Making peace with self interest

There is a fantasy in the popular literature on leadership. It goes something like this, "If only everyone were trustworthy enough, and would trust one another sufficiently then all of our leadership problems would be solved.”

This sounds good on paper, it is certainly an interesting philosophical topic to discuss. However the real world demands a much more nuanced understanding of trust.

Many books are built on an underlying assumption that everyone can and should be trusted. And further that this lack of trust is the key element to focus on—and eliminate—within organizations.

I have a proposal which some may consider bold. Self interest is inherent in the human condition, and can never fully be eliminated. Furthermore trying to get rid of self interest is not a good idea. In fact it is when we ignore our own needs and simply try to serve everyone else that we lose balance and perspective.

There are organizations, corporate, academic, and spiritual, that champion this idea of blind trust of all. I wonder, “What happens within those organizations when there is conflict? When people in leadership see things in different ways?”

If there is a notion of being “in line” with what is right, what happens when two people believe that they are in alignment with what is right and yet they see things very differently? What happens then?

I propose that the road forward is to accept self interest as a given, to talk about it, and to actively and smartly manage around this reality of life. In that way, we can be most conscious and conscientious towards both taking care of ourselves, and finding good solutions for conflictual situations.