A topic I should just leave alone

But here I am, writing about it!

I recently read this interview with Ken Blanchard discussing his new book, Lead Like Jesus. I have found Blanchard's books on Servant-Leadership to be quite good. I personally find great value in the work he does. At the same time, every so often I read something that Blanchard writes or says that bothers me a little bit. Here is the quote from his recent interview:

"If we talk about servant-leadership without a relationship with Jesus to be your guide, then it is just another personal growth, another leadership concept, but this one is really tied in to a walk with Him as your guide."

Where is the problem, you ask? As a self-proclaimed strong Catholic believer I don't think that you can talk about servant-leadership without holding Jesus up as the example of servant-leadership in action. But the question I have is this:

Can a devout Muslim who has read Greenleaf's materials, listens to a Sufi master, and does not have a personal relationship with Jesus be an effective servant-leader? Or is this muslim's practicing of servant-leadership merely another personal growth/leadership concept? In other words, is servant-leadership inherently tied to a relationship with Jesus, as Blanchard indicates?

I get the impression that Blanchard believes S-L is inherently tied to a relationship with Jesus. If he is talking only about Christian leaders, I could certainly understand. But isn't servant-leadership, as Greenleaf wrote about it, much larger than this?

Cultivating your awareness

In his essay The Search, found in On Becoming a Servant-Leader, Greenleaf recalls a true story about having to pull the emergency cord on a New York subway train in order to save a man's life. The man's arm was caught in the door and he was unable to get loose before the train took off. As the man was being pulled towards his death down the platform the crowd was shouting, "Pull the emergency cord!" The cord hung overhead but none of the 75 or so people closer to the cord than Greenleaf pulled it. Greenleaf realized it was up to him and ran for the cord on the opposite end of the train, reaching it just in time.

Always the seeker, Greenleaf wondered why all those closer to the cord than he did not pull the cord. So he conducted an experiment. He begun describing the story to other New Yorkers who regularly ride the train. They all said they would have pulled the cord; but when he asked where it was on the train they rode every day, no one could tell him with certainty. He began to wonder: What do people think about as they ride along? They aren't always reading or sleeping. Where is their awareness? He goes on to say:

"The trap that sometimes brings failure to otherwise successful people is to substitute routine for awareness. Awareness is a constant reaching out and responding to everything in the environment: the people, the sunset, the sounds of the street, the smell of flowers, the clackity-clack of the subway wheels. It is not tiring or boring. In fact, it is quite the opposite: it is the essence of life. Be able to withdraw into the silence, but do not turn off the current to the antenna so that you miss the signal that will bring you back in a flash.....The effort is always to be aware, always to know that something important is going on all of the time."

Being leaven in the world

Here is one of my favorite Robert Greenleaf quotes, found in his essay Spirituality as Leadership in the book Seeker and Servant: Reflections on Religious Leadership. You can also find this quote in the Introduction of On Becoming A Servant-Leader:

I believe that caring for persons, the more able and the less able serving each other, is what makes a good society. Most caring was once person to person. Now much of it is mediated through institutions - often large, powerful, impersonal; not always competent; sometimes corrupt. If a better society is to be built, one more just and more caring and providing opportunity for people to grow, the most effective and economical way, while supportive of the social order, is to raise the performance as servant of as many institutions as possible by new voluntary regenerative forces initiated within them by committed individuals, servants. Such servants may never predominate or even be numerous; but their influence may form a leaven that makes possible a reasonably civilized society.

Are we strength-finders?

One of the most important roles of an effective servant-leader is to surround ourselves with those who have talents that we do not possess. Of course, this sounds easy enough. But the reality is many of us do not do this well. Why, you ask?

Well, because before we begin the process we are required to do two things that most of us have a difficult time doing: 1) Humble ourselves; and 2) Let go of ego.

These two intertwined components require us to admit that we cannot do everything well - that there are others who can do some things better than we can. Many of us would rather attempt to fix a problem on our own than admit that there is someone else who might be able to handle the situation better. It is a tempting scenario that pulls us in with visions (dare I say delusions) of praise coming from all corners for having fixed the problem ourselves.

