Looking for some feedback

A busy week is almost over - Saturday will include critiquing our graduating MA in Servant-Leadership students' Colloquium presentations. This is their 30 page synthesis paper that includes a 1 hour presentation. We have 21 graduates this semester, so the presentations will be taking up a good deal of time over the next week.

In the meantime, I am asking for your input. We just completed putting together a 5 minute promotional video of our program that we hope to show to prospective students when we do presentations about the program. Your input is greatly appreciated! I am working on placing the video on our website, but in the meantime I placed it on Google Video. You need the Macromedia Flash Player to watch it (which most have) and like most Google Videos it is best watched in 'original size' rather than 'double size' to avoid distortion. You can find the video here.

Any and all comments (even negative ones!) are welcome. You can either leave comments on the blog, or send me an e-mail.

I thank you in advance for watching and critiquing! Have a great weekend!

A New Blog to Watch

I found out today that Southwest Airlines has recently started a new blog. Southwest has been one of the leaders in implementing a servant-leadership culture within their organization, and proof that it can work in a large corporate environment.

You can find their blog here. As with any new blog, they are still "finding their way" with regards to the blog's purpose and message. But I look forward to watching it unfold!

By the way, Southwest has a lot of great community programs, and one of their finest is the 'Adopt-A-Pilot' program. Their Adopt-A-Pilot Blog can be found here.

Dealing with impediments within an organization

Yesterday, I spoke briefly about the relationship between individuals and the teams to which they belong. I want to move on now to what to do when we are called to enter into a situation and how we go about building the individual & team relationship.

Robert Greenleaf asks us to consider what our attitude is towards impediments we will surely come across when we enter into these situations. Since he says it so well, I will simply quote from his essay titled 'Types of Leaders' in Seeker and Servant:

Therefore, if you enter an organization with the intent of helping the circular process between person and team so that each will build the other in a continuous, mutually reinforcing process; if you enter it with the hope that your intervention will help the relationship to better serve all concerned, then I urge that you consider what your attitude is toward the impediments you will surely find, because those impediments are found wherever there are people. Will you regard these impediments as error that you are called upon to change or correct, or will you regard them as illness in which your relationship is that of healing agent?

If you see the impediment as error that you are called upon to change or correct, then you risk being led to assume "I have it; I will give it to you," either overtly or covertly. If you see the impediment to group effectiveness as illness, you have a chance to enter the relationship as healer, as one who seeks to make whole - to make everybody whole, including yourself, the healer - so that all may see more clearly where they should go and how they should get there.

A Reflection: How do you see the impediments to group cohesiveness within your organization? Do you feel the need to correct the situation? Or do you see yourself as a healer - there to make everyone whole?

Nourishing teamwork

How well do we do building strength among the people and teams of which we are a part? Do we see these two (teams and people/individuals) as interconnected as they really are?

To put it another way: Are the people that make up our teams growing as persons (individuals) in such a way so that they continue building strength as a team? And are the teams using that strength to nourish the growth of the individuals?

Down the Home Stretch

We are in the final two weeks of the semester - the last day of classes is on Friday, May 5th! As such, I find myself bogged down with grading final research papers and the like. Yes, I know - quite fun indeed!

I will attempt to keep writing quality posts on the blog during these two weeks. I just ask your patience if the posts don't seem quite as long as usual.

Stop asking 'How?'

Peter Block's book The Answer to How is Yes is a wonderful read. He begins the book by explaining that we often avoid the question of whether something is worth doing and instead go straight to the question "How do we do it?" Consequently, we overvalue what is practical and doable and postpone the questions of larger purpose and collective well-being. Block's suggestion? He says:

If we could agree that for six months we would not ask How?, something in our lives, our institutions, and our culture might shift for the better. It would force us to engage in conversations about why we do what we do, as individuals and as institutions. It would create the space for longer discussions about purpose, about what is worth doing. It would refocu our attention on deciding what is the right question, rather than what is the right answer.

A Reflection: Are you too consumed with trying to figure out 'How'? When our spouse, friend, colleague comes to us with an idea or vision, do we rush to figure out how it will be done before we answer the larger question of purpose?

Move over Men!

