Southwest Airlines (LUV) announced the 39th consecutive year of profitability yesterday. The company has been a role model of servant leadership since its founding by Herb Kelleher (and others). During the financial earnings call, CEO Gary Kelly, CFO Laura Wright and Executive VP Robert (Bob) E. Jordan reflected the company’s commitment to servant leadership.

Improved Results by Acquired AirTran

Southwest is in the process acquiring former competitor, AirTran Airways. During mergers and acquisitions it is common for companies, especially the acquired, to experience a dip in operational performance. Bucking that trend though, AirTran reflected it’s best operational results ever.

Compensation and Productivity

Although Southwest has the highest productivity numbers in the industry, analysts naturally challenged executives to identify opportunities for improvement. In response, Kelly noted that their pay rates are significantly higher than others. Yet, Southwest makes up for these costs by being more productive. The CEO noted the company was not without some waste though. Kelly spoke of opportunities to improve productivity that included both people and asset changes. It was clear Southwest would not practice “soft management” – a common misconception of servant leadership.

Gratitude to Employees

I’ve never heard an earnings call where executive gratitude toward employees was as prominent as at Southwest. Kelly’s comments included frequent references to his appreciation for the unions, their hard work and dedication. In addition, the CEO’s sincerity was evident when he expressed excitement at the first round of AirTran employees officially joining the Southwest “family”.

Not Without Challenges

When asked how the company would address future challenges, Kelly was clear: they would avoid shrinking fleets or staff at all costs. The fleet, he felt, had plenty of opportunities for deployment in a different way. One example provided was “stretching the day out” by adding flights earlier or later in the day. As for downsizing employees, Kelly mentioned it would be “very painful to downsize”. He then continued, there is a “cost to good will with customers and employees” (when downsizing). Any reduction in staff or fleet would be Kelly’s, “least favorite tool if looking for ways to sustain or improve ROI”. He then summarized any reductions were, “not in the cards right now”.

Servant leadership proponents are grateful for the examples and model set by Southwest Airlines. In an industry fraught with strong competition, rapidly increasing costs and poor personnel policies, Southwest’s servant leadership bucks the trends. Clearly, servant leadership principles have the potential to deliver outstanding business results.

 Question: What other businesses exemplified servant leadership in 2011?

Top Row: Steve Jobs, Herb Kelleher; Bottom Row: Steve Wozniak, Tim Cook, Colleen Barrett, Gary Kelly

I am a fan of many Apple products and believe Steve Jobs played a critical role in Apple’s success. However, following his passing, there were many people who referred to him as a great leader. He was – if you refer to technology and innovation. However, if you refer to people or organizational leadership, I believe there are better examples.

The synonymous association of Steve Jobs with Apple’s success disturbs me as a classic example of hero worship in business. More important, I fear the message all this hero worship sends to our next generation of leaders. I want to ensure our young leaders do not confuse hero worship with great leadership.

What is Hero Worship?

Hero worship in business refers to the attribution of organizational success to a single individual. Often, this means exaggerating the results of that person. As a result, an individual becomes the face of an entire company and the organization’s success or failure rests upon their shoulders.

The Problem with Hero Worship

There are many problems with hero worship in leadership, including:

1. Implies the leader alone is responsible for the success. There is little or no sharing of the success with the many people that made it possible. Industry experts know other individuals played a critical role in Apple’s success, especially Steve Wozniak. However, popular culture sees Steve Jobs as the lone icon atop the company.

2. Lacks sustainability. Without a successor at least equal in stature, accomplishment and fame, success associated to that leader is rarely sustained. Insiders know Tim Cook, Job’s successor, is an outstanding executive in his own right. However, the limelights consumed by Jobs left little awareness of Mr. Cook’s contributions and capabilities.

3. Singular Focus: Most hero worship praises an individual for a select few attributes. In Jobs case, I’d suggest this was creativity, innovation and technology. However, he was not a man I would consider exemplary in other attributes, such as character or people leadership.

The Benefits of Servant Leadership

There are plenty of resources to cover the extensive benefits of servant leadership. In contrast specifically to hero worship though, the benefits of servant leadership include:

1. Builds up the organization: Servant leaders place the success of the organization, first. This often means the leader does not get celebrity status or their own paparazzi. However, the organization as a whole is recognized as a success. This is seen in Southwest Airlines frequent recognition as the leader of their industry and the comparably infrequent features of Herb Kelleher.

2. Humbly shares success: When recognition does come to the leader, the first comment is often in reference to the people who really delivered the success – the front line workers. Herb Kelleher often referred to the critical role unions played in the company’s success. In fact, he was known to join the baggage handlers on holidays – showing up to help them and show his support.

3. Prioritizes sustainability: Sustainability is a critical attribute for servant leaders. In Kelleher and Southwest this was reflected in Herb’s passing the baton to Colleen Barrett, his long time partner and Gary Kelly. Neither Colleen nor Gary were publicity hounds, but they knew The Southwest way and were well understood as competent successors.

Lesson For Next Generation Leaders

I hope we continue to study Mr. Jobs as an outstanding example of innovation and an inspirational success to many in the creative and technology fields. He was a great success by these and other standards. However, if you seek to practice sustainable success that builds your people up and seeks to deliver results to both the bottom lines of your company as well as broader benefits to your community, please seek out what it means to serve as you lead.

Question: Do you agree or disagree? I welcome the feedback.

It is a common occurrence now: coffee shop patrons holding their trash in hand, searching in vain for a garbage can. However, there are no trash cans for patrons. Lemonjello’s pursues a zero waste policy. To do so, they’ve removed public trash cans and asked customers to place any trash in the dish bin. Employees then sort recycling and compost materials.

This popular hangout for Hope College students is located in downtown Holland, Michigan. It also happens to be one of my favorite haunts. Lemonjello’s not only practices what they preach, they educate their customers at the same time. Signs throughout the cafe remind visitors why they choose sustainable, fair trade and equal exchange practices.

Sustainability

The only place you will find a trash can is in the rest rooms. There, you will find two. One is clearly labeled, “paper towels” with a note in parenthesis “(We Compost Them)” and another labeled, “All Other Trash”. With an otherwise controlled absence of public trash cans in the cafe, Lemonjello’s may be the most sustainable eatery in Southwest Michigan.

Equal Exchange

The positive impact on the community does not stop with sustainability. Lemonjello’s also uses the Equal Exchange roaster. From Lemonjello’s website:

Equal Exchange is a 100% worker-owned co-op itself and only deals with small farmer co-ops that are democratically run and that use Equal Exchange’s support and programs to build back into their communities.

Visit equalexchange.coop to learn more.

Fair Trade

Equal Exchange and Lemonjellos both practice Fair Trade:

Fair Trade is a way of doing business that ultimately aims to keep small farmers an active part of the world marketplace, and aims to empower consumers to make purchases that support their values.

This local coffee shop leads by example. By practicing what they believe in, sharing the information and educating their consumers, Lemonjellos is a cafe dedicated to serving their community more than a great cup of coffee. The next time you’re in Holland, Michigan, I encourage you to check them out. You will walk away inspired by more than the caffeine.

Question: What local business do you know that leads by example?

Donald Trump is the epitome of power-based leadership. For example, the man wanted to trademark his catch phrase, “You’re fired!”, which would require every organization using this phrase to pay him tribute. Therefore, “The Donald” makes for an excellent study on the personal effects of power-based leadership.

Former Fan

When I graduated college, I idolized Donald Trump. At that time, entrepreneurs were making millions in new ventures and I wanted in. I studied Trump and admired his dominant success in business. In fact, I was thrilled when I met Mr. Trump, albeit briefly, during my interview for season 2 of The Apprentice. Then, my perspectives on leadership matured. It became less about the money and more about the people.

Contrasting Leadership

As my experience in the business world grew, I discovered two contrasting styles of leadership: the toxic, command-and-conquer  style and servant leadership. The former rarely lasted long, while servant leadership proved the most successful for the greatest period of time. This was my introduction to servant leadership and the evaporation of my adoration for Donald Trump.

Donald and His Frown

So it came to pass that I thought of my former inspiration less and less. Until, one day, I realized he could still teach me a lot about leadership – even if I did not believe believe in his methods. His face appeared on a search result about leadership and I noticed a frown that was very familiar. I was more used to seeing Donald Trump frown, than smile. For a celebrity of his stature, who is often posed for professional photographs. This seemed odd.

So I did another search – for photos of Donald Trump. What I found confirmed my suspicions. Through roughly twenty pages of photographs of Donald Trump, I found only about 15% of the images contained a smile. The majority were frowns.

Exceptions to Consider

Sure, Donald Trump seems equal parts actor and businessman of late. He has a reputation for being a tough manage to uphold. Furthermore, some people simply aren’t much for smiling. Still, it seems to me, when looking at the face of Donald Trump, one rarely sees happiness.

Does Power-Based Leadership Bring Happiness?

