Servant Leadership

It's been a long while since the last post and as usual, things have been hectic and eventful. For some reason, it always is like this for me.

But anyway.

Rather than updating about my personal life, I came across the concept of servant leadership, and that is what prompted this post (besides the fact that I'm finally able to take a slight breather tonight).

While I wouldn't say that I have worked in many organizations across different verticals, the turnover in my industry is high enough for me to say that I have seen my fair share of leaders with different management styles.

Some are hierarchical, others quite laissez faire; some very business-like and transactional, others personal and emotional. I have also seen politically-driven leaders, domineering leaders, charismatic leaders and so on. Among these, some are open while others believe in the compartmentalization of information.

But I have never once met a servant leader.

According to Wikipedia, these leaders "achieve results for their organizations by giving priority attention to the needs of their colleagues and those they serve. Servant-leaders are often seen as humble stewards of their organization's resources."

I found out about this concept by chance, after sneaking looks at my brother's computer as he watched Joel Manby of Hershend Family Entertainment on Undercover Boss.

Whether or not this is or should be the ideal type of leadership, is ultimately dependent on the culture and objectives of the company. Of course the judgment is subjective. But quite honestly, I was blown away by what I viewed. I couldn't believe there existed work environments that were so driven by the welfare of its people. (Ok maybe it's all staged, like in other reality TV shows.)

Maybe it's the American culture that fosters such leaders, and I'm saying this because Joel's style is really not that much different from Tony Hsieh of Zappos (whose Delivering Happiness book I read). Maybe Asian work environments are simply more focused on immediate bottomlines. Or perhaps these corporate differences are manifestations of welfare states versus non-welfare states.

Regardless of the contributing factors, the point is that great leaders are incredibly rare and hard to find, whatever their leadership styles are. Yet, the successful management of a company is so heavily dependent on its leaders. Sure, most companies function, some quite effectively in fact. But I've yet to see a company where people are satisfied, proud and truly happy to be there.