I hate Servant Leadership. Have you heard of it? It’s such nonsense.
Here’s my message to anyone who calls himself a servant leader.
- You want to demonstrate empathy, bring out the best in people, and facilitate personal growth? Go home and spend some time with your kids.
I don’t need that kind of emotional baggage at work, yo.
Do you work for a servant leader? Tell me about those shenanigans.
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Laurie, I have to wholeheartedly disagree with you on this! You probably just have not experienced servant leadership done right. Maybe you just had too many a-holes as bosses, so anything outside of that feel weird.
As a CEOs, COOs, etc. of companies it is our duty to take care of our people first, so they can take care of our customers. Two of the most successful and fastest growing startups I have been part of got to where they got to, because we practiced servant leadership.
Also, many of the family run businesses work on that same principle and they seem to survive much better during bad times.
Amen, sister. Servant Leadership is a load of bollocks. It results in making monsters and money pits out of whiny employees. And I’ve never seen a Servant Leader who could make an efficient decision because they’re SO invested in what everyone else thinks. I don’t want my CEO to be any employee’s BFF, but I’ve known a few who seem to hold that as a goal.
Employees need to grow up to get to work. And leaders need to man-up and lead. I hate all this touchy feely crap. If we hire the right people and set clear (ohmigod) expectations with (ohmigod ohmigod) accountability all the way around, then nothing has to be so bloody difficult and we can all just do our jobs.
Any new descriptor for leadership is really only a word. Servant Leadership sounds like an opportunity to create an environment of martyrs.
Taking it back to common sense, if you hire right, hold people accountable and are human about it all, you’ll make a good manager. If you can orchestrate a bunch of different people to build a successful product, project or company without creating an environment of fear, you’re a leader. How you do it is up to you.
To be an authentic leader of any kind, you have to produce results and the people who work for you have to respect you.
I love you Laurie, you know I do but I also disagree.
Clearly there is an issue with defining servant leadership. For some strange reason we immediately associate the word “servant” with weakness. Nothing is further from the truth. Those that call themselves servant leaders yet are indecisive, create martyrs, breastfeed infantile employees, seek consensus for everything etc. are NOT servant leaders and do a diservice to the concept of servant leadership.
Servant leaders are decisive, prepare and empower the teams they lead, reward high performers and move up or move out low performers and generally are the most effective leaders I have seen. I have worked for them, I have worked with them and as a leader I believe I was one of them.
For the best read I have seen on this topic try out The Servant: A Simple Story About Leadership by James C. Hunter.
Now I have to go and write a post on this. Damn you Laurie!
nelking is the most on the mark here so far. Servant Leadership is another form of leadership. The opposite is the leader that is a dictator. Either end of the spectrum is not ideal. I do believe you can lead without just telling someone to do something because you are the boss. Expectations, accountability and communication are all a part of good leadership and management. A servant leader just takes a little different approach…a less forceful one. Not so much of a because i said so person, more like Yoda.
Laurie, I have to go with Homula on this one (Mike it’s D’Amico here). This is essentially another way of looking at Horse Gun Man leadership excercised in the military http://bit.ly/twcok
Or if you prefer, simply golden rule: treat others as you would like to be treated yourself.
I am not fond of the word “servant”, I think simply as a leader you are either a good person or a douche bag. The real problem isn’t leadership, it’s that people tolerate douche bag leaders.
@Apollo It’s okay that we disagree, but if I wanted someone to take care of my every need, I would go live with my Mom. She’d do it. She takes great care of me — and she does laundry and cooks, too. She hasn’t figured out how to monetize motherhood, though.
@H Aria Thank you. Grow up & get to work. Can we all act like realistic adults, please? You can be nice without being a servant, IMHO. Also, I don’t want a leadership model based on Jesus Christ CEO. Jesus didn’t make money and monetize his brand. You know who monetized it? The Catholics. They are ruthless sons-of-bitches, and I would hardly call The Pope a ‘servant leader.’
@Nelking Now I can get behind something called Authentic Leadership. That might be a good book title, actually. Get to writing it (with basic common sense at its core) and I’ll publicize the hell out of it.