This is no scientific study. Perhaps Donald Trump is happy – he certainly says he is. However, I’ve come to realize most people reflect their happiness in their face. I see happiness in most public figures. Yet, when I look into the face of the man who epitomizes power-based leadership, I see frustration and the frown that dominates his media presence.

Question: Do you think power-based leadership creates happiness?

I know your frustration. I feel your pain. Sitting there, hearing some self-absorbed, toxic leader drone on about one bad practice after another. Yet, you know there is a better way. I’m here to tell you, you’re not alone and I have some theme music to inspire you – “The Outsiders” by Need to Breathe.

The Outsiders by Need to Breathe (Acoustic)

(Difficulty viewing video? Watch on Youtube).

Make no mistake, servant leadership proponents and practitioners are outsiders. Sadly, defacto leadership is power-based and often even toxic in nature. As a result, it is common for us to feel like we are on the outside, even if we have a better solution.

Theme Song

Have you ever thought your work would seem more exciting if it was put to theme music? How many cinematic moments – especially those in libraries and offices – would seem drab and boring, were it not for inspirational music in the background?

Well, servant leader, we’re here to inspire you. The servant leader movement is important and you are a critical component of it. So the next time you feel beat down; the next time you are on the verge of giving in; the next time you think, “maybe I should just concede and join the toxic leadership drones”, take heart. Stop, listen to this song and remember, we are the Outsiders.

Leadership Inspiration from The Outsiders

While leadership (at least, alone) was not likely the focus when Need to Breathe wrote this song, it includes great lyrics for your inspiration, including:

“Stand tall but running thin, I’m wearing thin”

“I’ve been wondering if this starts sinking, would we stand our ground? After everything we’ve learned, we’ve finally come to terms: we are the outsiders”

“I’m not leaving without a fight. I’ve got my holsters around my sides. Just cause I’m wrong that don’t make you right. It’s not right.”

“On the outside, you found a home.”

“On the outside, there’s more to see. On the outside, you choose to be…”

Fighting against the tide of bad leadership practices can be draining. I hope this little inspiration is helpful for you, as it has been for me. So the next time you’re struggling, don’t cave. Put on this song and create some inspiration for the soundtrack to your servant leadership.

Question: What other songs belong on a “servant leadership” soundtrack?

Part of my mission is to spread servant leadership awareness. Therefore, I greatly appreciate folks on Twitter who spread servant leadership content. Last year, I highlighted 5 individuals to whom I was especially grateful for their ongoing support and promotion of these principles. This year, I’ve expanded the list to 10 and created a more formal recognition. Here are this year’s winners:

10. Axiom News

Axiom’s news network is full of great information that is worth sharing. Several times this year, they’ve taken a story that may have only been seen by servant leadership proponents and shared it with a broader audience. I am grateful to them for their contiuing covereage of our movement.

Twitter Bio

AxiomNews: We are called to co-create a strengths-based life-giving news network for a renewed and thriving world. Tweets share news on movements making a difference.

9. Greenleaf Center

The universally recognized organization promoting servant leadership is expanding their online presence. This year reflected a notable uptick in their presence on Twitter and other social media channels.

Twitter Bio

@GreenleafCenter: The Greenleaf Center promotes the awareness, understanding, and practice of servant leadership by individuals and organizations.

8. Jeff Miller

Speaking of the Greenleaf Center…  I first met Jeff at the Greenleaf Servant Leadership conference several years ago. Since that time, I’ve been impressed by his growing influence on Twitter. I’m always excited to see what servant leadership content he is sharing.

Twitter Bio

@JeffMiller79: Builder, Connector of Human Leadership Networks. Focus on: collaboration, leadership, learning, complexity, & change.

 7. Lazarus Ross

Mr. Ross is a great example of a servant leader proponent who embeds the principles in everyday life. He also possesses an especially innovative mind with an eye toward business.

Twitter Bio

@LazarusRoss: Christ-Follower, Toastmaster, Financial Intelligence Freak, Education Reform Activist, Leadership Fanatic, Networker, Entrepreneur

6. Ken Blanchard

The first returning member from last year’s list, Ken actually leads one of the organizations our number 1 contributor this year hails from. Ken’s appeal for and support of the servant leadership movement is undeniable.

Twitter Bio

@KenBlanchard: Speaker, Business Guru, and Author of over 50 books, including The One Minute Manager.

 5. Laurie Beth Jones

Laurie Beth Jones and her team have that instant, trusted advisor appeal. Part of her core message includes an appeal for servant leadership principles.

Twitter Bio

@LaurieBethJones: Best-Selling author and speaker (Jesus CEO, The Path). Changing the World one mission at a time. Assisted here by Brandi and team speaking@lauriebethjones.com

4. Dr. Jack King

Jack is last year’s top tweeter. His presentations on servant leadership are very unique. I especially like his emphasis on native american leadership lessons and quotes. This year, Dr. King’s Collective Voice at ServantHearts.com focused its attention more specifically on empowerment. However, he still continues to share great servant leadership perspectives.

Twitter Bio

@DrJackKing: We are put in this world not to be better than the next man but rather help him be better than he was when we met. Homeschool dad. Love is the answer.

3. JT Jackson

Mr. Jackson is another returning member from last year’s list and still holds the best Twitter name. “Servant Tweeter” often shares the latest and greatest of the servant leadership movement. But that’s not all. JT is also a great servant leadership practitioner, as he works to bring greater educational opportunities to his community.

Twitter Bio

@ServantTweeter: Servant First, Leader Always; Life Coach; Inspirational Speaker; Good Guy

2. James Strock

James wrote Serve To Lead and books on both Reagan and Roosevelt’s leadership. I often find myself nodding in agreement with his posts and those he shares from others.

Twitter Bio

@JamesStrock: Serve to Lead® Inc. Businessman, Speaker & Citizen Servant in fields of 21st Century Leadership Development & Sustainability | Clean Tech.

1. S. Chris Edmonds

I found Chris by chance on Twitter and am glad I did. Chris’s content through Ken Blanchard companies and his own blog is frequently among the best servant leadership material. Chris has his pulse on the servant leadership movement and keeps us updated whenever he finds something worth sharing.

Twitter Bio

@SCEdmonds: Speaker, author, senior consultant with @kenblanchard, author #CORPORATECULTUREtweet & Leading At A Higher Level, @JonesAndRaine member.

Criteria for Top Servant Leadership Tweeters

Congratulations to those recognized this year! If you did not make the list, there is a good chance I just missed you in my consolidation effort. Please let me know of anyone you feel should be added, with a comment below. While these results are entirely subjective and at my own discretion, here are the rough criteria I used for the selection and placement:

1. Servant Leadership Promotion: The individual or organization must promote “servant leadership”. There are countless individuals promoting the principles and ideals of servant leadership under some other name or terminology. Unfortunately, that group is simply too large for me to capture and reflect here.

2. Frequency: References to servant leadership must be frequent. The higher the frequency, the higher the placement on this list, generally speaking.

3. Activity: The account must be currently active and not fully automated.

Recognition

This year’s top servant leadership tweeters receive formal recognition in the form of a Top Servant Leadership Tweeter badge, as displayed below. If you are among the winners and need any assistance with displaying the badge, please contact me for additional support.

Directions:

To include the badge on your own site, simply insert the following code snippet where you desire the badge to display:

1. Large (175×192, 44kb), PNG Badge:

<a href=”http://ModernServantLeader.com”><img src=”http://modernservantleader.com/images/badges/msl-award-toptweeter-2011-web.png” style=”border-style: none”/></a>

2. Small (100×109, 6kb), JPG Badge:

<a href=”http://ModernServantLeader.com”><img src=”http://modernservantleader.com/images/badges/msl-award-toptweeter-2011-small-web2.jpg” style=”border-style: none”/></a>

Please modify the link however you like. If you need another size of the graphic (it is currently 175×192), just contact me at the link above.

Question: Who did I miss? Who else on Twitter is a big servant leadership proponent?

The Scenario: Overconfident

I was hired to deliver a new back office  software suite. Prior to my arrival, the project had struggled to get off the ground, so expectations were high. They placed a lot of hope in me and perceived me as the “hero” outside hire. What was worse, I knew and believed the hype (insert foreshadow music here).

After meeting with our customers, I compiled a business requirements document (to tell programmers what the software must do). Proud of myself and what I was delivering, I packaged the document neatly and handed it to our technical architect.

I felt like Moses delivering the 10 Commandments. These were gold. This was going to solve all the IT / Business conflict they’d experienced. I was overconfident.

What Happened: The Smack Down

We worked in an extremely open environment. Forget cubicles, we had desks in a giant, open room that resembled a warehouse. Therefore, as I stood before the architect, the team and many of our customers could see the entire interaction.

The architect (who was several years my senior), removed the binder, then briefly and silently skimmed the pages. I was about to head back to my desk, when suddenly the architect screamed, “These are not @$%#&*& requirements!” In a blast of flurry, the now loose-leaf stack of papers was flung in my face and fluttered into a pile at my feet.

I stood stunned, for what seemed an eternity, before getting down on all fours and collecting the mess of paper. As I gathered the sheets, I vaguely recalled the architect shouting directions about what a business requirements document should contain.

