The Scenario: An Unrealistic Demand

While working for a large, rapidly expanding non-profit, I was tasked with upgrading the organization’s technology. We anticipated doubling in scale over 12 months. Adding to the challenge was an already understaffed technology department, supporting antiquated technology. The task was daunting, but we had an amazing team.

My boss, the Chief Financial Officer, set lofty goals. However, a record of successes quickly built the organization’s confidence in our team.

As we neared a critical turning point in the year, an unrealistic demand was placed on me and the team for which I was accountable. The requirement was to replace the primary software tool of the company, in less than a month’s time. I was shocked by the expectation.

The already overburdened technology team had no bandwidth and the CFO would not accept changing priorities of other efforts. A replacement of such a critical tool would typically require months of planning alone. Yet I was being commanded to completely replace the system in a matter of weeks. I refused, insisting instead that we limped along on the antiquated system for one more season.

What Happened: Disaster – Fired

When I refused to support the initiative, I was given two options: do it, or lose my job. Unfortunately, my family was dependent upon my income. I saw no other choice and worked furiously to develop the best plan possible.

Those weeks felt like a scene from a horror movie where the victims run like crazy, but the slowly lumbering assailant remains steps away. I saw no way the project could end well.

As usage of the new system grew, failures increased. Eventually, the system failed completely – a result of poor planning, insufficient resources and inadequate training. Ultimately, I was called into the CFO’s office and asked for my resignation.

What I Learned: You Can’t Lead What You Need

I should have resigned the moment the CFO insisted on the project. I never would have though, given my family’s financial position at the time.

Had I volunteered my resignation at that moment there were two possible outcomes:

1. The CFO backed off his insistence: I remained employed there and we addressed the solution properly at a later time.
2. My resignation was accepted:  The organization had no one to lead the effort and would likely delay the replacement until a later date – when it could have been properly addressed.

For the organization, either outcome would have been better.

Three Lessons

It may have been the hard way, but I learned many lessons from this event, including:

1. You cannot lead what you need: If you feel you need the job you have, it will be much more difficult to lead in that role. Creating a sufficient savings to depend upon in times of crises, building a strong network and maintaining confidence in your ability to find alternate employment will help you lead more by needing less.

2. Build relationships at all levels: I also realized that I trusted the CFO to do what was right. However, he faced his own pressures. Ensuring strong relationships at all levels will help you avoid depending on a single individual (even your boss) in critical times.

3. Always have a backup: I knew the project would fail. Therefore, I should have invested more of the team’s effort in a back-out plan. As Mark Sanborn said in Up Down or Sideways:

“It is too late to add a backup chute once you’ve left the plane.”

This concludes the third and final post on My Great Failures and the lessons I learned. I hope you’re able to learn from my experience and save yourself some of  the same challenges.

Question: What other lessons do you see in my failure?

Yesterday, our youngest son (2 month old Gabriel) had a “blow out”. You parents know what I mean and the rest can probably figure it out from the title. It was a mess. By the way, if you’re eating while you read this, you may want to come back later….

Getting Your Hands Dirty

The Martin Luther King Family

While scrubbing the dirty onesie, I found myself contemplating a key business decision. Looking down at my hands, covered in soap suds and… well… baby poop, I had to chuckle. I wondered how many times famous father-leaders like Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Winston Churchill and others had to clean soiled baby clothes? This experience, it occurred to me, was a very humbling activity.

Humility and Priorities

Following someone who has cleaned messy diapers tells you something about that leader. It goes beyond the old saying, “they put their pants on the same way we do – one leg at a time”.  This shows their humility and priorities. It shows that the multi-million dollar deal they’re negotiating or the global team they lead is important, but at the end of the day, they’re not afraid to get their hands dirty – really dirty – for what is important.

To the world you might be just one person, but to one person you might be the world. (unknown)

Identifying the Poop Cleaners

Convinced that leaders who clean the poop from their kids’ diapers may be the kind of leader you want to follow? Here’s how you can identify some of them:

1. Family Calls: Leaders who prioritize family are not afraid to take calls from them during the day. If the individual steps out of meetings to take a family call, chances are, they’ve cleaned the poop.

2. Firm Departure Times: A friend and colleague of mine leaves every day at 5 PM, firm. Now, certainly, in the time of a crisis, you must be able to count on the leader, but as a general policy, poop cleaners often have scheduled departure times.

3. Family Appointments: The poop-cleaner often needs to schedule meetings around doctor and dentist appointments, school meetings and student activities. This is especially true if the individual comes from a household where both parents work outside of the home.

So the next time you see these activities from someone at the office, do not be concerned. Chances are that person is a poop cleaner. And, after all, cleaning baby poop helps make great leaders.

Question: What about you? Do you clean baby poop or follow someone who does?

We have a crisis of leadership and need your help. This is our servant leadership manifesto.

The Problem: Toxic Leadership

Business: You see it in business, when narcissistic executives build golden parachutes and steal from tomorrow to make today look good.
Academia: You see it  in Academia when professors forget the students in their march toward self-promotion and prominence in their field.
Religion: You see it in churches where the minister’s name appears above the savior’s.
Non-Profits: You see it in charities that put growth and recognition ahead of the needs of the suffering.
Government: You see it in government when politicians promote themselves over the needs of their constituents.