I awoke this morning prepared to write about a couple of articles in the most recent Economist about the new role of women in the workforce. As I was reading through the other blogs I follow (about 70 of them), I found that Tom Peters had beat me to it! I encourage you to read his post here, as he has a couple of great quotes. Here are a few of my favorite lines:

• The increase in female employment in the rich world has been the main driving force of growth in the last couple of decades. These women have contributed more to global GDP growth than have either new technology or the new giants, India and China.
• Women are becoming more important in the global marketplace not just as workers, but also as consumers, entrepreneurs, managers and investors.

And here are a couple of articles that I ran across recently that reinforce the impact women are having in today's world:

• This article from Orange County, CA about a very successful business woman, Melinda Masson, who mentions applying servant-leadership principles not only within her organization but her family as well. A great quote that she shares: "Reflection is an overlooked opportunity to create focus in our fast-paced society" Well said!
• An educator with an amazing story of ending up homeless as a child for 4 1/2 years and who is now doing amazing things in her community around Midland, TX. Make sure to read the comments at the bottom from former students. Inspiring!

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz

Did any of you get a chance to see American Made on CNBC last night? The first episode featured Howard Schultz from Starbucks. As I mentioned yesterday, Starbucks is often mentioned as a company that has tried to implement servant-leadership into their organization.

A couple of thoughts. First, in many ways it was the typical corporate lingo and "spin" that you will often find on CNBC. Second, unless I missed it I didn't hear the words 'Servant-Leadership' at all. That's the disappointing part.

What I did enjoy was listening to the language that Schultz used. While he didn't explicitly talk about servant-leadership, he talked passionately about providing for his employees, creating a community, the responsibilities of the organization, etc. In particular, he shared the story of how his father, a blue-collar worker, never had health insurance. Schultz recalls when his father fell and broke his leg, could not work for weeks, and how that had not only a financial impact on the family, but a very personal impact on Schultz's view on the importance of providing insurance for his workers. So in 1988, while the company was still privately held, Schultz made health insurance and stock options available to all Starbucks employees who work at least 20 hours/week! What I didn't know before last night, and what makes this commitment to providing for his employees even more amazing, was that at the time he made the argument to provide these benefits the company was still losing money!

For those of you who saw the show last night, what were your thoughts?

Media Alert

Tonight on CNBC a new TV program will air titled American Made. The show will focus on U.S. Business Leaders. The first show, tonite at 8:00 Eastern Time/7:00 Central Time, will open with a profile of Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz.

Long considered an advocate of Servant-Leadership, Schultz and Starbucks are one of a handful of companies that are nationally recognized for implementing Servant-Leadership into their organization. I'm looking forward to seeing what he has to say. If you are unable to watch tonight, I'll post a few thoughts on the show tomorrow morning.

What Kind of Seeker are You?

In Greenleaf's essay title 'The Search and The Seeker,' found in the book Seeker and Servant, he writes about the importance of not limiting our vision to the one we now have. How do we do this? By seeking and searching for its own sake rather than seeking only to find. He says:

This suggests two kinds of seekers: those who seek to find and those who seek to seek. The first see the search as a path toward something they want. When they find it, they hope to settle down and enjoy it. The search will be over. The others are interested in the search. They don't want anything but opening vistas for the search. The search gives them joy. They do not expect to over settle down. Instead, they hope to grow.

A Reflection: Are we limiting our potentiality by setting goals and striving to achieve them? Does this narrow who we might become? Is there a better way - a way in which we leave our path open to spontaneity and limitless possibilities - a way in which we consume ourselves only with the search?

Servant-Leadership & Youth

One of the most important things we can be doing is teaching the youth of today how to live as a servant-leader: developing effective decision-making skills, listening, establishing lasting relationships built on trust, etc.

At a small Catholic school in Albert Lea, MN, they are doing just that. This article describes how the 5th grade class is learning the important lessons of servant-leadership.

Step-by-step, servant-leadership continues to make its mark on the world.

The Bug

Had a great trip up to the Twin Cities yesterday - looked at some potential locations for our Master's program in that area, and met with the folks at Magellan Executive Resources for lunch. It was a wonderful trip!

I had plans to do a couple of posts today, but I've come down with a flu bug. It's been at least 4 years since I've had the flu - hoping it is at least 4 after this time!

