Benevolent Force - The Big 8

Benevolent force is the final discussion in the Eight Forces of Leadership. This discussion only comes last because it was last in the discovery process. All eight forces are equal, held equally and together provide the world with people who will lead them to their dreams and beyond. Coincidence of discovery could not have chosen better the final force to discuss.

“The main shoot of the tree is only the main shoot as long as it is healthy (qualified force) and able to support the branches that come from it (benevolent force).”

Benevolent is defined by American Heritage and by Word Net (see Dictionary.com):

be·nev·o·lent ( P ) Pronunciation Key (b -n v -l nt)
adj.

1. Characterized by or suggestive of doing good.
2. Of, concerned with, or organized for the benefit of charity.

benevolent

adj 1: doing or producing good [syn: beneficent, gracious] 2: intending or showing kindness; "a benevolent society" 3: having or showing or arising from a desire to promote the welfare or happiness of others; "his benevolent smile"; "a benevolent nature" [syn: good] [ant: malevolent] 4: generous in providing aid to others [syn: freehearted] 5: generous in assistance to the poor; "a benevolent contributor"; "eleemosynary relief"; "philanthropic contributions" [syn: beneficent, eleemosynary, philanthropic]

People who are not benevolent are not leaders. As stated before, this force is equal but the leader (are you tempted to say “the true leader”) is not a leader without benevolence. The desire to promote the welfare of the organization or those that follow is essential to leadership. The intentional showing of kindness and understanding – even when shown in a drill sergeant’s sternness – is critical to the leader who has selfless objectives. Any leader, even the one with selfish, evil motives, has to provide aid to those who follow him.

The ability to “support the branches” is not just found in the capability to be benevolent to the followers, but more important ability to support requires desire.

Benevolent Force is not a twentieth century “emotional support”, self-help, “you can do it” mentality. It is not about making everyone feel good, accepting all types of behavior and providing “emotional support.” Certainly, emotional support will be needed at times, but benevolent force is desiring to promote the welfare of those that follow and of the organization in which they follow. Benevolent force is about aiding those who follow by leading them.

Benevolent support is not “the great leader to the peon, unknowing follower”. It is about desiring the best for the follower and the effort. Benevolence is often done in anonymity as someone provides for the needs of another simply because they can. Benevolent leadership mimics this type of giving as it joins forces with Humble Force and seeks not to lift up itself but to provide for the good of others.

I grew up in an IBM Family back in the days when IBM was a tremendous force in computers and timeclocks. In my twenties, I worked for IBM as well. For all of those years, the company was like the military. People gave loyalty and service without question, and IBM took care of their every need. For forty something years, IBM had never laid off one worker. Loyalty and honor were everywhere. The dress code always included a white shirt and a tie. It didn’t matter if you were unloading boxes – white shirt and tie. A classic tale (true story that was repeated many times) is told amongst the IBM’ers of old. A man was having a horrible time financially and simply could not afford new shirts. His shirts got dirtier and yellowed with age. His manager knew that this would affect this solid employee's ability to be promoted or furthered, so he went to the store and bought a package of white dress shirts. He left the pack on the employee’s desk without any fanfare because he cared about the employee. He was looking out for the man’s future. That manager was a leader who understood benevolent leadership.

IBM trained their leaders to aid, assist and help their employees achieve the best. They trained their leaders to hold a high standard but to help followers attain it. The leaders of IBM understood benevolent force, and it caused them to be one of the most successful companies in that era of business. It also caused them to raise a class of leaders that exceeded the capability of most leaders in the marketplace.

Benevolent leadership is not a “mamby-pamby”, “let me give you a handout”, “here is a free pass”, “let me do it for you” leadership force. Benevolent force simply seeks the welfare and aids in the betterment of the follower. In some cases, benevolent force will be seen as one helps a follower to hit a high standard through discipline. In other cases, benevolent leadership will champion the welfare of the follower over coffee.

Most importantly, though, Benevolent Force takes time because it invests directly in people. Do you have the time? If you don’t, then you will never master this force nor will you really lead anyone well.