I spent the next several days nailing down every possible nuance the architect could desire. Then I studied hundreds of great examples of business requirement documents. A couple weeks later, I meekly approached the architect again, with a new version of the document.

Again, he skimmed it, this time with a growing grin. “Perfect” was all he said. I’d never been more happy to hear a one-word response.

What I Learned: Humility

Sometimes difficult situations and challenging people are needed for a lesson to really sink in. In this case, my greatest lesson was humility. I should have approached the architect for his expectations long before I submitted the document.

This was a new organization, new people and new technologies. Everything about the situation screamed I needed humility. Yet I rode the wave of hype about me. As a result, I failed to present the best solution.

Three Lessons

It may have been the hard way, but I received great lessons from this architect’s critical feedback, including:

1. Humility, especially in new settings, is important: Humility is a cornerstone of servant leadership. As the saying goes, “don’t believe the hype” – especially about yourself. The minute you start thinking you’re great, you’re setup for a fall.

2. Gather expectations from all stakeholders: I was so focused on capturing the business requirements, I failed to capture the requirements for documentation from the architect. Respect those who’ve been there longer – chances are they can teach you a thing or two.

3. Send a draft: Yes, that could have saved me from public disgrace. But in all seriousness, time and audience permitting, send a draft first. I say, “this is a first draft (or even outline), is it looking like what you expect?”

I hope you’re able to learn these lessons from my experience, before you make the same mistakes.

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

Note: This post is the first of three on some of my greatest failures and the lessons learned. My hope, in exposing my scars, is somehow helping you avoid the same mistakes.

I recently received feedback that I am multitasking too much in meetings. The perception is that I am not engaged enough. This bothers me especially because multitasking during meetings has long been a pet peeve of my own. Therefore, I’m dedicating myself to fixing this. Here’s why:

A good leader serves their organization through active listening and full participation in meetings. To be a good leader, one really must be “in the moment”. Let’s compare and contrast the active listener with the multitasker in a meeting:

Jacob, the Multitasker:

Jacob is a rising star in the organization.  His seniors continue to give him demanding assignments and it seems he’s always juggling 100 tasks.  He enters each meeting, laptop in tow, blackberry out and bluetooth headset on.  He’s often late to the meeting and / or must leave early, because he has conflicting sessions.  As the dialogue progresses, he listens for keywords while he responds to email on the blackberry and, eventually, needs to pull out his laptop .  In the most pressing times, he’s even known to attend two meetings at once – on a teleconference with his bluetooth while attending another in person.

As the dialogue  progresses, it becomes clear to the team that Jacob has not been actively listening because he asks questions that were already answered.  At times, he’ll interject suggestions and comments based on a sentence or two he caught, but it seems disconnected from the broader topic.  The result is often a need for the group to rehash previous conversation and / or clarify the matter at hand for Jacob.  But Jacob does not care, he’s just “too busy” and expects this to be the response from his team and the broader organization – it’s only natural, because we’re all “so busy”.

Michael, the Active Listener:

In contrast to Jacob, Michael makes it a point to arrive on time, typically carrying only a notebook.  He urges the team to begin promptly.  He requests an agenda before each meeting and expects the team to stick to it.  The meeting coordinator often feels “under a spotlight” but knows they have his full attention.  On the very rare occasion when Michael must step out of a meeting and / or respond to messages in the middle of a discussion, the team is surprised and knows something serious must be up, so they pause, rather than repeating dialog following the distraction.

As the meeting progresses, Michael asks detailed questions on each slide and challenges the team’s assumptions.  Minute details they intended to glance over, Michael catches and asks for clarity.  Furthermore, Michael often repeats what he thinks he heard to ensure full comprehension.  Decisions made during meetings include a decision document. If decisions are not made during the meeting, a clear action plan is defined to achieve appropriate decisions.

Which meeting would you rather be in?  Which leader would you rather follow?  Which person is really leading through service?  I may not be as bad as Jacob, but it’s clear I have some work to do on this front.  I hope you will consider this issue for yourself, as well.

Questions: How does multitasking impact your team?

Much of what I practice in both leadership and technology roles, I first learned early in my career. In fact, the early years of my career formed the lens through which I view most of my professional perspectives. While I have grown, adapted and expanded many perspectives since those formative years, I was fortunate to receive outstanding guidance for my foundation.

Experience & Culture

After college, I joined the Career Development Program at Air Products & Chemicals. This program focused on the careers of the individual employee first, with the understanding that the company’s investment in them would benefit the company in the long run. Members of the program were expected to fill three different roles in the company over three years. The emphasis was on gaining a broad experience, enabling better management and leadership decisions. The result is an extreme investment in the employee and a well rounded future leader. My current employer, Whirlpool, has a similar program.

More important than the experience of these programs though, is the culture of the organization. Any company can design a similar program and still teach the employees terrible values or ethics. Fortunately, the investment in employees was genuine in my experience. In fact, Air Products was my first experience with servant leadership principles. If I had instead worked for a company with poor leadership I may have received an entirely different perspective.

Our Failures

My fear today is the number of students working for organizations with toxic leadership. These organizations do not focus on the careers of employees. Instead, these organizations preach abandonment of sustainable success in exchange for short term wins.  At these early points in their careers, young employees may perceive this is how business is done. They could not be further from the truth though: this is what is causing our businesses to fail. This is the failure of modern corporations to invest in our futures – our people – our next generation of leaders.

And if we do not invest in the next generation, who will?

For the Career Starter

Whether you are about to graduate or are simply early in your career, please consider this: the formative years are critical to your OUR success. So, please, invest those years wisely. If an employer does not value you and your peers in these ways, leave. Great companies, willing to invest in you, are out there. While the pickings may be slim today, it’s worth the wait and the investment to find the right employer.

For the Seasoned Professional

If you were fortunate to have a great experience, you owe it to those who served you, to pass it on. The fate of our future business success rests in the hands of those willing to serve the next generation of leaders. You are among them. If not you, who?

In contrast, perhaps you did not receive such a good experience. Perhaps you were trained in the dark arts of toxic leadership. Don’t worry. The very fact you are reading this means there is hope yet. We learn something from every leader we follow – either leadership we seek to emulate or leadership we refuse to proliferate. Your experience must be turned into the latter. Let the toxic chain stop with you. Raise the next generation of leaders with servant leadership principles.

I was one of the lucky ones. I landed a position with an organization that invested in me and my career. They taught me servant leadership. I wish you the same.

Question: What other components are important to someone starting their career?

When you feel like the answer is obvious, but nobody wants to listen, you are not alone.
When everyone else seems focused on their personal pestige, rather than serving stakeholders, you are not alone.
When you want to scream at the narcacisists entitled with executive job descriptions, you are not alone.

When it seems overwhelming and you don’t know Where to turn, you are not alone.
When you’re tired of watching people proclaimed “the greatest asset”, only to have performance reviews be an after thought, you are not alone
When you fought for the strategic investment only to have it cannibalized into a small, short-term gain, you are not alone
When you waste hours working with outdated tools because the organization does not value people’s time, you are not alone

When the economy is blamed for layoffs, while the company reports record earnings, you are not alone
When exploitation of the team seems an art form to others, you are not alone

When self preservation trumps doing what is right, you are not alone
When dirty politics is standard, on-the-job training, but leadership courses are few and far between, you are not alone
When trust is absent but fear and intimidation are your neighbors, you are not alone
When executives seem blind to the negative culture and declining results, you are not alone.

When leadership fails to serve and you alone, seem opposed to the toxicity proliferating your organization, you are not alone.

You are not alone, servant leader. We stand with you. We see the trending failure today and we seek to right it. We seek to fix what is broken. We seek to mend the broken limbs of our corporate cultures and set right what the toxic leaders of today have all but destroyed.

You are not alone. If you need resources or want to connect with other servant leaders, here are some resources:

Posts on Modern Servant Leader:

• Servant Leader Manifesto
• Why Servant Leadership is the Future
• Fortune’s Best Companies to Work For with Servant Leadership
• Situational Leadership? Try Consistent Leadership

Resources on Modern Servant Leader:

• Servant Leader Assessment
• Resources for the Beginning Servant Leader
• Servant Leadership Companies List
•  Servant Leadership Quotes

Other Servant Leadership Sites:

• LinkedIn Servant Leader Group
• Spears Center for Servant Leadership
• Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership

Who do you serve? It’s a simple question. Yet, if you are candid with yourself, the answer may be upsetting. With demands coming from every direction, Servant Leadership requires that we know who we serve and in what priority those individuals fall. Here are some ways to consider the priorities in your life and who you serve over others:

Money

Stewardship of resources is a critical responsibility of any leader. Who would your bank say you serve? Look at the credit card statement from last month. Did you spend most of your money on your faith, family or work?

Time

There are several billboards near my office that show a father playing with his children. The statement on it is simple: “Take Time to be a Dad Today”. Where do you invest most of your time? I cover more on this in my posts Actions Express Priorities, Tips for Work Life Alignment and Pause to Reflect on What’s Important.