So, I may not get another post up before Easter. If not, have a wonderful weekend and I'll be back at it on Monday!

The Leisurely Life

As students prepare to head home for Easter Break, and I push to finish up my 'to-do' list before this very special weekend within the Christian tradition, I find myself getting busier and busier. It got to the point yesterday afternoon that I became a little frustrated with everything sitting on my desk - an emotion I rarely feel or display.

So last night I looked for a Greenleaf quote that I knew I had seen before..... Here it is:

• Life should be leisurely, not to allow time for loafing or for slowness of pace, but to allow for organization of the optimum life; whenever one finds he or she cannot do the things that are most important for want of time, something is basically wrong with the structure.

A Reflection: Are you accomplishing the things that are most important in your life? If not, what is wrong with the structure(s) to which you belong? What do you need to do to fix it?

Links for Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Here are a few articles/posts you may enjoy:

• Mentoring: This article from the California Job Journal discusses the process, and importance, of finding a mentor. There is also a nice quote at the bottom from someone who leads via servant-leadership. N.B. Article does not format correctly in Firefox.
• Rewarding Servant-Leaders: This is rather interesting. Texas Medical Institute of Technology is looking for nominations for servant-leaders in the area of quality and safety in their hospital. For this, they deserve some major kudos! But then it says that the winners will receive a scholarship to attend a Safety Officer Development Program. HMMM. Well, safety is important....but how about sending them to the upcoming Greenleaf Conference to further develop their servant-leadership awareness and skills?
• Enough is Enough!: Tom Peters is officially joining the bandwagon of people who are fed up with exorbitant CEO pay when the company is losing money and laying people off.
• Building Community Online: Here is a great discussion about community as it relates to the online world. (H.T.: Bill over at Achievable Ends)
  

Preparing Future Religious Leaders

One of the topics that Robert Greenleaf was very passionate about was the religious training that pastors received while in seminary. In fact, to the surprise of many, Greenleaf was very critical of the sub-par leadership training that seminaries provided.

Whenever I provide a quote from Greenleaf I sometimes feel as if I'm proof-texting (taking a quote out of context to make a polemic point), and so I am trying to carefully select the proper 'words of wisdom' that Greenleaf provides. That said, I thought that as we journey through Holy Week I would provide a glimpse into Greenleaf's concerns with the seminary training. I believe his concerns are still as valid today as they were when he first wrote them.

This quote comes from an essay titled Religious Leadership For These Times, located in one of his lesser read (unfortunately) texts Seeker & Servant:

What is urgently needed in our times (and seminaries are in the best position to originate it) is a new, formative influence for the strong, successful people who are within the reach of churches, who have their hands on levers of power and influence within some institution. A more caring, meliorative society will come not so much from large global movements as from incremental acts of leading and serving by individual people within the structures of our many institutions.

The opportunity for seminaries is to offer a program that will attract and prepare ministerial candidates who are potentially capable of wielding a significant formative influence with the successful and the strong.

One cannot fault present-day pastors for not being effective in this role. In their seminary days, as now, seminaries were not preparing students for this work. Therefore, seminaries were not attracting those who would want the role or who would be effective in it.

More on this topic in the weeks to come.

Leading Despite Your Boss

OK, so you have bought into the idea of servant-leadership. So how do you become an effective servant-leader when your boss casts a rather large negative shadow over the organization? It is a question I hear quite often from students.

Here is an article from HR Magazine that gives some suggestions. While the suggestions listed, along with any other concrete suggestions that could be offered, will not fix the situation that we may find ourselves in, they are worth taking a look at.

Washing the Feet of Those We Serve

As we enter Holy Week in the Christian faith, I thought I would point out this article from last Sunday's Washington Post. Just as Jesus washed the feet of his disciples in John 13.1-17, a group from a Methodist Church in the Washington, D.C. area have picked up the practice of washing the feet of the homeless who come to their shelter.

The practice is becoming more popular all across the country these days. And it makes me wonder: What sense of community would be built within our churches and organizations if we humbled ourselves to wash the feet of those we worship and work with each day?

Leaving something out by letting ego get in the way

Yesterday Tom Peters commented about a recent story he ran across in a newspaper. It was a quote from a local high school principal commenting on higher test scores on a standardized math test. The quote read:

"The significant jump is due to the hard work and dedication of our teachers and administrators - and is not the typical increase one would expect in a year."

