Jolly old Santa Claus has a reason to be so happy. After all, he only works one day a year and gets credit for all the gifts his elves made and the work his reindeer do. In return, what do the reindeer and elves get? Left over cookie crumbs, some carrots, and one hit movie vs. dozens for Saint Nick. Santa Claus is really a bad boss, here are several examples of his poor leadership behavior:
Santa Claus the Bad Boss
- Serves only one stakeholder group
- Takes credit for other’s work
- Is a slave driver at the office
- Works the least of the team
- Judges others (who’s naughty and nice…)
- Expects others to feed his hunger
- Whips workers (the poor reindeer)
- Leaves his wife at home while he visits millions of other women
- Permits bullying at work (remember Rudolph before Santa needed him?)
In contrast, the reindeer team leader, Rudolph, shows excellent leadership skills. You may recall, he wasn’t always so famous. Santa even told him he’d never pull the sleigh and the other reindeer all laughed at him. But did that stop him from serving all his detractors with excellent leadership? Heck no! When called upon, Rudolph stepped up to the challenge, presented his vision and blazed a path for all the team to follow. Here are many reasons Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer, should be recognized as a servant leader:
Rudolph the Servant Leader
- Serves his team
- Takes personal risk for the benefit of others
- Has a vision others want to follow
- Clears a path for others to follow
- Takes accountability
- Doesn’t care who gets the credit
- Carries his boss
- Always delivers
- Works hard for what he believes
- Isn’t afraid to lead change
So the next time you see the jolly old elf, laughing “Ho, ho, ho” and cracking the whip on those poor reindeer, remind him what it means to be a leader. Tell him he should subscribe to ModernServantLeader.com and take the Servant Leadership 101 course.
I wish you and your loved ones a very, merry Christmas.
Question: What other Christmas classics display great leadership examples or bad bosses?
If you enjoyed this post, you’ll probably like The Servant Leader’s Night Before Christmas & New Years Resolutions for Leaders:
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”]
[/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”]
[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