Prayers

For the religious, who do you pray about and in what priority? Are your prayers consumed with desires for yourself and personal ambitions? Or, instead, do you invest your time praying for others and asking what God’s will is for you?

For example, after looking at where I invest my money, time and prayers, it was clear I serve the following: God, my lovely wife Trina, our two boys, my employers, you (my blog readers), other family members and friends. In addition, somewhat less obvious, I must serve myself.

Once you’ve reflected on where you are investing your money, time and prayers, consider the priorities of these investments. In his eBook Creating Your Personal Life Plan (free for subscribers to his website), Michael Hyatt states he puts himself high on the list. If you’re surprised, don’t be. He explains it well:

I have to attend to myself first (second only to God) in order to be spiritually,emotionally, intellectually, and physically available to others. If you have trouble with the semantics of putting yourself second, think of it as preparation to serve others.

Equipped with your list of who you serve and your priorities, you should be able to be very specific. For example, my list of those I serve is as follows:

1. God
2. Self
3. Trina
4. Children
5. Other Family
6. Employers (and stakeholders)
7. Friends
8. Servant Leadership Community
9. Other Communities (neighbors, social causes, etc.)

Knowing who you serve and in what priority you serve them is critical to being a successful leader. If you’re not certain, I urge you to spend some time thinking about this. Better yet, get Michael’s eBook and work out the priorities and life plan for yourself.

Question: What about you? Does God come first? Where are your family, friends, boss, coworkers and others on your list of people to serve?

People who seek prestige through leadership roles or titles cause trouble and hardship for stakeholders. These individuals, expecting recognition, fame or fortune, fall flat when they awaken to the true demands of a leader.

“With great power, comes great responsibility.” -Ben Parker (paraphrasing others)

Therefore, please, I beg of you, if you’re out to “lead” for the supposed prestige, don’t do it. Chances are there is someone more appropriate who will actually serve the stakeholders.

The Problem With Prestige Seekers

“Wait,” you say, “I’m not only in it for the prestige, I am really willing to work hard!”

Save it. I’ve heard it all before, as have most people reading this post. News flash for you: we see through you, probably better than you see through yourself.You see, we have no doubt that you’ve fooled yourself into believing you’re out for the good of others. However, if the prestige you believe you will receive from a title or role attracts you, even slightly, you’re deluding yourself.

Self Sacrifice

If you want prestige, you don’t really know what it means to be a true leader. Being a leader means self-sacrifice. Some leadership roles demand more sacrifice than others, but all require some, if they are to be done well. Whether it is the time you commit to the cause, travel away from loved ones, sleepless nights or other forms of sacrifice, the point is, all good leaders give up something.

Listening

Prestige seekers like to talk. Whether it is to the press, an audience or a group of employees. The prestige seeker desires the attention of others. In contrast, good leadership means listening to others. Spending a great deal of time hearing what others have to say and understanding the complexity of their challenges.

Humility

If you want any form or prestige, you likely assume a sense of entitlement. Whether it’s the prime parking spot at the office, a ridiculous compensation package that dwarfs the average employee’s or better airline seats. The prestigious wannabe believes they’ve earned it. In reality, great leadership means aligning with the needs and experiences of the average stakeholder. This includes experiencing that which a typical employee, customer or partner must go through on a daily basis. Hiding in ivory towers is not leadership.

Service, Not Prestige

Robert Greenleaf was fond of pointing out that servant leaders are individuals who seek to serve, first and then, upon considering the best ways to serve, choose leadership (paraphrased). This is leadership: service to – not from – stakeholders. Prestige has nothing to do with leadership and leadership has nothing to do with prestige.

So please, if you seek prestige, don’t try and lead. Odds are you will falter and fail when you discover that leadership is not as prestigious as you expected.

Question: What does leadership mean to you?

Geoffrey Rush as Lionel Logue in The King's Speech

Lionel Logue

Lionel Logue (1880 – 1953), who was recently portrayed in The King’s Speech, provides a good example of servant leadership in action. Australian born Logue was the speech therapist who successfully treated Duke Albert’s (who became known as King George VI, 1895 -1952), pronounced stutter. More than a simple speech therapist though, Logue became a confidant, friend and advocate for the king. Logue first began treating King George when he was the Duke of York, before the Duke’s brother abdicated the throne, making him the king. It was during this period Logue displayed especially strong servant leadership attributes. With Logue’s support, King George developed  into an outstanding leader for the United Kingdom in turbulent times. Below are some examples of the servant leadership porttrayed by Logue:

1. Work with Veterans

One of Logue’s distinctions that caught the attention of royalty, stemmed from his work with war veterans. Known for his stage presence and clear enunciation, he took his speech therapy tactics to help war veterans. The speech therapist was able to help many war veterans whose shell shock and post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSDs) resulted in speech impediments. In this effort, Logue did not seek fame or fortune, but where he could be of the greatest service.

2. Personal Risk

As a successful speech therapist, Logue knew some of the common causes of speech impediments were stress and pressure. As a result, he needed to disarm and often calm his clients. At personal risk, early in their relationship, Logue insisted on referring to Duke Albert as “Bertie”. This was to calm the Duke by removing airs of formality, position and expectations. Although the Duke protested in the beginning, he eventually accepted the nickname. Logue’s insistence was in direct opposition to the Duke’s orders. Yet, Lionel knew what was needed and, in fact, never stopped calling him Bertie, even after he became King George.

3. Building Others

As the Duke of York, Albert never wanted the king’s throne. In fact, he dreaded it. His fear of public speech and lack of confidence in himself was so strong he fought to keep his older brother from abdicating the throne. Through all the self-denial and doubt, Lionel protested and reassured his friend, Bertie, that he had all he needed to be a great king. Through these actions, Logue displayed his dedication to building others and serving his country.

4. Persistence

King George VI was know to have frequent outbursts and a poor temper. But this did not deter Lionel. Through good times and bad, Logue remained by the King’s side. In fact, he was present at almost all of the King’s major speeches from the time they began working together.

 Through his actions and dedication to veterans, Duke, King and Country, Lionel Logue displayed the attributes of a servant leader. You may argue he received fame and fortune, but he never had this as an expectation from this work. Oddly enough, through his service to those who needed him most, he accrued the sort of attention that blockbuster movies are made of, decades later. This is a lesson for all. It is important to serve first and find that, through serving, your greatest contribution is leading those who need you most. It is this sort of service that we all need, appreciate and ultimately, may even make movies about.

The Holocaust and the financial crisis of 2008 had something in common: they both lacked sufficient good leaders, willing to resist the status quo.

“All that is necessary for evil to win is for good men to do nothing.” -Edmund Burke (paraphrase)

This thought occurred to me after watching two documentaries this past weekend, one on each event. In each example, there were men and women standing up for what was right. Ultimately though, each occurred, at least in part, because too many people accepted popular belief and failed to resist what they knew was wrong. Undoubtedly, there were thousands more people, with the potential to influence better outcomes, that did not listen to that still small voice and risk resistance.

The Holocaust

Hitler certainly had his opponents, long before the Allies. However, there was not enough within the German government to adequately influence the country. Hitler and the Nazi’s were allowed to come to power, in part because they did not face sufficient opposition from good leaders early in the developments of the Holocaust. If more servant leaders like Dietrich Boenhoffer and other martyrs, stepped up sooner, perhaps atrocities could have been avoided.

The 2008 Financial Crisis

The financial collapse of 2008 came from a series of events that could have been prevented. If the few whistle-blowers were supported by more good leaders, the meltdown may have been avoided. Unfortunately, within Enron, Lehman Brothers, Countrywide Financial, Merrill Lynch, Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and other financial industry organizations there was insufficient servant leadership to resist the trend. Too many people were making too much money – everyone wanted in for their individual benefit. The few good leaders that did try to blow their whistle were ignored, perceived as paranoid and in some cases, even fired. Risk taking became easier and easier. Trade-offs were made for short-term wins at the cost of greater long-term risks. As a result, fewer leaders, aware of the issue, spoke against the imbalance.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not suggesting these events were equal. The 2008 financial sector executives were no Adolf Hitler. However, it has been argued that those executives repeatedly ignored warnings out of their own self-interest. There simply were not enough good leaders resisting the status quo to avoid either Nazi atrocities or the financial crisis. The ego, greed and self interest of leaders were sufficient for them to not resist popular belief.

The Lesson for Servant Leaders

The lesson for leaders is simple: just because everyone else is doing it, does not make it okay. Yes, that sounds like something your mother taught you. This does not negate its importance. In business it is too easy to go with the flow – especially when business is good. Question everything. Is your model sound? Is the success sustainable? Are there naysayers or other warning signs? If something seems wrong, you must be willing to stand up for what is right – regardless of the implications to you and your career. Listen to that small voice of doubt. Serving your stakeholders often means self-sacrifice, even especially when times are good.

…unless we stand for something, we shall fall for anything. -Peter Marshall

Question: What status quo do you need to challenge today?