I'll ask the same question Tom does: What is wrong with this quote? Do you see it - or rather, do you see what is missing?

The corrected version, as Tom points out, should read like this:

"The significant jump is due to the hard work and dedication of our students, teachers and administrators - and is not the typical increase one would expect in a year."

Many kudos to Tom for noticing this and bringing to the attention of his readers.

Links for Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Here are some recent finds that you may be interested in:

• An article from the Dallas Business Journal that includes an interview with Jack Lowe Jr. of TDIndustries. You may notice, the article is dated August, 1998!
• In a more recent article from the Univ. of Utah, Ken Blanchard recently spoke on-campus about ethics in leadership.
• Steve Sjogren from Outward Buzz has been doing some ipod, audio and video files, talking about Servant-Leadership. You can find all of his servant-leadership archives here. Simply click on the title of each topic in whatever format you would like.

Have a great day!

Following (or not) with our wallets

Read an interesting article today about the new Basic Instinct movie that opened this past weekend. Seems that it didn't quite do as well as expected, and some recent directors from this genre ('erotic thriller' - their words, not mine) are coming up with every excuse in the book; everything from 'we've become a puritanical nation' to blaming the people at the top of our government. I can understand wanting to blame president Bush for many things, but blaming him for people's lack of interest in erotic movies seems a bit of stretch.

Here is a reason that these directors perhaps haven't thought of: Movies like this have never been big at the box office. In the list of the top 25 movies of all-time in both the Unites States and Worldwide, both lists contain only one (1) that is rated 'R'! As you continue through the list, the same trend continues.

I think this is a great example of the importance of listening and understanding those that purchase our products. While certainly not a big fan of these types of cinematic features, if people want to make movies such as Basic Instinct, that is their choice and I'm proud to live in a nation where those choices are allowed. Just don't complain if nobody pays to see it.

The Problem With Economics

Trevor’s recent post discussed the quote “Businesses are economic creatures. They can talk all they want about all this social responsibility stuff, but they are likely to do something about it only if there’s an economic reason for them to do it” from Bill Joy. The post got my attention and here are my thoughts on it for what it is worth.

I found a larger article on the Fast Company’s magazine web site that contained more from what Bill Joy had said, along with some insights from some other folks on what responsibilities business has to the rest of the world. Although Bill Joy comments above may hold a ring of truth, there is much more to business then simply acting economically, at least I hope that there is.

Economics is basically about whether or not a given action results in a monetary profit to the person or organization taking the action. Economist E.F. Schuemacher points out the problem in determining which actions to take solely on an economic basis in his book Small is Beautiful - Economics as if People Mattered. Schuemacher wrote, “out of the large number of aspects which in real life have to be seen and judged together before a decision can be taken, economics supplies only one – whether a thing yields a money profit to those who undertake it or not”. I would hope that more aspects then the simple profitability of a decision are evaluated before action is taken.

I was fortunate a while back to have heard a talk by Cosmologist Brian Swimme in which he gave a brief overview of the history of the universe as we know it. He talked about how the universe came in to being in the “big bang”, how the earth came to be, how life evolved on the planet and how eventually a relatively short while ago human beings came into the picture. Towards the end of the talk, he asked something about if it was really possible that the real meaning for human beings to come into the universe was simply to optimize our ability to shop.

Bill Joy’s comments may stem from the current reality that too often our businesses do get caught up in the idea that the ultimate purpose of our existence is to provide the ultimate opportunity for people to shop and make a profit from that, but unless that reality is challenged it may not change. Later on in the FastCompany article, the quote from Tachi Kiuchi, the managing director of the Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, points out again why simply relying on economics for addressing social and environmental issues cannot work. “Ecological and social costs and benefits never appear on our balance sheets”. Kiuchi goes on to spell out a more holistic approach to running a business, “My philosophy is, we don’t run companies to earn profits. We earn profits to run companies. Our companies need meaning and purpose if they’re to fit into the world, or why should they live at all?”
That is a philosophy that rings true to what servant leadership is all about.

The question that should be guiding us and our businesses is: what is our purpose? The answer will determine whether we focus on that "social responsibility stuff", or that economic stuff.