When you think about loyalty, a lot of times its importance is discussed in relation to a family, friendship, or romantic relationship. While loyalty is a main theme of relationships of this nature, it is also important to be a loyal leader. While loyalty isn’t also recognized in a leader as a standout trait, a lack of loyalty in a leader is noticeable and undesirable.
A lot of time the discussion about loyalty and careers centers around the idea of being loyal to a company for many years. While in the past, this was a great way to climb the corporate ladder, that is not necessarily something that is heavily rewarded in a modern context. Rather than focusing on staying with the same company for fifty years, think about being loyal to a certain career path or goal. A mistake that many people make is making too many career changes early on. While I don’t believe you should stay with a job you aren’t passionate about, sometimes people jump from job to job, chasing an unrealistic idealized perfect job that doesn’t exist.
When you make too many career changes you can end up with a job history that is off-putting to future employers. So, while I don’t think you need to commit to working for the same place from graduation to retirement, showing some loyalty or commitment can prove that you are not flighty or untrustworthy as an employee. I also think there is something significant about having loyalty to the ideas you have set forth for yourself. When you decide you want to have a certain job you should not just give up easily on that dream.
As a leader, you can be loyal to those who work for you by taking their interests and issues into concern. Furthermore, you can look out for things that would make their lives harder, and intentionally block obstacles to their success. While they might not notice that you are doing these things, there will be positive effects of these actions that will make the people you work with feel good about working with you.
Being loyal to the people who work with you will pay off in turn. If you prove that you are going to support those people and be loyal to them as a boss, you can expect them to be more loyal to you as well. This is important because in a modern career force, it is very hard to retain talented employees. Every time you lose a good employee you are not guaranteed that you will be able to replace them with someone of similar caliber. You also lose effectiveness and productivity during the time it takes to train new people.
Loyalty can improve all of the relationships in your life: platonic, romantic, business, or otherwise. People like to know that they can count on you, and that you aren’t going to leave them. When you prove loyalty to the people in your life, they will respect you and trust you more. They will also be more willing to support your ideas and initiatives. All in all, loyalty is very important.
- Bria