Sunday, I heard a parable about a cracked pot that provided a great perspective on servant leadership. I’d like to share my own take on that parable with you:

Our Servant Leader

There was an elderly woman who had the responsibility of gathering water for her family each day. Because the family lived in a very remote and dry region, she had to walk far to get the water. She could only carry two pots at a time and so, needed to make the trip every day.

The Two Pots

The elderly woman did not have the means for new materials. As a result, only one pot was in perfect working order. The other pot had a crack running half way down the side. The first  was the envy of the latter. Making matters worse, the whole one often belittled the other, critiquing it of lacking performance:

“You are a sorry excuse for a pot! Every day you lose half your water. I will give you a poor performance review. You’re not even meeting half of your objectives and you are draining our resources. You need to be replaced.”

Of course, these negative remarks wore on the cracked pot. Over time, the poor pot began to believe the negative feedback about itself. Until, one day, the cracked pot nearly gave up and apologized to the elderly woman, asking to be replaced:

“My lady, I am so sorry for failing you! Every day, we walk to and from the well and I can not hold on to all the water you place in me. I am a poor performer. You must be awfully disappointed in me. Please, replace me with another, newer model, so you can be more successful!”

Hidden Strengths

Upon hearing this, the lady gasped. She now realized the cracked pot did not fully understand its role:

“But, cracked pot, you provide so many benefits to me and our family that you do not realize! Haven’t you noticed all the flowers and vegetables growing up on your side of the path? I knew you dripped water and so I planted seeds along your side of our path. Your water nurtured those plants and vegetables. I picked the flowers to make our home beautiful and the vegetables to feed our family. The other pot may seem more complete, but I would have to stop and tip it every time I wanted to give the plants a drink. In contrast, water flows from you perfectly – at a consistent and steady pace.”

The cracked pot was so excited at hearing this, it never again doubted itself. It ignored the negative commentary cast by it’s peer and continued to feed the plants and vegetables every day.

Cracked Pot Leadership

There are several lessons we can take away from this parable. For example, leaders should reflect these attributes:

1. Share Your Weaknesses: Leaders need to share their weaknesses to develop others. Like the cracked pot, leaders should be comfortable with their “scars” and bare them as lessons for others. What team member could learn more from your experience?

2. Define Clear Expectations: To be a great contributor, team members need to know exactly what is expected of them. In our parable, the pot did not even know it was expected to water the plants. Who should you be more clear about expectations with?

3. Recognize Hidden Strengths: Many employees come to us with benefits beyond their job description, such as positive attitudes, innovative thinking or a great ability to motivate. The cracked pot thought the leaking water was a weakness, when it fact, it was a strength. Who do you need to help recognize their own strengths?

4. Balance Reviews: 360 degree reviews help ensure balanced feedback. However, like the cracked pot, make sure the perspectives you gather are not all from a single project, or perspective. Who should you ask for additional feedback on your team?

5. Capture a Comprehensive ROI: Financial results are important, but they are not the only attribute to define success. The elderly woman realized the amount of water delivered to the house was not the only success factor. What other attributes define your comprehensive return on investment?

 Question: What other lessons do you see in the cracked pot parable and how will you apply these lessons in your own leadership?

The Flashy Executive May Not Be The Best Leader

You’ve heard it said, “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.” Well, here is a parallel for you: It’s not the size of the leader in the service, but the size of the service in the leader that matters.

What Really Matters

In other words, it doesn’t matter how big, famous, popular or accomplished the leader seems. It doesn’t matter how many letters the leader has after his or her name (MBA, PhD, PMP…). No, what really matters is how much the leader seeks to serve others.

A leader who serves others, leads others. A leader who serves only himself, leads only himself. Therefore, if a leader’s career has focused on building fame and fortune, rather than successful teams and organizations, the size of their service is small. The potential for sustainable success under a non-serving leader is even smaller. So how do you gauge the level of service in a leader? Here are some outward signs of a serving leader:

Outward Signs of a Serving Leader

1. Employees Promoted: How many former employees of the leader are now peers or superiors? This is especially valid for individuals that moved on to other teams or organizations, where the leader was no longer the decision maker. If the leader is selfless enough to ensure direct reports attain the qualifications to meet or surpass their own, you likely have a serving leader.

2. Positive Customer Service Scores: Whoever the customer – internal or external – do they respond positively regarding the leader’s organization? If so, then the leader has likely been focused on serving customer needs.

3. Boss’s Success: Have their previous bosses been successful? If, while the leader was in their employ, these individuals had a successful track record, then the leader was likely serving their bosses. Otherwise, the leader may have focused on their own, individual recognition over the success of the team.

4. Humility in Titles: Does the leader reflect conservative views on their own titles? A servant leader does not overstate titles or broadcast accreditation excessively. A humility in titles reflects a leader who is more concerned about delivering results than about impressing others.

5. Status Symbol Control: Does the leader avoid flashy status symbols, such as prominently displaying high profile brands, exotic cars, expensive jewelry or other perks of the elite? Is so, they are likely more concerned with leveraging resources for the service of others than their own narcissism.

So the next time you need the right individual for the job, consider the size of the service in the leader and not the size of the leader in the service. Prominent external hires can also produce prominent external failures. It just may be that who you need is not the flashy, public figure, but the quiet, reserved, serving leader already in your midst.

Question: What other outward signs are good examples of servant leaders?

As a follow up to the Servant Leadership Companies list, I finally got around to compiling a list of servant leadership academic programs. You can see the list at modernservantleader.com/academic-programs-list/ or click the screen shot of the table below.

About the List

There are many great schools, universities, foundations and even churches educating individuals on the principles and benefits of servant leadership. However, to the best of my knowledge, a compiled list did not yet exist. Therefore, as more people asked me about these programs, I determined we needed a list to share for prospective students. This list is the result of that work. However, this is a living list – it is expected to grow and change over time. Please, if you have an institution or program to add, review the requirements below and contact me or add a comment at the bottom of the list.

Features of the List

The following attributes are captured in the table for quick and easy reference:

Institution: The name of the College, University, Foundation, Non-Profit, Church or otherwise considered parent/hosting organization.

Program Type: We tried to identify a classification for the type of program:  Degree (college degree related, included bachelors, associates etc.), certificate or non-certificate (for non-college-credit courses), and many unique variations. As you may see, some programs did not fit neatly into one of these categories.

Campus or Online: To determine whether the course require attendance on site, physically in a classroom, or enable online participation as well. Many have both options. Some were unclear.

City: Self explanatory. Primarily for campus-based program. For the online course, we chose the headquarters or associated campus location.

State / Region: Self explanatory. Primarily for campus-based program. For the online course, we chose the headquarters or associated campus location.

Description: A (very) brief description of each program. For more information, please visit the associated URL.

URL: The website address. Note: where possible, the actual hyperlink takes you directly to the program, though the institution’s homepage may only be displayed in the table.

Requirements for Inclusion

In order to be considered for this list, an organization must meet the following qualifications. If you are familiar with the Servant Leadership Companies List, you will see strong similarities. I may update these qualifications from time to time.

1. For-Profit / Non-Profit / Government: All types of organizations will be considered. Unlike the companies list, I chose to include churches in this list as there seems to be a manageable number fitting the qualifications.

2. Recurring Programs Only:Unfortunately, there are simply too many one-off courses, that do not repeat with some degree of regularity, to track. Therefore, for consideration in the list, a program must be clearly established to occur with some predictable regularity.

3. References to Servant Leadership: There must be a publicly documented reference to program and the servant leadership principles or content covered within.

I hope you enjoy the list. Please help us keep it updated by providing feedback, additions and changes.

Credit: A special thank you to Barbara, who helped compile the original list.

In my career, I’ve managed many projects of varied size, scope and budget. From a couple people and a couple thousand dollars, to global efforts encompassing hundreds of employees and millions of dollars. However, when I look back, I notice 5 attributes common among the most successful projects. I call these attributes the Inverted Pyramid of Project Success and it goes like this:

1. Business Objectives: Different people give this different names. Some call it “executive alignment”, others “leadership agendas”  or “corporate goals”. In essence, this bottom tip of the inverted pyramid is all about gaining support from the top-down (or in this case, bottom-up). A project that is aligned with overall business objectives will garner support when needed.

2. Shared Accountability: From your customers, partners and all stakeholders, it is important to share accountability for overall success. If any particular stakeholder group has no accountability, they will lack sufficient motivation for their participation or deliverables.

3. Comprehensive Requirements: Too many projects start without really understanding what is needed for success. Comprehensive requirements drive accurate budgets, timelines and resource plans. Capturing all requirements also drives understanding and thorough prioritization vital to successful decision making.

4. Strong Relationships: Most projects require some give-and-take. Tradeoffs will be necessary and often, stakeholders need to trust each other to deliver on commitments. There will be trying times, especially in larger projects and high risk efforts. On the twisting road of project management, strong relationships smooth the bumps and straighten the line.