Once we are able to put our ego aside and attend to issues with humility, problems are much easier to deal with. Instead of immediately thinking of how we will fix the problem, the first thought will be 'Who has the ability to handle this situation most effectively?' And at this point we will move from problem-solvers to strength-finders; we will seek out those whose talents will best serve the institution in dealing with current and future roadblocks. And we will be well on our way to becoming an effective servant-leader.

'Leader as Servant' breakfast

For those of you in the Twin Cities area:

Ken Melrose, executive chairman of the board of Toro Co., will be giving a breakfast talk at St. Olaf Catholic Church in downtown Minneapolis on Thursday, March 16th from 7 - 9 AM. He is the author of Making the Grass Greener on Your Side: A CEO's Journey to Leading by Serving.

Mr. Melrose has done an amazing job of integrating servant-leadership into the work and mission of Toro. If you are in that area, I encourage you to check it out.

Will this become more common?

I recently came across this job opening at Trinity Home Health Services in Novi, MI. They are looking for a Director of Mission Services who will oversee all Mission and Servant-Leadership activities, promoting these throughout the company. See their mission, values, vision statement here.

It is encouraging to see institutions become deliberate in their search for people to serve as a consultant and catalyst for integrating servant-leadership into the organization. Let's hope the trend continues!

Where would you rather work?

One of my favorite Robert Greenleaf quotes (and there are many) can be found in his book On Becoming a Servant-Leader. The book, edited by Larry Spears and Don Frick, tracks the evolution of Greenleaf's thinking on the key issues in his writing: power, ethics, institutions, and many others.

The quote that intrigued me was this:
"Bad organization theory is bad because in practice it pulls people down. But if I had to choose between a bad organization theory with a great leader and a good organization theory with a poor leader, give me the _____ any day."

My guess is that most of you could figure out Greenleaf's choice. My question is: Which would you make?

Would you rather work for a great leader in a bad environment, or would you rather work in a great environment and put up with a bad leader? If you knew you had to be in the situation for the next 10-15 years (some of you may be in one of these situations already), and you could choose only one, which would you choose? Why?

In which of these situations could you have the most influence? Which of these situations would best allow you to find meaning and purpose in your life and your work?

What else matters?

Robert Greenleaf gave a series of lectures at Dartmouth Alumni College back in 1969. In his fifth lecture, titled The Individual as Leader, he ends with this:

Virtue and justice and order are good, but not good enough - not nearly good enough. In the end, nothing really counts but love and friendship.

Couldn't have said it any better myself! Happy St. Valentine's Day everyone!

Creating a double standard

Besides not pushing agendas on this blog, I also try and make sure we stay away from politics. I figure that there are a lot of very savvy political bloggers out there, many of whom are great friends of mine, and if you want to talk politics that you can easily find them. Yet the riots taking place across the globe with regards to the Muhammad cartoons have brought up some up some interesting conversations of late:

Late last week CNN decided not to air pictures of these cartoons, but did show some pictures of Jewish cartoons from the Muslim world. Bill Bennet shot back at CNN with this response. Even CNN's Lou Dobbs denounced his own network. Whether or not you think that this is a double standard is far beyond the scope of this blog. However, the whole debate got me thinking about double standards within our institutions:

How often do we find institutions creating double standards within their organizations? Are performance and accountability standards (such as being late for work) different for employees than management? Do executives ask for input from some divisions more than others? Do we listen to one gender more than another?

These are but a few questions....there are many more. What are some examples of double standards that you have come across? Is it merely a trust issue, or are there deeper issues involved?

Making your organization a "Best Place to Work"

As most of you know, this blog is about ideas and not agendas. But every once in awhile a program and/or conference comes along that I think that many might find useful. Here is one that I might try and get onto my calendar:

The Scanlon Leadership Network of East Lansing, MI is sponsoring a conference May 1-3 in Kalamazoo. The purpose of the conference is to help make your organization a "best place to work". The keynote speakers will be Larry Spears, CEO of the Greenleaf Center, and Jack Lowe, Chairman of TD Industries. You can find the press release for the conference here.

It looks like a great program they have put together. Please send me an e-mail if you plan on attending. If I am able to get away (it's near the end of the semester and a tough time to be away from campus), I would enjoy the opportunity to meet up with subscribers and readers!

