While this, on its face, looks like good, morally sound advice, I worry about the practicality of it for a certain class of individuals.
The people I see in leadership positions are far more likely to be narcissistic sociopaths than reflective mediators.
If you're not in a position of power / individual freedom, this is excellent advice to make sure that you can, and are seen to, play nice with others. It will probably help your blood pressure and promotion prospects. I'm just not convinced that this strategy is one that leads to the top more often than brutal myopia and conceit.
I don't think he meant "top" meaning (necessarily) leaders of a hierarchy. I think it meant more like look to people who are performing "better" than you -- for whatever thing you want to measure.
The people I see in leadership positions are far more likely to be narcissistic sociopaths than reflective mediators.
If you're not in a position of power / individual freedom, this is excellent advice to make sure that you can, and are seen to, play nice with others. It will probably help your blood pressure and promotion prospects. I'm just not convinced that this strategy is one that leads to the top more often than brutal myopia and conceit.