5. Servant Leadership: It is important that all stakeholders, but especially the project manager, reflect the attitude and principles of servant leadership. As the team recognizes the selfless attitude, dedication to the team, and overall focus on serving the needs of the organization, greater motivation, teamwork and results are achieved.

As you climb the inverted pyramid from bottom to the top, you spend more time and effort on each step. Furthermore, while each step may occur throughout the project life cycle, it is important to first focus on each step in order. In other words, in the very beginning of the project, it is important to ensure alignment with business objectives. It is also important to ensure shared accountability before developing comprehensive requirements. The exception is servant leadership, which is critical to practice throughout, from the very beginning.

When it comes right down to it, the most successful projects contain all attributes of this inverted pyramid. Can your project be successful without one or more components? Sure. However, from my experience, the best way to ensure your project’s overall success is to build it upon the Inverted Pyramid of Project Success.

Question: What would you add to the inverted pyramid of project success?

You’re laying in your deathbed. As you think about family and friends, those you’ve loved and lost, another thought creeps up – it’s about your career and the leadership your portrayed. As you think about this, you are:

A. Happy and content
B. Sad and full of regret

Well, which is it? What will you think of yourself and the leadership you portrayed, as you lay on your deathbed? You will be proud of how you helped others build themselves and their organizations? Or, will you regret the people you trampled on your climb to individual fame and fortune? If the latter, will it be worth it?

Here is a sobering thought for you: 99% of people reading this will be virtually forgotten for their individual achievements, 5 years after they are gone. What you are more likely to be remembered for is how you mentored others, how you served organizations and how you helped others become more than they would have been without you.

The best test, and the most difficult to administer, is this: Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants? – Robert K. Greenleaf

Make Yourself Happy on Your Deathbed

What will make you happiest on your deathbed? Will it be:

• That your name was once on a magazine cover?
• That you achieved a series of impressive sounding titles?
• That you made more money than your competition?

Or, will you be happier:

• That you helped mentor others to become better themselves?
• That you built an organization focused on serving a community?
• That you supported sustainable solutions that will provide income and resources for the future?

There will be a few individuals who, sadly, prefer the former group. While I feel sorry for them, this site and post is not for narcissistic and toxic leaders. That form of leadership is too easy to practice and achieve short-term results through. For the rest of us – those that want to be remembered for serving others – find the greatest happiness through servant leadership.

It’s Not Too Late – Go Serve!

Even if you chose “B” above and believe you would sad and full of regret, there is good news. If you are reading this, it’s not too late. Change your leadership practices and focus on servant leadership principles. Find someone to mentor, shift your focus to serve others first and serve all your stakeholders. If you’re not sure where to start, check out the Servant Leadership Manifesto and follow the call to action at the end.

Question: No need to answer this one publicly, but what will you think of your leadership as you reflect from your deathbed?

During a recent harbor walk, my 3 year old son asked, “Daddy, why is that boat going so fast?” I looked up to see a speedboat clearly ignoring the “No Wake Zone” signs. As I watched the wake from this speed demon violently rock the boats at dock, it lead me to consider the differences in leadership styles (you’re shocked, I’m sure). If your leadership style were classified as a boat, into which category would it fall?

Scott & Pals on His Speedboat

Speedboat Leadership

I’ve had the good fortune to ride along on my friend Scott’s speedboat many times. Speedboats have the ability to move very fast, create a great deal of excitement for riders and attract a lot of attention.

Speedboat Leaders: The same benefits may be seen in leaders who practice similar principles. Speedboat leaders always look great – decked out in the latest fashions. They move swiftly, often making organizational structure changes early in their tenure. As a result, stakeholders in their organization are often quickly excited while the media pays close attention.

Unfortunately, all that speed, power and excitement comes with a cost. Speedboats eat up a great deal of fuel in a short period of time. When Scott revealed the fuel costs from our first outing, I almost never returned for a second. Furthermore, speedboats can be very disruptive to surroundings. These vessels tend to produce larger wakes and break the silence of peaceful beach afternoons with roaring engines.

Negatives for Speedboat Leaders: These leaders often demand higher compensation packages many times the average employee’s benefits. Furthermore, their disruptive actions may call media attention for unfavorable reasons. Examples include unsustainable cost reductions or delivering shareholder benefits at the costs of customers and employees. As a result, the roar of the engines from these leaders and the wake from their waves may rock the wrong boats too far.

John's Sailboat

Sailboat Leadership

John, another friend of mine, has a passion for sailing. He is often seen at ease in photos as he steers a large sailing vessel calmly and quietly through a sunset evening. Sailboats have a much lower cost of operation when it comes to fuel. Absent the large engines, these ships also fit in better with their surroundings by emitting virtually no noise and creating minimal wakes.

Sailboat Leaders: In a similar fashion, the sailboat leader is seen as one who is more quiet than their motor-driven counterparts. These leaders tend to fit in with their surroundings more readily as their actions leverage existing power sources for results, rather than injecting the environment with new people or tools.

Yet sailboats are not without their own negative attributes. Typically, these vessels move slower than motorized counterparts. In fact, to keep pace, sailboats often tack – moving in a zig-zag motion to capture the best wind. Furthermore, sailboats can not charge straight into a head-on wind. Instead, they must maneuver at angles resulting in slower changes to scenery.

Negatives for Sailboat Leaders: Sailboat leadership principles may take longer to drive results than speedboats. As a result, though overall support costs may be less, time may not be sufficient. Furthermore, a sailboat leader, who leverages the existing environment rather than forcing new conditions in spite of it, is less likely to attract attention to themselves.

Are You a Speedboat or Sailboat Leader?

Neither form is right or wrong. In fact, much like the sea vessels themselves, each meets different needs. However, if I were to suggest one aligns more with servant leadership in general, I must suggest sailboat leaders. Servant leadership emphasizes the need to serve all stakeholders and so adapts to the environment in a manner similar to the sailboat. Both leverage existing powers, such as the wind and employees, to adapt to a new future and produce new results. Whichever vessel you choose though, one thing is certain, you will find the best results by focusing on serving others, first.

Question: Are you more of a speedboat or sailboat leader? What about your boss?

In the previous post, I wrote about how important it is to identify the weaknesses of your boss and leaders. We also covered tips on how to identify those weaknesses. Now, let’s consider what you can do about the weaknesses you uncover.

What To Do About Your Boss’s Weaknesses

Identifying your boss’s weakness is half of the problem. From there, you should be able to proactively balance those weaknesses with your own strengths. Here are some tips on how to apply your strengths to achieve a winning balance as a team:

1. Pick Up the Slack

If the responsibilities of your boss were a rope, there must be some slack in the line, somewhere. Pick up that slack where you can. This can be tricky, depending upon the ego and objectives of your boss. The best leaders are not intimidated by strong direct reports. However, others some may perceive your assistance as a threat to their authority. In such situations, reflect on your experience to the boss and explain how you addressed similar issues before. Then make the offer to pick up that piece for the boss while they focus on “higher priorities”. This should assuage the ego, where necessary.

2. Professional Development as a Team

Too often, professional development plans are developed with a focus solely on the individual. Instead, look across your team. Whether you take the path of building on your strengths further, as suggested by Clifton in “Now Discover Your Strengths“, or improving your weaknesses, tackle the challenge together. What strengths does the team want to build upon? If your boss is building on strategic skills, perhaps you should build on the tactical. If your boss is building on communications, perhaps you should improve on project tracking. It remains important to develop individually over time – just not at the expense of the team.

3. Constructive Feedback

Criticism of any kind is still criticism. Instead of constructive criticism, seek to provide constructive feedback. Feedback can be positive or negative in form, but should always be positive in intent. The key to constructive feedback is never to deliver it in public. The age old mantra, ignored by too many, remains, “Praise in public, reprimand in private”. The same is true of even the most positive intentions, when providing feedback. This is particularly true with bosses or leaders. Even the slightest negative feedback, received in public by a direct report, may be considered offensive. This is not true for the the best leaders, but it is a risk you run, nonetheless.

So what do you do about weaknesses found in your boss and leaders? You could do what most do: grin and bare it, complain to others and maybe even look for a new job. Or, you could distinguish yourself as a servant leader. You could, strengthen your boss and leaders.

Question: In what other ways can you help strengthen the weaknesses of leaders in your organization?

Over the years, I discovered a shocking truth about bosses: they are actually human! Hard to imagine, I know. And, it turns out, part of being human includes possessing weaknesses.

In fact, I’ve noticed that my best bosses held weaknesses in my areas of strength. This is a classic sign of a servant leader – they build a team that balances strengths and weaknesses. I wrote about this in “Forgiveness for Balance“. As good employees and servant leaders, it is important we recognize weakness in our bosses as a responsibility of our own. In order to take on these responsibilities though, we must first identify the weaknesses.

