Let me introduce you to Humshine Leadership.  You have noticed it before.  Hopefully you have had the privilege to work with someone who practices it.  Perhaps you have a lot of Humshine yourself.  It’s something we all need to thrive.  It is what makes us “lead” with a passion and “follow” with enthusiasm.  Humshine is the unseen force that draws us to follow those who radiate it.

The cool part is that you don’t have to have power, status, or a title to use it.  We all can be Humshine Leaders no matter what our role may be. 

Stop and think for a moment about someone who you remember as a true leader.  Someone whom you would follow even when you don’t have to.  She might have been your manager three jobs ago.  He might be a member of your team who just seems to always know the right direction to go.  She could be a CEO, a Mayor, a Sunday School Teacher, or an involved parent in the local PTA.  It’s not her status, it’s her Humshine that draws you to follow her.  And more often than not, she is helping you lead others. 

Humshine leaders are “authentic” and hence help us to be authentic ourselves; and as it turns out, we become a Humshine Leader as we approach being our true selves.  The reason for this is that as we become authentic (true to ourselves) we are more capable of leading ourselves.  We conduct our lives according to our core values not the dictates of a demanding world.  This helps us to act in the interest of those we are leading instead of in our own personal interests or self-promotion.  By sticking to our core values and core purpose, we become immune to the temptations that might cause us to derail from our Humshine. 

This point about leading ourselves should not be treated lightly.  We have to be able to lead ourselves before we lead others or we will end up in failure.  As Bill George (author of True North) says, “The leaders that have failed, have failed not because they can’t lead others, they can’t lead themselves”.  And so it goes, with one news report after another, we see a dark hole in the leadership of our organizations.  Temporary success by mortgaging the future is the worst kind of failure because it’s not only a personal failure of the leader, but it brings down the organization he leads.  Many times, thousands are tragically affected by the loss of investments, jobs, pensions and health care.

How do some fail to lead themselves?.

They get caught up in the “what’s in it for me?” wisdom, and they fail to form a set of core values and core purpose that would have kept them from falling off the cliff.  Instead of leading from a foundation of values, they rally the troops around a self-promoting goal and the mantra becomes “the goal at any cost.”  Instead of leading others to a mission of organization greatness, they lead them to goals that are self-serving.  They are thinking, “Meet this quarters estimates and the stock goes up. I make my goal, I get my bonus, I cash in my options.  Headhunters call and I move on to the next corporate challenge.”  Unfortunately, many of these leaders have left a wake of failed businesses, lost jobs and pensions, and outraged shareholders. 

Humshine leadership is the opposite of the self-absorbed leader. Humshine Leaders know who they are and will not compromise their values for personal gain. Founder & CEO of ACT-1 Group, Janice Bryant Howroyd puts it this way, “Never compromise who you are personally to become who you wish to be professionally.”

Humshine Leaders know that it is the leader’s role to empower others to lead.  They are “clock builders” not “time keepers,” as Jim Collins likes to put it.  By empowering others to lead, Humshine Leaders build a great company that can live on long after they are gone.  In fact, building a company that can survive after they have turned over the reins is part of their passion to lead.  This goes in direct opposition to the self-absorbed leader who relishes the thought that the company can’t survive without him. 

Humshine - Some leaders just shine.  We notice their presence and we notice their efforts.  We want to find out what all the “Sunshine” is about.  We listen to their story and decide whether or not this is someone we want to follow.  We will follow a true leader even when we don’t have to.  Sometimes we pick up on the fake “Sunshine” of the ego centric leader who wants us to follow him for his benefit. The trouble is that many times these leaders are very talented. They have a lot of charisma. They can get our attention (we listen) and before we know it we are charging ahead on a false path that the leader has laid out for us.  We might even be very successful; part of a team or organization that breaks records, makes a turnaround, and lifts the stock price to new heights.  But how did we get there?  What values did we break to accomplish our goals?  And will the organization be able to maintain this stellar performance? 

Humshine Leaders lead by empowering others to lead.  If you are being developed in such a way that you are encouraged to lead and you are rewarded when you take action as a leader, then you feel empowered and engaged in the “cause” of the organization - something bigger than yourself. 

On the other hand, if you feel constrained to act only in ways that bring rewards and recognition to your boss, you most likely will “disengage” yourself from your work.  You will not make decisions, let  alone act upon them. You will opt, instead, to wait for directions from above.  You will feel like a robot and therefore,  the only way you are capable of acting is when commanded to do so. 

The team, unit, division, or organization led by this type of leader becomes sluggish and ineffective. They don’t innovate because they are waiting to be told what to do and when to do it.  This is often when things start to collapse.  And this is often when the self-promoting leader jumps ship, taking on the next corporate challenge before she has to face her own mistakes and weaknesses.  They never learn from their failures because they never accept the responsibility for failure, often retreating to the “blame game”.  

What gives the “Shine” to the Humshine leader?  It’s the hum.  Humility.  They are humble enough to put success of the organization above their own success.  They realize that great companies are not made by one person.  Humshine Leaders know that failure is part of life and they take responsibility for any failure that happens on their watch.  They Learn from their failures.  They know that it’s not how many times you get knocked down that counts, but how many times you lift yourself back up off the canvas.  Humshine Leaders are humble enough to know that their talents and abilities are not enough to rely on when the “going gets tough.”  Instead they rely on a strong foundation - a foundation of core values.  By returning to their core values they are propelled to engage their core purpose; a purpose that is bigger than their own personal ambition.  By being humble and gaining strength from their core values they are able to listen to the inner voice that will guide them back to the road of success.

Although Humshine Leaders are humble, they still have great ambitions - ambitions to grow a great organization.  They love people and they love developing talents within the people they are responsible for.  They surround themselves with TALENT!  They’re not afraid to hire someone smarter than themselves.  In fact, they thrive in association with smarter people. To lead a cause by engaging the talents of great people is what Humshine Leadership is all about.  These leaders love creating something bigger than themselves.  Something that will remain long after they have left the organization.

Can you become a Humshine Leader?  Can you put the “cause” of your organization ahead of your personal agenda?  Can you engage others to follow you?   It all starts by finding out “Who you are,” developing your personal core values, and learning to lead yourself.  If you can learn to lead yourself, others will follow you because you lead from a strong foundation.