– See all the Leadership Quotes here –

“A leader is best when people barely know he exists…when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will all say: We did it ourselves.” – Lao-Tzu

This is an old, yet timeless leadership quote from the founder of Taoism, Lao Tzu, who lived in China around 600 years BC.  And thankfully we can add “he or she“, and “his or her aim” today, as we’ve made strides towards equality over the last 1600 years that Lao Tzu wasn’t privy to, and we’re blessed with many wonderful women leaders, both high profile and local.

Do you know what this quote means?  Lao Tzu is talking about “servant leadership”, 1600 years before it became a popular leadership method and framework, which is amazing in itself.

Empowering Your People So They Can Do It Themselves

There are as many different leadership styles as there are personality styles, although you may know the most common ones: from the Autocratic, where the manager is primarily focused on getting the tasks done with little regard to a team’s feelings, to directing, democratic, laissez-faire or “hands-off”, charismatic and transactional.

But there is one leadership style which has grown in popularity, especially with the rise of Agile and Lean methodologies in and around software development, and that is the Servant Leader.

Continue reading Leadership Quote – Lao Tzu on Servant Leadership →