How to Identify a Weakness In Your Boss

Identifying weaknesses in your boss sounds easy. However, servant leaders must often make decisions we do not like. Therefore, it is important to distinguish a genuine weakness from decisions we do not like. Here are some tips for identifying weaknesses in your boss that you can strengthen:

1. Frustration

Frustration should be considered a warning sign for both you and your boss. This works in two ways. First, if your boss seems frustrated with a particular situation, it may be due to a weakness. For example, if your boss is unable to effectively influence someone, you may offer suggestions or assist by influencing your own peers. Second, if you are frustrated with your boss in a particular situation, it may be because the boss is not strong enough in the area to be effective. In this situation, you may be able assume additional responsibility in the area and provide greater success.

Probably one of the best known examples of this working relationship in Herb Kelleher, former CEO, and his assistant-turned-president, Colleen Barrett of Southwest Airlines. In describing how the two began working together, Barrett said:

I discovered Herb. Really and truly. I laugh about it. I found this man. He needed help. It was clear. I was going to be his savior.

2. Assessment Surveys

Whether it is 360 feedback or a management assessment form, surveys about the performance of you and your boss can both be very helpful. When you are filling out feedback on your  boss, note the areas you identify as their weakest and help fill these gaps in the coming year. Second, in your own surveys, identify the strengths others see in you. Your strengths should be leveraged to help others in those areas. As Clifton explains in “Now Discover Your Strengths“, corporate HR policies focus too much on fixing weaknesses in the individual. We should focus more on leveraging our strengths to the greatest extent possible.

3. Listen For Dislikes

Last, but certainly not least, your leaders are likely to tell you their weaknesses. The best leaders will specifically name them as weaknesses, but others may require discernment. These revelations often come in the form of statements that begin with “I don’t like…”, “I’m not the best at…” or “I prefer having someone else do…”. Whatever follows statements like these are typically a weakness of the leader. They may be fully capable, but the lack of enjoyment in a particular responsibility can also drive a weakness.

With these tips, you should be able to identify key weaknesses of your boss and leaders. Make note of them to yourself and keep an eye out for future weakness revelations. After all, true servant leaders serve all – including their boss and leaders. Together with our leaders, we can balance each others weaknesses. We’ll cover how to do this in the next post.

Questions: Have you identified weaknesses in your leaders before? How did you and the team respond?

Great leadership requires authentic accountability. Most leaders understand the value of accountability and want to be perceived as one who accepts responsibility. However, toxic leaders will practice artificial accountability while the servant leader is authentic in this practice.

Artificial Accountability

Artificial accountability is practiced by individuals who desire to be great leaders but lack the character necessary to accept difficult challenges on the behalf of their team. Put another way, artificial accountability is often found where people want the fame and fortune without the self-sacrifice, effort and risk. Attributes of artificial accountability include:

1. Seeks Credit

One who practices artificial accountability often seeks out opportunities for recognition. In public, they want to be the one identified as the sort of person who accepts accountability. Yet, these individuals do not really want to risk themselves or their career on the behalf others.

2. Requires Self Promotion

The artificially accountable leader must call attention to their perceived self-sacrifice. At the same time, these individuals tend to deflect blame while promoting themselves. For example, “although it was John’s mistake, he reports to me, so I will take accountability for his actions.”

3. Appearance, Not Service

The artificially authentic leader is concerned more with how they appear to others than with how they actually act. These individuals may want to be perceived as taking accountability, but when the rubber meets the road, they’re not willing to change the tire.

Authentic Accountability

Authentic accountability is practiced by the servant leader. These leaders understand how to protect their teams, allow room to fail forward and protect them from toxic leaders. Authentically accountable leaders are willing to make the self-sacrifice necessary in the short term, to develop the sustainable success that follows.

1. Comprehensive

Authentic accountability ensures other names are not even mentioned. If discussion turns toward members of their team who may be deemed at fault, the leader stops the conversation and interjects, “it’s my area, I am to blame and will ensure it does not happen again”.

2. Quiet

Accountability that is authentic in nature is quiet. These leaders rarely, if ever, have to explain that they took responsibility for something on the behalf of others. These leaders let their actions speak for themselves.

3. Character, Not Appearance

Servant leaders have strong character and do not sacrifice principles for perception. As a result, authentic accountability is not a tool or tactic but stems from the persons character and values.

Servant leadership is not easy to practice. Serving your team means taking the blame while sharing the praise. As a result, if you want to achieve sustainable success, serve your team by practicing authentic accountability.

Question: How has authentic accountability helped you and your team?

The signs of outstanding leadership appear primarily among the followers. Are the followers reaching their potential? Are they learning? Serving? Do they achieve the required results? Do they change with grace? Manage conflict? – Max De Pree

Too many organizations today say “the employee alone, is responsible for their career”. With statements like these, it is no surprise that employees have decreased loyalty. A Salary.com survey highlighted this problem. The survey of 8,000 people found that employees want greater support of their career by the employer. The top reasons provided for leaving their employers included:

#2: Inadequate Opportunities for Career Advancement (37%)
#3: Insufficient Recognition or Appreciation (34%)
#4: Boredom (20%)
#6: Inadequate Opportunities for Professional Development (15%)
#7: Insufficient Job Security (12%)
#9: Poor Relations with Management (10%)

Reducing employee turnover should be reason enough for organizations to step up and take some responsibility for employee careers. However, there are many more hidden problems with leaving accountability for career development solely to the employee.

Hidden Problems With Insufficient Employee Career Support

1. Emphasizes Individual Over Team
Individuals focusing on their own career growth often communicate their own achievements over those of the team. Individuals promoting themselves and their results over what is right for the organization will likely be promoted faster. Therefore, this pattern will repeat itself and grow over time, ultimate reducing teamwork.

2. Reduces Risk Taking
Individuals are less likely to stick their neck out if they feel there is no support from above. Individuals have accountability at home for family income and will not risk job security, especially in this economy, if there is not someone above looking out for them from a bigger picture perspective.

3. Drives Short Term Solutions vs. Long Term Results
Employees focused on building their own career will sacrifice sustainability for short-term wins to gain their next promotion. After all, if they drive quick results, what they leave behind is another persons mess to cleanup.

4. Reduces Loyalty and Increases Turnover
As the salary.com survey highlights, if nobody in the company is helping the employee, what difference does it make if the employee takes their next role with the same employer or goes to the competition?

Employers Must Share Accountability for Employee Careers

Employees must still play a major role in developing their own careers. However, companies that dodge any accountability are hurting themselves and their employees. If we are more proactive in supporting the careers of our employees, perhaps we’ll also see a bit of that good old-fashioned loyalty return as well.

Question: Does your organization support the careers of its employees? How does this benefit or hurt the organization and the employee?

If you are interested in servant leadership and seek a good place to start, you’ve come to the right place!

Silvia Van Der Cammen recently asked for recommended reading on the Servant Leadership LinkedIn group. There were many responses with excellent suggestions. Some resources stood out as the most common while others were more niche-oriented. I’ve compiled the results below, with a few additions. At the end is a summary and my recommendation. The resources are broken out by category, so you jump to the section most relevant to you:

Most Popular Servant Leadership Books

Books listed in this section are among the most frequently recommended. In fact, I counted responses and I believe these were the most consistent recommendation in the LinkedIn Group responses.

Resource: The Servant: A Simple Story About the True Essence of Leadership
Author: James Hunter
Category: Book
Date: 1998
Review: Definitely the most popular book recommendation in the discussion, this is also my suggestion for the first book for beginners. This fable-based book introduces the concept of servant leadership through a businessman who attends a retreat where he is educated on the principles of servant leadership.

Resource: Servant Leadership: A Journey Into the Power of Legitimate Greatness
Author: Robert K. Greenleaf
Category: Book
Date: 1977 (Original)
My Thoughts: Definitely the second most popular recommendation from the discussion and the book that started it all, sort of. Greenleaf is often referenced as the father of modern servant leadership. He is known as the man who coined the term “servant leader”. As a result, it is rare to find a servant leadership text without some reference to this book or one of the original essays contained within it. If you’re serious about servant leadership, you must read this book. If you’re just starting out though, it may not be the best choice for your first book on the matter.

Resource: Practicing Servant-Leadership: Succeeding Through Trust, Bravery, and Forgiveness
Author: Larry C. Spears
Category: Book
Date: 2004
Review: A compilation of leading educators and authors on servant leadership principles. Included among these is the editor, Larry Spears, who was CEO of the Greenleaf center for nearly 20 years and now runs the Spears Center for Servant Leadership.

Resource: The Art of Servant Leadership
Author: Tony Barron
Category: Book
Date: 2010
Review: Authored by the president of the Servant Leadership Institute, a division of Datron World Communications, the book includes a story on how one CEO transitioned his company to servant leadership.

Resource: The Case For Servant Leadership
Author: Dr. Kent Keith
Category: Book
Date: 2008
Review: Authored by the current CEO of the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership, this book provides a broad background and support for servant leadership.

Resource: The Ken Blanchard Company Books
Author: Ken Blanchard & Others
Category: Book
Date: Varied
Review: There were several recommendations for books from Ken Blanchard and team. Among my favorites are Gung Ho, Servant Leadership &  One Minuet Manager. Raving Fans was also recommended, though I have not yet read this one.