@Michael First of all, we can totally disagree and still be in love. Second of all, it’s awesome that you are inspired to write about this. Finally, someone offered to send me that book. I rarely turn down a free book, but I turned it down. I seriously don’t buy into the notion that a ‘servant leader’ is a viable concept. The whole thing makes me irritated, actually, because it takes common sense and the golden rule — good things — and makes it ultra-weak and ineffective. If my CEO is worried about my personal well-being beyond the bounds of ‘good manners’ and basic human decency, he is a fool and not focused on what matters: running the company.
@G3 Dictators make a buck, though.
@Puf If you have to pick a team in the future, pick Homula. He is a winner. I believe that leaders should be decent human beings with a sense of morals, but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE can we stop talking about helping employees’ achieve their personal goals? There is nothing you can do to help me achieve my personal goals. They’re personal, yo. Not work-related. Companies need to learn to STEP OFF.
Also, as a side note — why do we berate the nanny-state government that some ‘liberal socialist democrats’ want to create but we support businesses that get all up in our business? It’s not okay for the government to regulate our lives but it’s okay for a business to test us for drugs, tell us who we can marry and have on our benefit plans, and tell us to lose weight?
That makes no sense to me.
It’s not okay for the government to be in our lives but it’s okay for our CEOs to help us become better people?
I don’t subscribe the idea that servant leaders are all up in the biz of their teams. Quite the contrary actually…but they do care. I just don’t believe that executing servant leadership, not the watered down weak version that seems to be the definition here in this discussion, is weakness or not keeping your eye on the prize of how the business is run. I don’t see how the concept of servant leadership makes the golden rule or common sense weak and/or ineffective. True servant leadership is putting the goals, objectives, training, performance, professional growth etc. of your team above your own. It is unselfishness. It is taking the bullet and removing obstacles so your team can succeed.
Is it a complete fluke that some of the greatest leaders of all time (indeed I could argue THE greatest leader of all time), those that really changed the world, were “servant” leaders? The word servant is not the best word, I agree with Jim on that, but it is being improperly defined here when it comes to what a servant leader really is.
I read that twice and I still am not sure I get it. That might be because I was distracted by pie though.
I like leaders who:
1. Run the company so it makes money, and then give me some of the money so I can pay my mortgage
2. Don’t treat me like crap.
3. Don’t try to make me treat other people like crap.
I don’t know what the name for that sort of leadership is. I’ve always called it Bosses Who Are Not Assholes. The overwhelming majority of my bosses have NOT been assholes, and I’ve left the ones who were, so it works for me.
I would agree that bosses, and companies, are not parents and should not try to be. I cannot wrap my brain around the fact that (some) companies are trying to be more paternalistic instead of less. Here’s a clue: Make some money. Give me some. I’ll use it to join Weight Watchers myself. You don’t need to be involved in this transaction, okay?
Well, except I have to finish this piece of pie. THEN I’ll join Weight Watchers. Honest.
@Laurie. I think you are being a bit extreme in your views or that is just how I may be reading into your words.
Servant leadership is about making sure you are fair to your people, don’t run them like indentured servants, have strong interest in helping them grow, and understand how actions of the company affect their families. It is not about being “mommy or daddy”. If someone is content with who they are and don’t want to grow, it is up to leadership to decide if stagnating value of someone to the company is OK or if the time for a pink-slip is overdue.
Now some might jump on my throat about my statement that leaders should care how actions of the company affect lives of the employees and their families. I am all about ROI. And ROI for mentioned core value is high! You want your people to be loyal to you, not skip at the next higher offer, help you build the organization even when times are bad – than you must make families of people who work for you as fanatical about the company as your are. How do you do that? Affect their lives for better via your employees.
I’ve got a good one for you Laurie. If you think having the CEO’s all up in your business is bad, try having part of your yearly evaluation ratings include how much “community service” you do. And this is a corporate organization (not even a not for profit). Um…….Yeah….uh-huh. That’s right….. I’m not sure you really want to know how I feel about that one.
@HR Chick Don’t make me go over there and kick some butt.
@Apollo Well, uh, I am being extreme — that kind of what I do. I take a position and beat it to death. I’m unreasonable in defense of my position. (That being said, I see merit in being a kindhearted and thoughtful leader. I just don’t like the word servant.)
