Leaders Take the Middle Seat

Southwest Airlines has a unique seating arrangement for its travelers. While most major air carriers assign individuals a specific seat on their planes, Southwest simply places travelers into groups. Then, groups are boarded on to the plane and travelers get to pick their ideal seat. Naturally, the window and isle seats usually get selected first.

No one chooses to take the middle seat.

There are several personal requirements for businessmen and women to transform themselves into leaders. While some people are just born with leadership qualities, other leaders require years of training and practice. Regardless of the route taken to get to leadership status, all leaders must have a sense of humility in their arsenal of professional development skills.

In today's culture, most travelers expect to get on the plane as quickly as possible. They expect to get to their most desired seat as fast as possible. And they expect to put their luggage in the most convenient storage spot as possible. Sadly, this mentality leaves little room for anyone other than the individual traveler. I must get on the plane as quickly as possible, I have to get to my seat first, I have to put my roll-a-board into the overhead bin first.

Where you choose to sit on a plane says quite a bit about your leadership tactics.

Those that quickly take the nearest window seat are the selfish dreamers. While always thinking with your head in the clouds isn't considered a normal way to handle situations, it has its merits sometimes. But when you take the window seat, you are effectively saying that it does not matter to me what's going on around me. Leaders can't think like that.

Those that quickly take the isle seat care more about their own needs and desires than those of the people around them. Isle passengers are the first ones to stand up and fight for the exit door when the plane pulls up to its gate. Often, they stretch their legs into the isle, giving themselves more legroom but making it more difficult for those around them to navigate the isle. Leaders can't operate like that.

Leaders choose to take the middle seat.

The middle seat is the bridge that spans the gap of the opposite ends of the spectrum, from those who only have their heads in the clouds, to those that only care about themselves. In giving up a great view and by letting others have some extra space, the leader can put the priorities of the team above herself.

It is important for leaders to be humble. Humble leaders put the successes of others first and take the blame for any and all of the faults suffered by the team. According to William M. Lambert, the CEO of MSA Safety, Inc., in a recent Wall Street Journal article, "leaders need to have a strong ego, but not a big ego."

Choosing to sit in the middle seat not only means you do not have a big ego, but it also shows that your ego is so in check that you are willing to let others have what they want first.

The next time you have the opportunity to put the needs and wants of others around you first, make sure you take it. It is not only the right thing to do, but it also the thing that great leaders do. Nobody every gives praise or thanks to the man who only does things for his own benefit. Instead, gratitude is bestowed upon those who let others first. Leaders let others first. Leaders choose to take the middle seat.