The Practice of Accountability

I have been struggling lately with how to practice accountability in a world that seems to operate more in a non-servant leadership mode then in servant leadership mode. It might be that my problem is I tend to focus more on account-ability related to the definition of account being “to bring about the capture, death, or destruction of something.” Thinking that way and then having to act accordingly makes it difficult to act if action means the end of those I act on, and is definitely not what servant leadership is all about.

Ann McGee-Cooper came up with a much more user friendly version of accountability in her essay “Accountability as Covenant: The Taproot of Servant-Leadership”, from the book INSIGHTS ON LEADERSHIP. (Here is a link to the Greenleaf Center for Servant-Leadership's review of the book.)
She writes that accountability happens when “we lay out the role of each of us…how each can best support the other in achieving this shared vision. Both will be leaders and followers, both will answer to the other on promises made. Failures will be explored as opportunities to learn and grow. Each will expect to unlearn and change.” This is a great model for accountability when both parties are playing by the rules of servant leadership, but it does not seem to work so well when both parties are not playing by the rules.

As one striving to practice servant leadership, how should I practice accountability in the world? Firstly it seems I need to hold my self accountable for my own actions. The OUR VISION section of the Ann McGee-Cooper Associates (AMCA) web page addresses this under the AUTHENTICTY/INTEGRITY Values section where it is written, “To live at our best, we each take responsibility for clarifying a personal vision/mission/values statement. We are committed, self-reflective futurists accountable to live what we teach.” This reminds me that I need to hold true to the values I believe in. If I do not act according to those values, I am not being accountable to anyone.

How do I work with others to help them to become more accountable? In her essay, Dr. McGee-Cooper points out that “accountability encourages each person to begin with unconditional love and acceptance of self and others.” If I cannot accept that others have a right to hold values and actions that are different from my own, then in the end I will practice the accountability of destruction. I need to accept others as they are, be willing to find the common ground, and have the patience to work with them despite the differences.

It seems that the key to becoming effective in the practice of accountability lies in the ability to hold true to my own beliefs and to accept others beliefs as equally valid, and through the interactions that occur with others to be willing to remold and further develop my beliefs and actions as a continuous process. McGee-Cooper addresses this well in her essays closing analogy of “accountability as the taproot that reaches deep into the soil and rocks, drawing precious nutrients and life-quenching water while anchoring the plant against wind and storm.” And “by closing the loop and choosing to learn from all that happens, whether pleasing or disappointing, we send a taproot deep into the soil of shared experience. With each accounting we learn to grow stronger.” I need to be willing to go through the struggles and interactions to continue the process of growth, which is really what accountability seems to be about.

Additional thoughts on accountability are appreciated.

This is a classic!

Phil over at Make it Great! had this post today that made me laugh out loud, which is pretty hard to do at 4:30 in the morning! It isn't that this is a funny situation, but that someone would have the courage to "out" their boss' leadership abilities in this manner. Click on the picture to enlarge.

The title of Phil's post, Employees tend to quit their bosses, not their companies is dead on. Assuming this is not just a gag but an actual resignation letter, one wonders how things could ever get so far within an organization that it comes to this.

A new hire

Back in August I wrote about the retirement of the director of the servant-leadership program at Columbus State University. The program helps teach college students about servant-leadership and the importance of contributing to the community.

They have recently hired a successor, Stuart Rayfield, who will be stepping into the job of leadership development and training tomorrow's servant-leaders (see here). It looks like a great program and we wish them all the best as they transition leadership.

Links for Thursday, February 9, 2006

Here are some noteworthy news items you might find of interest:

• Bill Kinnon over at Achievable Ends posted this regarding Bono's (of U2 fame) recent remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast. One of the best talks I've read/heard all year. You can find Bono's complete comments here.

• A student in our program sent me this article from some Texas human resources professionals who make some great points in writing about the leadership qualities in the Univ. of Texas' head coach Mack Brown. (They can tie anything in with football in Texas!)