Other Recommended Servant Leadership Books

The following books were also recommended or are additions I suggest for individuals looking to learn more about servant leadership. They may not be as popular as some of the others, but they have much too offer.

Resource: Making the Grass Greener on Your Side
Author: Ken Melrose
Category: Book
Date: 1995
Description: This book, written by the former CEO of Toro Motor Company, explains how servant leadership evolved and became the corner stone for a turnaround at the company. This is an excellent resource, particularly for those in the business field.

Resource: The World’s Most Powerful Leadership Principle: How to Become a Servant Leader
Author: James Hunter
Category: Book
Date: 2004
Review: A follow up to Hunter’s “The Servant”, this is also a great book. However, I would recommend reading his first book (see above), first.

Resource: The Servant Leader: How to Build a Creative Team, Develop Great Morale, and Improve Bottom-Line Performance
Author: James Autry
Category: Book
Date: 2004
Description: Another great example for practitioners in business, this book is written by a former Fortune 500 executive.

Resource: The Ken Blanchard Company Books
Author: Ken Blanchard & Others
Category: Book
Date: Varied
Review: There were several recommendations for books from Ken Blanchard and team. Among my favorites are Gung Ho, Servant Leadership &  One Minuet Manager. Raving Fans was also recommended, though I have not yet read this one.

Books About Servant Leadership Principles

Books listed in this section may not be specifically or entirely about servant leadership. However, they may have large sections devoted to servant leadership or cover many principles that align with servant leadership. Either way, these books are frequently referenced by servant leadership educators, authors and practitioners.

Resource: Leadership is an Art
Author: Max De Pree
Category: Book
Date: 2004
Description: My all-time favorite leadership book by my favorite leadership author. If you have not read this book, you should.

Resource: Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits Passion and Purpose
Author: Tony Hsieh
Category: Book
Date: 2010
Description: This book is an excellent example of how servant leadership can drive success for the most contemporary business. It is written by the CEO  of Zappos.com, an online retailer, and covers how servant leadership played a role in the company’s success.

Resource: Authentic Leadership: Rediscovering the Secrets to Creating Lasting Value
Author: Bill George
Category: Book
Date: 2004
Review: I had the chance to speak with Bill George, former CEO of Medco, back in 2009 (see The Future of Leadership). I think his perspectives on servant leadership are excellent. I also appreciate his candid reflections on his experience and down to earth attitude.

Resource: Good to Great
Author: Jim Collins
Category: Book
Date: 2001
Description: Although not specifically referred to as servant leadership, Collins regards “Level 5 Leadership” as a critical component of taking organizations from Good to Great. Many servant leadership proponents (myself included) consider what Collins names as “Level 5 Leadership” to be servant leadership.

Resource: It’s Not About the Coffee: Lessons on Putting People First from a Life at Starbucks
Author: Howard Behar
Category: Book
Date: 2009
Description: Founding president of Starbucks International and former president of Starbucks North America, Howard Behar details how servant leadership was used in Starbucks rapid growth years.

Resource: The Journey to the East
Author: Herman Hesse
Category: Book
Date: 1956
Review: The original inspiration for Robert Greenleaf’s work on servant leadership that was the origin of the term (more above). Similar to Greenleaf’s works, this is a must read for anyone serious about servant leadership. However, it is not among the first books I would suggest reading when starting your research.

Resource: Lead Like Jesus
Author: Ken Blanchard & Phil Hodges
Category: Book
Date: 2008

Resource: Serve to Lead®–Your Transformational 21st Century Leadership System
Author: James Strock
Category: Book
Date: 2010

Resource: Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time
Author: Greg Mortenson
Category: Book
Date: 2007

Other Recommended Servant Leadership Resources

The resources listed here are not books but also received recommendations from the group for beginning servant leaders.

Resource: Servant Leadership: An Introduction to the Power of Leadership Through Service
Author: Benjamin Lichtenwalner
Category: Presentation (Powerpoint)
Date: 2008
Review: I was honored to have my own presentation (as well as this site) included among the recommendations. I created this presentation with precisely this purpose in mind: to provide a brief, simple, but broad introduction to servant leadership. I hope you enjoy it.

Resource: The Understanding and Practice of Servant Leadership
Author: Larry Spears
Category: Article
Date: 2005

People (Servant Leaders) to Study

The following list of individuals are examples of servant leaders. You may find reading their biographies researching their beliefs and accomplishments helpful. Each description of these individuals is sourced from Wikipedia.

Name: Martin Luther King Jr.
Lived: 1929 – 1968
Description: An American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African American civil rights movement. In addition to the Wikipedia link from his name above, you may find my post on Martin Luther King Jr. as a model of servant leadership useful.

Name: Jesus Christ
Lived: 0 – 33
Description: The central figure of Christianity. Most Christian denominations venerate him as God the Son incarnated and believe that he rose from the dead after being crucified.

Name: Robert F. Kennedy
Lived: 1925 – 1968
Description: An American politician, a Democratic senator from New York, and a noted civil rights activist..

Name: Albert Schweitzer
Lived: 1875 – 1965
Description: A Franco-German (Alsatian) theologian, organist, philosopher, physician, and medical missionary.

Name: Mother Teresa
Lived: 1910 – 1997
Description: A Catholic nun of Albanian ethnicity and Indian citizenship, who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India in 1950.

Name: Mohandas Gandhi
Lived: 1869 – 1948
Description: A pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement.

Name: W.E.B. Dubois
Lived: 1868 – 1963
Description: An intellectual leader in the United States as sociologist, historian, civil rights activist, Pan-Africanist, author, and editor. In addition to the Wikipedia link on his name, you may find my post of Dubois as a model of servant leadership valuable.

Name: Ernest Shackleton
Lived: 1874 – 1922
Description: An Irish-born British explorer who was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.

Name: Corrie ten Boom
Lived: 1892 – 1983
Description: A Dutch Christian Holocaust survivor who helped many Jews escape the Nazis during World War II.

Name: Sitting Bull
Lived: 1831 – 1890
Description: A Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux holy man who led his people as a war chief during years of resistance to United States government policies.

Name: Nelson Mandela
Lived: 1918 -
Description: Served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election.

Name: Herb Kelleher
Lived: 1931 -
Description: The co-founder, and Chairman Emeritus and former CEO of Southwest Airlines.

Name: Sojourner Truth
Lived: 1797 – 1883
Description: An African-American abolitionist and women’s rights activist. In addition to the Wikipedia link on her name, you may find my post of Sojourner as a model of servant leadership valuable.

Name: Harriet Jacobs
Lived: 1813 – 1897
Description: An American writer, who escaped from slavery and became an abolitionist speaker and reformer. In addition to the Wikipedia link on her name, you may find my post of Jacobs as a model of servant leadership valuable.

Name: Harriet Tubman
Lived: 1820 – 1930
Description: An African-American abolitionist, humanitarian, and Union spy during the American Civil War. In addition to the Wikipedia link on her name, you may find my post of Tubman as a model of servant leadership valuable.

Name: Ralph Bunche
Lived: 1903 – 1971
Description: An American political scientist and diplomat who received the 1950 Nobel Peace Prize for his late 1940s mediation in Palestine. In addition to the Wikipedia link on her name, you may find my post of Bunche as a model of servant leadership valuable.

Recommendation for the Beginning Servant Leader

There are a lot of great resources here. So how do you know where to begin? Here is my suggestion for anyone who is interested in the topic of servant leadership and looking to learn more:

1. Get the Free & Brief Material: Begin by reading a couple of free, online resources. You can start right on this site, with An Introduction to Servant Leadership. In addition,  there is a Powerpoint presentation I created for an introduction that is even more brief. For other sites with great introductory material, check out the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership or the Spears Center for Servant Leadership.

2. Get a Great Overview Book: I recommend Hunter’s The Servant: A Simple Story About the True Essence of Leadership as a starting point. I’m not alone. As I noted above, this seems to be the most popular recommendation for introductory reading. After that, or if you’re looking for something different, pick a book from the most popular book section. These books will all provide you a solid foundation in servant leadership principles.

3. Get Serious: Once you’ve got a solid foundation, if you’re interested in really going deep on the topic, I suggest you look for something specific to your particular area of interest. For example, if you’re looking for servant leadership in business, Ken Melrose’s Making the Grass Greener on Your Side, Howard Behar’s It’s Not About the Coffee or James Autry’s The Servant Leader. If you’re more interested in spiritual matters or NPOs, there are other books listed above that may be more appropriate. However, if you are studying servant leadership or really researching the matter for any reason, you definitely should read Greenleaf’s Servant Leadership: A Journey Into the Power of Legitimate Greatness. Just don’t let it be the only book you read on the topic.

There you have it! The above list of resources should be more than enough to get you started on your servant leadership journey. My thanks to the LinkedIn Servant Leadership group for all the great input I used here, I hope you find the categorization and summation helpful.

Questions: What additional resources would you recommend? Which of these are your favorite?

Disclaimer: This post includes affiliate links.