@kerry Please. Do. Not. Join. Weight. Watchers. Life is short. Eat the pie.
@Michael I think we need to make a list of the greatest leaders of all time. Then we can do some analysis.
I do not want the company overly involved in my personal life. Like Laurie said I don’t want them, “…worried about my personal well-being beyond the bounds of ‘good manners’ and basic human decency…”
On the flip side- why can’t the leader lead and serve? They’re leading an organization that will hopefully contribute positively to society while being profitable, and they’re doing me and others a service by giving us a job- to me that’s the extent of it- but I have limited knowledge and experience on these matters.
My COO thinks I’m a servant.
Oh, you said servant LEADERSHIP…I work in HR, I don’t listen well…
M
My thinking: Leaders jobs are to get results. And not just results today, but in the long-term. So the question is just how you can best do that. It turns out that getting results in the long-term means that you have to be nice to people who work for you and treat them well, or you’ll compromise your ability to get long-term results because good people won’t work for you, etc. But you’re there to get results, not to serve people.
@Alison Ah, the voice of reason.
@Mark You just made me snort!
@Karen I would like these leaders to serve — on their own time.
Hi Laurie,
It seems that you have already made up your mind, so this post is for your readers. I have just completed a scientific literature review on the concept of leadership and how it compares/contrasts to Servant Leadership. I agree, there is a problem with the term “servant leadership” but not the premise. Perhaps calling it “service leadership” would be more applicable.
Leadership is fundamentally about influence, whether that be through coercion, reward or in the case of SL, persuasion. The leader’s challenge is getting the group to see your particular vision for the organization, and then getting that group to not only buy-in to it, but also to follow through on that vision. The biggest advantage to SL is the idea of reduced power differentials between supervisors and followers, because people perceive they are valued. Being a SL simply recognizes the power of relationships, but does not give license to check out when it comes time to make decisions or having to giving directives. If your people respect you, when you do give an “order” or an expectation, your people will follow because they genuinely believe in you as a leader, trust you, and you have a shared vision for the well-being of the organization.
That’s it in a nutshell. I would be happy to send you some pdf’s of some empirical studies that have been done recently.
(P.S. Alison Green – love your blog!)
I agree with you Laurie! Stop the emotional baggage! Leadership is getting a bunch of diverse people (your employees) to get something accomplished without fear and intimidation. They (the leader) need to know who is working for them but the touchy feely crap is to much. I want someone who takes the bull by the horns and leads because they can sell the vision, not by making me afraid that I am going to get canned.
I have worked for a few that I would go to hell and back with and some I think just live in hell! A lot comes down to where you work, what you are trying to accomplish and the company culture.
I
@ATC I’m laughing because the touchy feely stuff makes everyone uncomfortable — even leaders.
@Bella That’s pretty interesting and I appreciate the comment. I’m not sure if it’s that simple or easy — or rather, that it’s scientific in its premise. The notion of SL is rooted in faith and stewardship, which is fine in some contexts. I submit that the businessworld isn’t one of those contexts.
@Alison You are beloved! See Bella’s comment above. xxxooo
@Laurie, one of the reasons I like the term “servant leadership” is because of ego-cutting “properties” it has.
Now I respect your opinion, heck, I still come here and read your blog posts, when I could go somewhere else). But let me share with you why I feel so strongly about servant leadership philosophy. Through my early and late teens I have seen my late father practice servant leadership not only while he was leading 2000+-person organization, but also later smaller and mid-size companies he was turning around.
1. He was the busiest man I have ever known, but he ALWAYS found time for every employee. His secretaries were magicians with his schedule. And yet he had time for his family and was the best dad ever! He never missed a PTA meeting, recital, or any other event we had. He always used to say, that “no time” excuse is the biggest BS – if you give a damn, you will find time.
2. He always knew what was going on with all of his people. He knew if someone was not happy or was getting restless, he knew who the trouble makers were, and who the lazy leaches/politickers were. He gave everyone second chances and transformed the entire organization in such a way that he never had a problem finding talent to join his companies. The few bad apples were usually quickly pushed out.
3. He paid attention to everyone from janitor to his VPs. He went beyond the pleasantries in his conversations, he knew who had those “hidden” talents and jumped on the opportunity to “un-hide” them. Everyone was important to him and the organization spent considerable funds on training, cross-training, and promoting from within.
