The servant leadership principles icon: Thorough. A person holds a large magnifying glass. To the right is a collection of smaller icons for the other principles and the words: SERVANT Leadership Principle - THOROUGH.

SERVANT Leadership Principle: Thorough

The principles of servant leadership include being Thorough. Thorough is about focusing on and prioritizing long-term benefits and results. See examples from the movie Erin Brockovich, Max De Pree, and Blake Mycoskie.
The servant leadership principles icon: Thorough. A person holds a large magnifying glass. To the right is a collection of smaller icons for the other principles and the words: SERVANT Leadership Principle - THOROUGH.

Background: This post is part of a series defining the principles of The Acronym Model of Servant Leadership®️ (SelflessEmpatheticResoluteVirtuousAuthenticNonpartisan, and Thorough). For more, visit the overview at this link or sign up for the free online course, Servant Leadership 101.

The last principle in the SERVANT-Leadership™ acronym is THOROUGH. Servant leaders focus on the long-term. In contrast, most executives today are obsessed with the quick win. Unfortunately, these near-term wins are often achieved at the expense of people and long-term assets. In the for-profit, publicly traded companies, the issue originates with executive incentives tied to quarterly or annual results. However, the problem exists anywhere the leadership is not thorough with their responsibilities.

 

Thorough leaders also plan for and invest in the long-term, first. Short-term wins come second in priority. As a result, short-term gains are framed within the larger view of a long-term vision. Without this approach, stakeholders often become confused and organizations may become too diversified, lacking focus. To be thorough, a leader should clearly communicate what each key decision means to all stakeholders in the near and long-term.

What Thorough Looks Like

The thorough servant leader builds a clear, strategic vision and framework within which all smaller efforts should fit. If the team is not clear on the long-term strategy of the organization, the leadership is not, likely, thorough. As a result, decisions take longer as confusion and grey-area issues are resolved. This focus on long-term strategy is often reinforced by a focus on retaining team members longer than the current trend of high turnover. So thorough leaders often celebrate milestone employment anniversaries with more than a token gift.

In this scene from Erin Brockovich, Ben explains how Erin demonstrates being thorough.

The thorough leader does not hesitate to make big decisions, but does ensure she has all the information needed to make the best possible decision. Now, when making big decisions, leaders rarely have all the information. However, there’s a difference between not enough facts and insufficient detail. The thorough leader resists making a major decision until enough detail is discovered. To do this, the leader sets clear expectations about what should be known before decisions are made and frees their people to gather that information. Furthermore, if the wrong decision is made, the leader takes accountability without losing resolve.

 

To drive the principle of being thorough throughout the organization, a servant leader builds systems and processes that drive the right decisions at the right speed, in a repeatable manor. This is a focus within the organization. Looking outside the company, the thorough leader should be intimately familiar with their industry, competitors and customers. This supports the leader’s vision and foresight for their teams.

What Thorough is Not

A thorough leader does not do everything asked of them. For leaders to be thorough, they must do just the opposite. A leader must prioritize clearly and consistently. If everything is important, nothing is important. So if a leader is not clear where the team’s priorities should be, there will be wasted effort on lower priority issues. Being thorough is also not about slowing down. A leader stuck in analysis paralysis is not being thorough – they are indecisive.

 

It’s also important that leaders realize they should not do everything themselves. Delegation is important, both to avoid burnout and to ensure the person best suited for a job is the one executing it. Still, the leader should be thorough about who she delegates to. To do so, a leader should be thorough in their hiring / vetting process.

Attributes of Thoroughness for Servant Leaders

Previous servant leadership models defined many thorough attributes as important to servant leaders. These include the following from Spears and others, Frick & Sipe as well as Russell & Stone (2002).

