The Manager’s Altruism…

… is an effect of their dependence.

I came across this quote from Oscar Wilde in my Sunday morning readings: “Anybody can sympathise with the sufferings of a friend, but it requires a very fine nature to sympathise with a friend’s success.”

Oscar Wilde – (CC) Library of Congress

This sentence perfectly describes a key condition of being a successful manager: Placing the success of the team before their own. Much more than they really want to admit, managers never succeed by themselves: They are dependent on their teammates to win.