Comments on: Two Leadership Models

By: Mike Henry

Mike Henry — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 14:09:28 +0000

Bill, thanks for the great comment. I’ve almost said one of your sentences word for word. No one (or almost no one) starts a job planning to be miserable or frustrated, detached or unproductive. People want to be part of something bigger than themselves. If they can’t do that in their job, they’ll participate in non-profits. It’s only when they’re out of options do they settle for purely selfish ambitions.

Servant Leaders don’t serve the selfish people very well. They serve people who share a common goal. And the greater the goal, the greater the energy. When those people start to serve themselves, in the interest of the team and the goal, it’s up to the servant leader to correct or separate.

Thanks again for the great comment. Mike…

By: Mike Henry

Mike Henry — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 14:04:59 +0000

Great points Christina about linking development to succession planning. Even outside of work goals, that works too. I read a great book on the topic called The Dream Manager by Matthew Kelly that made the point in avery memorable way. When we help people achieve their dreams through their job, the organization benefits from the alignment of all of their creative energy. Great thoughts. Thanks.

By: Mike Henry

Mike Henry — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 14:01:55 +0000

Claudio, thanks for the comment. I’d rather do just about anything in a servant organization than just about anything in one that’s not. Practictioner models drain. And now that I’m aware of the two models, practictioner models drain me faster and more completely than ever before. It’s work to generate energy to serve a boss. It’s easy to generate energy to serve a noble vision.

Thanks again. Mike…

By: Bill B. Flint Jr.

Bill B. Flint Jr. — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 13:41:02 +0000

Mike, great thoughts. After a 38 year career in business, including serving as President of two manufacturing companies I recently wrote a book called, The Journey To Competitive Advantage Through Servant Leadership. The main theme of the book is that servant leadership offers the best chance for a business to thrive. It is a philosophy that believes people are truly the most important asset in a business. They are not just words on a web site. Leaders who have moved away from the power model of leadership and believe their role is to help their people discover and reach their potential.
That people come to work every day with their unique personalities, dreams, goals, skills, and hunger for achieving something bigger than themselves. What they need is the right style of leadership, communication, training, and guidance to help them discover and reach their potential.
Servant leaders believe people don’t come to work to fail, produce bad products and services, or have a bad day. It is a leader’s responsibility to lead them by teaching, encouraging and motivating them to reach that potential.
Servant leaders paint picture, so to speak, to help their people understand what needs to be accomplished and why. Then brings them together to accomplish the company goals and objectives; It’s about concentrating on the people who do the blocking and tackling each and every day.
Servant leaders bring a vision that believes that the best strategy to achieve organizational goals and create a competitive advantage is by developing and environment of caring, mutual trust, and respect between the leaders and the people by focusing their efforts and energy on developing the full potential of all associates and the business therefore creating a winning partnership.
In the end servant leaders have discovered that it is their responsibility to make difference in the lives of the people they have been called to lead.
Here is a link to YouTube to a speech I gave on servant leadership at Leaderfest in Wisconsin in April if anyone is interested. Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aW5lp_K4INY

By: Christina Lattimer

Christina Lattimer — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 22:51:08 +0000

Hi Mike
Thought provoking article., thank you. As you say, It’s unfortunate but sometimes true, leaders (and all of us at times..I think can demonstrate a disconnect between their self image and how others see them. As to measuring an employees views about their own growth; I used a system in the UK whereby succession planning was linked directly to performance review. Employees were able to describe their promotion/development ambitions and the manager had to confirm (or otherwise) the employee had both potential and opportunity to realise them. Although not widely used as could be considered subjective and raising false expectations, I felt the benefits far outweighed those risks, and it certainly demonstrated where managers either wouldn’t or couldn’t support their employees to grow.

By: Claudio Morelli

Claudio Morelli — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 17:22:47 +0000

Mike, I love your description of a Servant Organization and its role in developing and creating leaders that fuels its growth. Although organizations value and support the practitioner leader leadership growth in others is not as intentional as the more successful and thriving organizations, the Servant Organizations, as you put it. These organizations allow room for leaders to develop throughout the organization and is not limited to a few. It starts with being a servant leader yourself and then allowing others to serve and lead no matter what position they hold in the organization. I agree with you and Jon, I would much rather lead in a Servant Organization.

Thanks! Claudio

By: Mike Henry

Mike Henry — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 12:22:35 +0000

Jon, thanks for the comment. I agree about the disconnect that can happen when a leader fails to assess things accurately. Books like The Dream Manager by Matthew Kelly and Greater Than Yourself by Steve Farber can help. Like many other things, simply thinking we have the answer is seldom the answer. We need to be continuously checking our opinions against objective inputs to make sure our people are growing and reaching their own life goals.

One way to test this is to simply ask the 12 questions from First Break All The Rules and compare the answers over time. Work to grow the scores.

Does anyone else have any other ideas how to guage employee opinions about their prospects for growth?

By: Jon Mertz

Jon Mertz — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 11:29:06 +0000

Insightful conversation, Mike.

The challenge can be when leaders think they are servant leaders, but act as practitioners. In their mind, they are enabling others, but their actions fall into the other category. As you state, time is the ultimate test. However, there needs to be time tests that occur earlier rather than later in order to ensure leaders are on the right path. It is a reality test to shake their mindset and wake-up to which path they are really on. After all, it is a matter of organizational survival, which ultimately impacts people.

Being in a servant leader organization is much more rewarding for all involved.

Thanks!

Jon