You see it in every sector,  industry, region and country when leaders forget their priority is to serve their stakeholders first. Yet, there is a small but growing number of us who know there is a better way. That way is called servant leadership…

Yet Another Example

Another executive was arrested today. It’s all over the news. ”Executive embezzles millions”, “CFO Defrauds thousands of investors”, “Auditors deny any fault”. And the public cries out, “We need better governance, stronger regulations, tougher penalties!”  Yet, inside we all know that the guilty will always find shortcuts. Toxic leaders will inevitably abuse their power for self-gain. Those of us with the solution know what we really need are more servant leaders.

For those of you who seek only personal fame, fortune and glory, we tell you there is a better way. To those who desire false authority through positional power, we say you will cause more pain, through selfishness and greed than you comprehend. To you toxic leaders we say: observe the true power, real authenticity and sustainability of servant leadership.

The Answer: Servant Leadership

We seek not to lead, but to serve first and find that, in serving, our greatest influence is leading. We seek not to use others for our own gain, but for their benefit and the benefit of their communities.

You say we are too soft and unfit to manage in demanding environments.
But we say some of the greatest servant leaders are military officers who prepare their troops in peace and execute effectively in war. We say the greatest servant leaders are stronger for their effectiveness in applauding and reprimanding appropriately. The servant leader serves all – including their shareholders, customers, employers and staff – not their ego.

You say good guys finish last. We say the servant leader runs a different race. The toxic leader runs a sprint. The servant leader runs a marathon.

You layoff by the thousands to achieve a couple cents better on the stock market for a season. We hold others accountable, but layoff as a last resort – only when required for the greater good and long-term sustainability of all stakeholders.

You wage wars under false pretenses and say dirty politics are necessary to achieve your objectives. We wage wars on dirty politics, back stabbing and false pretenses, saying transparency and candor wins in the end.

You say religion has no place in the office, but we say servant leadership is supported by most world religions and even agnostics and atheists with strong morals and ethics.

Your communications are few, tight lipped and reveal only the most refined, highly commercialized messages yet unsubstantiated marketing claims. We demand active listening, candor and transparency. When we can not be more transparent, we are candid in explaining why.

You seek fame and fortune, magazine covers and lime lights. We are everywhere, behind the scenes of great success – be it a Fortune 500 or a 5th grade classroom, though you’ve likely never heard our name.

You deflect blame and steal praise. We pass along the praise and pull in the blame.

We are servant leaders. Our time has come. We seek a better way and we hope you will join us.

Call to Action

We do have a crisis of leadership today. Won’t you help us end this crisis by joining the movement to spread awareness, adoption and support of Servant Leadership principles? If you are willing, we have some steps you can take below.

Next Steps

• Spread the word on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook or other sites below
• Read more about servant leadership
• Sign up for eMail or RSS updates here
• Get Servant Leadership Updates from MSL on Twitter
• Get Servant Leadership Updates from the Greenleaf Center on Twitter
• Join the Servant Leadership Group on LinkedIn
• Join the Servant Leadership Community on Ning
• Visit the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership
• Visit the Spears Center for Servant Leadership

Credit Note: I appreciated the framing from the Hacker Manifesto and used a similar form in the section “Another Example.”

There are many organizations that value servant leadership. However, I was unable to locate a consolidated list of these organizations. Therefore, in the interest of supporting servant leadership and those who seek to practice it’s principles, I created the table below. Whether you seek an employer that values servant leadership, data for research on leadership styles, servant leadership companies with which to network, or have some other interest in leadership, this list can help. The data is by no means comprehensive, yet. Please, if you have an organization to add, be sure they meet the qualifications below the table and please contact me with the details.

Companies Seeking Servant Leaders

Qualifications

In order to be considered for this list, an organization must meet the following qualifications. I may update these qualifications from time to time.

1. For-Profit / Non-Profit / Government: All types of organizations will be considered.

2. Not a Primarily Religious Organization: Unfortunately, I need to exclude churches and religious organizations whose primary mission is progressing their religion or faith. There are simply too many to list.

3. References to Servant Leadership: There must be at least one, publicly documented reference to the organization and its view of, support for, or belief in servant leadership principles. This may be in job descriptions, news articles, employee posts or other publicly available sources.

You can click here to take the assessment now or read the directions below.

Are you a Servant Leader? Is your boss or someone else you know? Try this assessment to find out. Use this

free leadership assessment to evaluate yourself or another person, on Servant Leadership attributes.

If evaluating yourself, be honest in your responses.  Don’t respond with how you would like to act, but with how you actually act. Each question includes examples of Servant Leadership in action. After completing the assessment, you will be given your score and the “correct” (Servant Leadership) answers. There are only 18 questions, each with two possible answers. The entire assessment should not take more than 15 minutes to complete.

When finished, you’ll receive a Servant Leadership Grade:

• Servant Leader – Expert
• Servant Leader – Professional
• Servant Leader
• Servant Leader – Novice
• Servant Leader – Amateur
• Servant Leader – Beginner
• Passed – Barely
• Failed

Take The Quiz Now

Note: The quiz is based on Larry Spears‘ 10 Attributes of Servant Leadership. However, the questions are general enough that I believe they apply in any Servant Leader framework.