• Nurses are leaving the profession all the time. The reason? Dissatisfaction with a supervisor or management. This article talks about the problem as it relates to the nursing field. A great quote from the article: "...High turnover is a costly way of doing business, yet the autocratic model seems alive and well." Couldn't agree more!

• The 'Call Me Mister' program at Clemson University is adressing the problem of a lack of African-American men teaching in schools. This article features one of the program's recent graduates, Mark Joseph.

• I'll let you decide what to make of this web page. This site speaks about servant-leadership as a biblical principle, and in so doing tries to explain the reason for male leadership in a marriage and in the church. I understand what the author is trying to say....and there are good points made.....just misses the mark (in my opinion) on the gender issue.
  

Beat to the punch on trust

As I was sitting in the dentist's chair yesterday I began formulating some thoughts around the importance of trust within our organizations. In order to build trust, we need to be trustworthy - something many overlook when trying to figure out why employees are negative, don't give 100% in their jobs, etc.

Well, I came home with a numb mouth and sat down at the computer. I began reading through a few blogs and checked out the site Slow Leadership. It is always a great read. Monday's post was on the issue of trust and said many of the things I wanted to say, plus some. Please take the time to check it out!

Aligning our personal and organizational virtues with our mission

Because of my crazy schedule, there have been a few things that I have intended to blog about but have fallen through the cracks....this is one of them....better late than never, right?!?

There was a wonderful article in Fast Company recently about Jim Wier, CEO of lawn equipment maker Simplicity. He was at Wal-Mart headquarters in Bentonville, AK and was there to tell them he no longer wanted their Snapper brand lawn mowers sold in Wal-Mart stores. While the decision cost them an immediate 20% drop in sales, it bolstered his relationship with the independent dealers out there selling the other 80%.

It is a great story about the power of relationships, the importance of understanding mission, and the process of asking the difficult questions.

A little more insight

Several of you sent me an e-mail asking about the servant-leadership training center that Lutheran Church of Hope in West Des Moines, IA is looking to begin. Because the planning is only in the beginning stages, not to mention I am only playing an advisory role in its creation, I am not comfortable expanding my comments just yet. I certainly will share with you their vision, creation, successes and failures when the project is a bit further along. I know there are many of you who are passionate about servant-leadership and this may be a model similar to what you are looking for in your community.

On a related note, a reporter from the Des Moines Register followed the Senior Pastor of Hope around for a couple of weeks and today the article was published (see here). I encourage you to read about their mission and what is probably the fastest growing church in the state of Iowa.

Women, Men, and Servant-Leadership

Is there a stronger attraction to servant-leadership as a concept among women vs. men? Does the term naturally stand out as a preferred leadership style for women? Does it take more explaining and/or pushing for men to buy into the concept?

Thoughts? Why would you answer it that way?

I'm curious to hear your ideas. Why? I was running some statistics this week and realized that 80% of the participants in our MA in Servant-Leadership are women! Yes, only 1 out of 5 that are in our program are men. Does this surprise you? Why or why not?

Ok, enough with the questions. I'd love to hear from you.....I'm still formulating some ideas around the concept and will blog more about 'gender and servant-leadership' soon.

A wonderful experience and a great book

The light posting this week is due to the fact that I have been in extreme "catch-up" mode. I am teaching six classes this semester, one of which is a graduate course in Servant-Leadership that starts this weekend. And a lot of the reason I am behind is because I spent this past weekend at Lutheran Church of Hope in West Des Moines, IA as part of an advisory board that is helping the church form a servant-leadership training center for the Des Moines area.

Two other members of the advisory group are Ken Jennings and John Stahl-Wert. You may recognize the names; they have a book titled The Serving Leader. Part of the Ken Blanchard series, the book is written in the same parable/story format as James Hunter's The Servant. Ken, senior partner at VentureWorks Consulting, and John, president of the Pittsburgh Leadership Foundation, (see bios here) presented a powerful workshop on Saturday for about 500 members of the church in which they explained the principles outlined in their book. The rest of the weekend was spent outlining a vision with the church's leadership board.

It was a great experience and well worth the stack of work that has challenged me this week. I encourage you to check out Ken & John's web site, as well as pick up and read a copy of The Serving Leader. You'll be glad you did.