If you are a great leader you are trying to get the best people in your organization because they will lift your organization to new heights. Of course, anyone who leads imagines themselves to be a great leader, or at least the best leader within their scope of influence. However, the test is who they bring to their team. Leaders who are insecure and feel the need to protect their ego will find a reason not to hire the best person. Sometimes they have a preconceived notion that a certain person will be a rubber stamp on all their ideas. Even worse is when they rig the candidate pool and don’t even give the best person an interview because they know they will challenge them. Their ego lowers the standards of their organization, and thus, it’s performance ceiling.
Then you have the truly great leader who is loyal to the organization and to the people who report to them. Their goal is to get the best people in the same room as them and to learn as much as they can from their team. These leaders set the tone for meteoric success in their organization. Moreover, they model an ego suppressing decision-making process for all to see. This gives others the freedom to put themselves in situations which challenge them, and they can take risks that they otherwise would avoid because it could possibly make them look bad. This is the path to truly being a great leader and to achieve excellence within your team and organization.
Stoic Optimism 