, to practice selflessness.
- Selflessness is not to be confused with lack of will or sense of self. Many may confuse selflessness with weakness or lack of will. On the contrary, selfless leaders often have wills of iron. They know what they want. As leaders we have to remember to keep thinking big and remain confident (remember, very soon you will start drawing strength from the divine realm).
- Understand your boundaries and priorities. If the cause is great and we believe in our ability to effect change, we should be prepared to make equally great sacrifices. We may jeopardize a big promotion or bonus to do the right thing. We may even put our job on the line. We will also make smaller personal sacrifices, like missing family events or bringing the stress of work home with us. Selfless leadership requires us to explore our boundaries fully so that when we confront choices, we are prepared to make them.
You can become a selfless leader if you have an identified higher cause for the greater good of others and if you build determination in your cause. However, you must also note that such selfless leadership calls for hard work, patience, sacrifice, and, most of all, love. You must love what you do, the people you serve, and your higher cause.
“Until we become selfless to our own selfish desires, we cannot truly give ourselves for the welfare of others” – Radhanath Swami
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Yes It is divine realm that is going to give inner strenth to the selfless leader.In general people like to choose a person who is not a show case leader as their leader.The selfless attitude of a person ultimatly makes him or her a leader.I also liked certain insights given by author herein to develop selfless leadership qualities.Thank you very much for sharing such a nice article with us.
Radhanath Swami beautifully puts across all the qualities that a successful leader must have. He has seen it all and is the epitome of selflessness. He is a leader who is an excellent servant, who thinks of others before himself. He possesses all the qualities of a successful leader.
Until we become selfless to our own selfish desires, we cannot truly give ourselves for the welfare of others.
countable few are such servant selfless leaders….since so-called leaders of todays age, as is being described here, has no right cause, least to say abt the determination to pursue it…thank you very much…
Radhanath Maharaj shows by his example how to be selfless and put the needs of others before your own.
HH Radhanath Swami always exhibits the world the true leadership qualities by serving before preaching.
it’s hope giving to read that not all of us are blessed with selflessness; we can cultivate this most important quality by practice practice and practice. i guess practice makes one perfect by attracting grace from the divine realm. until then just practice selflessness. thank you for sharing the article
Amazing article!
This article reminds me of a quote about selfless spiritual leaders i.e.
“He reasons ill who tells that Vaishnavas die
When thou art still living in sound!
The Vaishnavas die to live, and living try
To spread the holy name around.”
Amazing to know the secrets of cultivating selflessness! Thanks a lot. Wonderful article. Being a Manager in a corporate sector, I was never taught these principles but I am sure it brings a miracle in my life, if I imbibe.
Selflessness is very essential to advance in any field…..its like putting the horse before the cart
the only successful leader can be a servant leader, and this quality is very much inherent in radhanath swami maharaja.
so well put – selflessness- its the need of the day to progress in any field
Great article extolling the qualities of a good leader; something that our material society really needs at this juncture.
It is so amazing how Radhanath Swami Maharaj puts Vaishnava teachings so very well. A Vaishnava is always a leader – a selfless leader. Maharaj’s words are not mere words but realizations.
Thanks for sharing the words of Radhanath Swami. I am really inspired with the words “Until we become selfless to our own selfish desires, we cannot truly give ourselves for the welfare of others”
“You don’t build it for yourself. You know what the people want and you build it for them.” -Walt Disney
Leadership means taking responsibility of others, which means one must be selfless. Selflessness means putting aside our own well-being and desires as secondary and to think primarily of what is best for the persons who are looking up to us
How true! As Radhanath Swami puts it, leadership means responsibility, responsibility means sacrifice (of one’s self interest) and sacrifice means love.
Thank you for sharing this wonderful article.
Wonderful message from Radhanath Swami. Thanks for sharing it.
Lead by example – this is so clearly visible in HH Radhanath Swami's selfless service to Humanity. Thank you for all you do, Swamiji.
Good article…
trinad api sunicena.dont try to be leader first become sosos.
we find how he toiled all through his life to make a difference in the lives of everyone who had interactions with Walt Disney Productions.
Very inspiring article and was concluded with apt quote by Radhanath Swami. Thank you for sharing.
world needs leaders like radhanath swami
Nice article.
Hope Giving 'practice practice practice'
practice makes the man perfact.
Very wonderful article thank you very much for posting this.
Thank you for this article.
really wonderful article
thank u maharj for giving us clear vision of ledership and sprituality
Great article.
good article.
Without removing selfish desires we can't attain the Supreme goal.
Thank you HH Radhanath Swami for instructing us to do selfless service by keeping aside all our selfish desires.
The summarized 4 points were excellent and very practical.
The overall article solved my doubts over the definition of "Selflessness", specially the sentence,"Many may confuse selflessness with weakness or lack of will. On the contrary, selfless leaders often have wills of iron."
Thank you very much for enlightening us.
very good article
Thank you for revealing the password to access the divine realm! That is to focus on executing our job as a selfless service to others, for their welfare.
Wonderful read. Thank you.
Yes…Without removing selfish desires we can’t attain the Supreme goal.Its true.
Thank You mam for this insightful article..
You have disclosed all the secrets to become successful.
Radhanath Swami is a perfect leader & the proof is that how he convinces everyone around the world about the real goal of life.
Thank you for sharing this beautiful article.
amazing
Its said a preacher always preaches and sometimes preaches through speaking. Swamiji is like that as he’s always preaching by his life and example and by his words as well.
Selflessness is not to be confused with lack of self or will; selfless leaders have will of iron – very wonderful!
the idea of selflessness does seem very nice. however i feel quite saddened when i see that the masses for whom the individual struggles are selfish and unmoved. Personally i must admit that i always hesitate when i see that people have mentality of exploitation. it makes me question whether the idea of selflessness is meant to be directed to the right kind of people.