Leaders Should Be Servants

I had the privilege today to be part of a small, select group of individuals that participated in a workshop presented by a world-class speaker/trainer/named Ed (The Rainmaker) Robinson. In this workshop, he outlined the steps necessary to create a successful speaking business.  His presentation confirmed my belief that in order to be truly successful we must first seek to help and be a benefit to others. No more than 5 min. into the workshop Mr. Robinson had us perform an exercise that identified obstacles to our business growth. He then spent the remainder of his presentation ensuring that each and every one of our obstacles was addressed.

In my opinion, this makes The Rainmaker a true servant leader. A servant leader is one who accomplishes their goals or purpose by helping the members of his team to reach their full potential and therefore perform at their best. It doesn't matter who is on the team or where the game is played because in some way shape or form we’re all leaders. Our team can be located on the job, in the home, in our social organizations, in our places of worship, or anywhere we are asked to solve a problem or give an opinion. Robert K. Greenleaf developed the concept of servant leadership in his book titled “Servant Leadership”.

A servant leader is not a “me first” leader. He doesn't accomplish his purpose first and then see how he can help the other members of this team. A true servant leader will first determine the needs of his team and use his intellectual nature to figure out a way to assist them prior to accomplishing his purpose. Now I'm not saying that we will solve others problems or even our own on the 1st try.  Many problems are difficult and may have us pulling our hair out. My advice is not to quit but to hang in there because it’s part of our maturing process.

You see, my friend, problems are the stepping-stones on the road to success. And if you have read or seen my earlier posts, I never said success was easy. However, if we are passionate about what we’re doing then each problem we encounter will lead to an opportunity. These opportunities will then lead to breakthroughs. These breakthroughs will be a blessing in our lives and the lives of others. We can stay connected to our passion and our purpose by constantly revisiting our spiritual nature (Mentor) and allowing it to provide direction to our intellectual nature (Coach) during turbulent times.

Servant Leaders are made and not born. We need more of them in our businesses, organizations and homes. We can build/rebuild strong organizations, institutions, societies and countries by putting the needs of others before our own.  Just take a look at what a man named Jesus accomplished using this model of leadership.

I hope that you enjoyed this post and until next time here’s hoping that you live today and every day passionately and with purpose. Thank you and God Bless!

Servant Leadership

About one week ago I was talking with my friend Jesse (who is a West Point graduate and now semi-retired after a very successful business career). We spoke about the lack of effective leadership in this country, more specifically about the lack of true servant leaders. A servant leader is one who helps the members of his/her team to reach their full potential and therefore perform at their best for the organization. This concept of servant leadership was developed by Robert K. Greenleaf in his book titled “Servant Leadership”.

A servant leader is not a “me first” leader. Let me see if I can illustrate this point. As a Naval Aviator in the United States Marine Corps I always made sure that the people who reported directly to me ate before I did. My rationale was that these were the people that worked on the aircraft that I flew and as much as possible I wanted them to have the best of everything including the best cuts and pieces of meat. Many times my men wanted me to go to the head of the line but I always refused and followed them through the line and then I ate what was left.

My payback was the fact that many times when I was scheduled for a flight I would notice that “my guys” would spend extra time pre-flighting the aircraft and making sure that every system was operating to the best of its ability. This not only helped keep me safe but also affected the operational readiness of my squadron, which increased the operational readiness of the entire Marine Corps.

You see I learned early in my military career that if I worked hard for my men then my men would work hard for me. Additionally when we were deployed I would spend time with my men to determine how their family members were doing back home. When necessary I would point them towards proper resources in order to resolve concerns and issues.

My point is that we need more servant leaders in our businesses, organizations and homes. A servant leader is made and not born. I do not believe that this theory of leadership is taught enough in our organizations and schools. I do however believe that the reason it is not taught more often is that not enough people know about it or have experienced its benefits. We can build strong organizations and countries by putting the needs of others before your own. Just take a look at what a man named Jesus Christ accomplished using this model of leadership.