He used to say to people, that you get judged at your funeral… so when he died, at the wake for two days straight I had people telling me amazing things my father has done for them. That is when I realized how you build loyal army of people to follow you where you lead!
Some may feel that being that servant leader to your organization is “weak”, nanny-like, and whatever. I feel that the attitude is a result of being disenfranchised by so many poorly lead companies. Well… change starts with you.
I know I choose not to invest my time with a-holes. Life IS too short.
So that is where I learned what I know. Your mileage may vary.
Laurie,
I usually think you’re spot on with your words of irreverent wisdom, however, this one made me roll my eyes a little bit. I’m not sure how “servant leadership” is connected with “working for mom”. Personally, I think your frustration is more with business and corporate buzzwords that have little or no meaning behind them.
I just read this Wikipedia thing (sorry for the back-to-back comments).
“Servant Leadership instead emphasizes collaboration, trust, empathy, and the ethical use of power” – yeah, you’re right that really sucks to ethically use power, trust, empathize and collaborate with others.
@Jeff LOL, the Wikipedia entry was probably written by one of those servant leaders who wanted to make everyone feel good about leadership.
PS — I can take the criticism, but I still think Servant Leadership, as a concept, is lame. It’s really rooted in an evangelical Christian movement, which is fine if you like empathetic and trusting evangelical Christians to run your business. I was thinking about it, last night, and some of those guys are really rich. So maybe I’m wrong about this one. Maybe Jesus wants you to be rich.
@Apollo Wow, it sounds like your dad was a pretty awesome guy and a great leader. I’m really sorry for your loss. We could all learn a few things from him.
I think the concept has to be executed correctly. I do believe that companies can be lead with purpose and still be lucrative. People naturally need to feel like they are part of something. That is why there are so many people feeling lost and empty in what should seem like a thriving career. When your staff are committed they are still there to ‘serve’ when the shit hits the fan.
As a leader you motivation can be to serve but you still have to have the skills to make things happen.
Hi Laurie,
I appreciate your candor, that’s why I read your blog!
Yes, sadly, the biggest downfall of SL is that its roots are evangical. In my report, I definitely tried to distance the philosophy from these roots. However, I must advocate for SL because I believe that elements of SL within a business model is relevant.
If I may offer my humble opinion, as one who has been a boss in a for-profit business at one time, and as one who has had the unique perspective of critically evaluating SL, I think that there are parts of SL that is right on the money with respect to things like enhanced communication and stewardship. At the end of the day though, an excellent leader will utilize many different kinds of leadership styles, including SL to tailor leadership to the needs of the organization as required. It is just a tool to be learned and used along with other styles. In a situation where your staff are highly qualified and functional, this style is more suitable for initiating creativity, bolster morale and increase autonomy. In a situation where more direction is needed and expertise is low, the group may benefit from a more traditional transactional style.
Either way, it still needs more research for validity for sure.
Thanks for hosting this discussion! It was helpful to see what people know about it, and what people are thinking/feeling about it. Cheers!
“Maybe Jesus wants you to be rich.”
Oh honey. You haven’t been paying attention to some of these guys. (I’m talking to you, Joel Osteen, who didn’t even go to seminary.) Jesus not only wants you to be rich, he also wants you to be thin and good looking. And if you’re not, it’s because you just haven’t believed enough. i.e., it’s all your own fault.
Forget all that comfort the sick, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the prisoners, blah blah blah, that Jesus said. That’s so first century.
I’ve been working on several different things and haven’t had time to respond to this one. I am not a huge believer in the whole servant leadership philosophy. But I know a company whose owner becanme a billionaire by folowing the basic precepts, so there is something to some of it.
Two quotes from that dude, anonymized to protect the innocent and others:
“___ will be a better place today, or not, because of what you choose to do.”; and
“If we can make our customers happy, and keep all our employees working, and make a little money along the way, we have done alright.”
@Michael I’m glad you chimed in… because you’re right that servant leaders can succeed. I don’t want to be part of it, though.
@Class I know a little about those crazy dudes who think being American and rich is an entitlement from Jesus. So stupid.
