Servant Leadership -- discuss

[Superman]

Okay, I will offer something more that a trite "good luck with that......."

In fact, I will use myself as the example. I work in a community of bullies. Nearly every single "building trades" (carpenter, electrician, laborer, painter, etc.) union business representative is a guy (or occasionally, rarely, woman) who started on a dangerous, rough-and-tumble construction site and CLAWED and SCRATCHED his way to a leadership position. These are under-educated, high-testosterone guys with chips on their shoulders and innate political savvy. I on the other hand am a wimpy, educated, confident, naive, lamb who just wants to help working men and women. Quite frankly, the only way to pull off this "softer" more helpful method of management is to develop a strong nice-guy reputation and a following of people who you have taken a bullet or two for. That way, the bullies can't get away with knifing me in the hallway.

Fact is, Z-Man, that this servant leadership thing is of course ideal.......but unfortunately also very vulnerable to the more common methods of climbing company ladders. I am a life-long office politics CASUALTY, and have the scars to prove it. Not fun, but I have no choice. I like to help.

[Zeke]

This is "servant leadership":



"Mr. (H)udson," head butler at 165 Eaton Place, London.

(I guess you'd have to be a bit older to know the BBS series "Upstairs Downstairs.")

[Z-man]

Originally Posted by Superman

Fact is, Z-Man, that this servant leadership thing is of course ideal.......but unfortunately also very vulnerable to the more common methods of climbing company ladders. I am a life-long office politics CASUALTY, and have the scars to prove it. Not fun, but I have no choice. I like to help.

Sounds to me like you're more FOR servant leadership than against it, given your many scars.

Ok - I'd like to throw out a couple of names here --

Non-business world:
Former NYC Mayor Rudi Giuliani - when faced with the aftermath of the 9/11 crisis, Giuliani was down in the trenches - helped people and served them where there needed.
Gahndi. I think he's a prime example of a 'modern' servant leader.
Mother Theresa. An even better example.

Business world:
Warren Buffett - a true moral leader. Some stats on him:
- In 2006, he gave away most of his $40 billion to charity. Most of it went to the Gates Foundation, which funds programs in global health, education, and financial services for the poor.
- Mr. Buffett still lives in his home he purchased in 1956 for $31k.
- He once said, "I do not want to live like a king, I just love to invest."

IBM has a program called Corporate Service Corps. Specially selected teams of IBM employees will work with small businesses and nonprofit organizations in places like Ghana, Tanzania, Romania, and Turkey. My IBM Storage Sales guy, Joe Wallace, participated in that program - he spent a few months in Romania workling with a company trying to get going in the technology world. Yeah, Joe was paid - not sure if he had to take a pay cut while there, but the services he offered them was at no cost to the Romanian company. He and other IBM-ers sacrificed their time with family, their ability to get ahead in the USA to work with less fortunate people.

There are many successful corporations that do that sort of thing - encourage leaders within their organization to take on the role of a servant leader. Yes, it bucks the trend of traditional 'old paradigm' leadership and management, but the results can be quite interesting.

Seems that all those in the financial world who adhered to the "greed is good" mentality are not out of jobs, or in prison. I personally believe that honesty and integrity can still go a long way in a corporation.

-Z-man.

[MysticLlama]

I always tried to be somewhere in the middle. You can be a leader and still "in charge" while getting people to do better work by challenging them in the correct way, and keeping the silly stuff away from them.

I would give my staff direction, goals, deadlines, etc.

Once given though, I did everything in my power to get them the resources they needed and keep other people out of the way. I hired them for specific purposes, and having all of them deal with whatever came in from any direction was inefficient. When someone is focused on something, going and grabbing pizza can help accomplish a lot more work than standing over the shoulder or badgering.

Also, I found it more worthwhile to teach *why* I did things a certain way or made certain decisions to keep everyone involved in the process, whether or not they'd decide to agree.

Oh, and with what Superman said, the taking a bullet, owning up, and being responsible in front of people/staff and not throwing them under the bus can over time become a strong following and build good allies.

[john70t]

Servant Leadership.

Isn't that an oxymoron?

[Superman]

Originally Posted by Z-man

Sounds to me like you're more FOR servant leadership than against it, given your many scars.

.

Absolutely. But my point, and that of several others here, is that a "servant leader" is just ITCHING for trouble in most organizations. Sadly, one's ability to access, and remain, in a position of power and control depends largely on his or her ability to play politics. To stay alive in the game. Others......many others, will be looking to 'take you out.' There is a GREAT deal of insecurity out there, especially among managers (I know this is counterintuitive, but it's true), many of whom have a pathetic few tools in their toolbag. They believe your misfortune is their chance to move up in the pecking order. They will "step in front" of you at any opportunity. Well-meaning, intelligent, helpful, supportive, protective managers can fairly easily be ambushed by someone more aggressive.

As I say, the only way I know to pull this "servant leadership" thing off successfully is to be VERY naive and peaceful and helpful and unambitious for a good long time, avoiding clashes, and then leverage your Goodwill later, as it accumulates. When I say "Goodwill" I mean that you can develop a reputation for being so harmless and helpful that folks cannot take shots at you without their colleagues denouncing them as cheap shots.

Servant leadership is the best kind of leadership. Also by far the most vulerable.