  • Systems Thinker (Frick & Sipe)
  • Builds Teams & Communities (Frick & Sipe)
  • Visionary (Frick & Sipe)
  • Comfortable with Complexity (Frick & Sipe)
  • Demonstrates Adaptability (Frick & Sipe)
  • Accepts and Delegates Responsibility (Frick & Sipe)
  • Has Foresight (Frick & Sipe)
  • Awareness (Spears)
  • Foresight (Spears)
  • Vision (Russell & Stone)
  • Communication (Russell & Stone)
  • Visibility (Russell & Stone)

Examples of Thorough Servant Leaders

The greatest thing is, at any moment, to be willing to give up who we are in order to become all that we can be.

Max De Pree looks past the camera as he sits on a couch with a soft light behind him. He wears glasses and a light blue button-down shirt.

Max De Pree

Max De Pree is the former CEO and chairman of the board at Herman Miller. Long before I ever worked for this company, I was enthralled by his leadership books (Leadership is an Art, Leadership Jazz & Leading Without Power). I valued these books, in large part, because they emphasize the attributes of a thorough servant leader: long-term vision, valuing long-tenure in employees and the need for strong communities. Within the organization, Max left behind many signs of thorough leadership. For example, the Water Carrier award and celebration that recognizes employees with 20 or more years of service. While celebrating, the ceremony also instills a strong message to these employees: they have an obligation to share the stories, history and culture with others, that made the company what it is today.

Blake Mycoskie wears sunglasses and a light blue denim button down shirt. His hands are pressed flat together in sort of praying gesture.

Blake Mycoskie

Founder and "Chief Shoe-giver", Mycoskie saw the suffering caused by a lack of footwear for the poor children of Argentina. He returned home and founded what eventually became, "Toms Shoes", a for-profit that provides a free pair of shoes to people in need, for each pair purchased. Since then, he's expanded this successful business model to include buy-one, give-one for eyeglasses and coffee for water. The sustainable business models established by Mycoskie reflect a thorough approach to serving stakeholders in our global community.

Question: Which thorough attributes of servant leaders do you think are most important?

References:
1. Spears, Larry: Power of Servant Leaders (Greenleaf, Spears, 1998); Servant Leadership: A Journey into… (Greenleaf, Spears, 2002); and more
2. Sipe, James W. & Frick, Don M.: Seven Pillars of Servant Leadership: Practicing… (2009)
3. Russell, Robert F. & Stone, Gregory A.: A Review of Servant Leadership Attributes: Developing… (Leadership and Organization Development Journal, 2002)

Read More About The Acronym Model of SERVANT Leadership®️

The selflessness icon: A person up front has their arms extended, lifting two other people up - one in each hand.
Selfless
The empathy icon: two outlined heads overlap and share an eye.
Empathetic
The resolve icon: a person pushing a boulder up an incline.
Resolute
The virtuousness icon: a person has their left hand placed on a book and their right hand raised as though they are taking a vow.
Virtuous
The authenticity icon: a person with a big checkmark in front of them as though validating them as authentic.
Authentic
The nonpartisanship icon: a person with outstretched arms holds a weight in each in hand, like a scale.
Nonpartisan
The thorough icon: a person holds up a magnifying glass.
Thorough

Share:

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Email
Ben Lichtenwalner

Ben Lichtenwalner

Ben Lichtenwalner is the founder and principal of Modern Servant Leader and Radiant Forest, LLC. He has studied and promoted servant leadership awareness and adoption for over 20 years. He is the author of 2 leadership books and has 2 decades of corporate management and leadership experience. His corporate experience spans CIO, VP, Director, and many management roles at Fortune 500, INC 500, and Nonprofits. Ben’s education includes a B.S. in Management Science & Information Systems from Penn State University and an MBA from Lehigh University. Ben's Full Profile Here: About Ben Lichtenwalner

2 thoughts on “SERVANT Leadership Principle: Thorough”

  1. I think to try and pick the most important attribute would be subjective when the real value creation happens when combining competency in several of these attributes. Growth and value can be exponential.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

Scroll to Top
We Value Your Privacy

This site uses cookies to enhance your experience. We do not share, sell, or lease your information for any other purpose.