@Bella You are awesome. Thanks!
@Jackie Good points, yes, but how about running your company so that — when the shit hits the fan — it’s not such a big shitstorm? No drama at work. That’s my philosophy.
Just passing through – thought I’d put in my cents.
My experience with ‘Servant Leaders’ is it is used as a cloak for their true leadership style. I have no problem with a hard@ss management style. It is up-front and I can work with it. I found most leaders that say they use this management style are more interested in deflecting the next shitstorm. The closest I get to Servant is coaching people to not screw up the same way twice; please find a new and untried way to muck up the process. And yes, I have complimented a couple of direct reports on their novel screwups.
@H Aria – right on, I just survived 2 years working for a believer in service management. Maybe they did not practice it correctly but in mainly consisted in my work load doubling, they was either incompetent or unable to make a decision on her own. In the interest of buy in decisions that should have taken minutes sometimes took days while we waited for consensus. On top of that I should probably add that particular manager lied continuously to executive management in an effort to show how well we all worked together.
@Irish Don’t just pass by — stay awhile. This comment is priceless.
@JohnC LOL, there’s nothing like fake teambuilding and team cohesion. Love it.
I just left a very large corporation that thrived on Servant Leadership. I would consider myself very immersed in this program, like it or not. It appreciate it simply because it’s BASIC. I agree, ‘servant’ is the wrong word. How basic – be present with your employees for G#%d’s! sake, pay attention and respond. How hard is that? In my mind, servant leadership is about being present, responsive, authentic, and giving direction – guess what? You are leading! You can still have high expectations and expect high performance from your team, with a nice balance of authenticity.
Servant leadership is an outdated term, young bloggers. Robt Greenleaf started the servant leadership movement in 1970. It may have worked then, but 40 years later to still be talking about it as if it were a relevant organizational topic is naive. Today we need to put the entire concept of leadership behind us — it’s a concept rooted in Newtonian thinking: linear, hierarchical, and industrial. Today we need to be thinking ecologically, in network terms, about how we are ALL going to take responsibility for what happens at work, instead of sitting back passively and waiting for “direction” from the “leader” who needs to get out in front of us since we are too lame to see where we are going for ourselves. Every single talent and gift gets a company, group, organization where it needs to go and we all serve each other. Let’s get a life. Democratize the friggin workplace. Unless you LIKE being a victim of power in the hands of “others.”
I’m late but here goes … I’m with H Aria’s first comment: “Grow up, set expectations, be accountable, measure, reward, repeat” (I added a few)
I think I “get” servant leadership but it’s just another (nice) spin on leadership we probably don’t need!
@Kellies You’re right. It’s so basic. I still call bullocks on it as a methodology, but some of the principles are so right.
@Vsandiego It’s an old term that’s hot in b-schools, right now. For some reason, these MBA programs think they can ‘teach’ ethics and use servant leadership as an example of how ethical leaders set an example. Barf. You’re right. Grow. The. Fuck. Up.
@Bill Exactly!
Here’s what I’m talkin about — This is a definition of the organizational dynamics of a group of companies in the Basque region of Spain, okay? It puts to rest the paternalistic idea of “servant leadership” and traditional ideas of leadership in general:
Mondragon Cooperatives Corporation: a large, worker-ownership movement based in the town of Mondragon, in the Basque region of northwest Spain. The Mondragon cooperative movement started in 1956, and was founded on the teachings of Jose Maria Arizmendietta. It consists of worker-owned businesses, supported by a savings bank that raises money for the cooperative enterprises. Mondragon is not part of the traditional cooperative movement, and is instead based on ten principles: equality of opportunity; the democratic election of managers; sovereignty of labor; a requirement for capital to be used by labor rather than labor used by capital; participative management; low pay differentials; cooperation with other cooperative movements; social change; solidarity with those working for peace, justice, and development; and education.
Notice, democratic election of managers (not servant leaders), low pay differentials, social change, a requirement for capital to be used by labor rather than labor used by capital.
Personally, I think it’s cool. Could we please start a movement?
Emily Litella: What’s all this I keep hearing about serpent leadership?
You sir or madam, are a douche bag.
You obviously know nothing of servant leadership and you obviously have never had to lead anything significant in you life.