Is there anything you need? – A servant Leaders’ first and last question

“Is there anything you need?” is one of the most powerful questions a servant leader could ask from their associates. Servant Leadership is about leading with a service mindset. The role of a servant leader is to serve his associates so that they can in-turn serve their customers. Service mindset requires leaders to be humble and see their associates and subordinates as important partners of the organization, rather than workers who need to follow only orders.

Leaders in service industry, need to practice servant leadership for many reasons. One of the most important reasons is to build a true service culture. If a service-based organization, does not have a service culture, then the organization cannot be successful in the long run.

Last few days, we have heard the retirement of such a leader, who had created a wonderful service culture and lead the company to become world’s largest Hospitality Group. Yes, I am talking about the retirement of Bill Marriott from the role of Chairman of Marriott International.

I am amazed by his leadership qualities as described by the senior leaders and associates of Marriott. One of such stories was told by Anthony Capuano, Chief Executive Officer at Marriott International. On his LinkedIn post following the celebration of Mr. Bill Marriott’s 66 years of service and his retirement, Anthony shared the following story, which highlighted the true essence of what kind of leader, Bill was.

“Among my many memories of Mr. Marriott, a favorite comes from early in my career while I was traveling with him doing hotel tours in Maui, Hawaii. On one particular hotel visit, Mr. Marriott walked up to a dish washer, started a conversation and asked him, “Is there anything you need?” The associate reached up and grabbed the overhead pressure hose and pressed it, showing Mr. Marriott that what came out was just a trickle of water. Mr. Marriott, who himself was a dishwasher at the start of his career, said: “We’re going to get that fixed.”?

The next day en route to the airport, Mr. Marriott asked to change plans and head back to a hotel we had visited the prior day. When we arrived at the hotel, he hopped out of the car and asked me to come with him. We proceeded straight to the kitchen where he once again approached the dishwasher. “How is it going?” he asked, to which the dishwasher smiled, reached up and pulled down on the hose and showed Mr. Marriott the water pressure was at full volume. Mr. Marriott shook the associate’s hand and we headed back to the car. He didn’t say anything to me about the exchange – he didn’t need to. I had just attended a master class in culture.?“

This story shows how powerful is to ask the question, “Is there anything you need?” so that the leaders can facilitate a better, working environment. Also it promotes innovation as it will encourage associates to share the ideas they have to do their jobs effectively, and improve the process of delivering service to their customers.

The post from Mr. Bill himself, shows how he puts associates at the center of his leadership focus. He wrote “As I reflect on my 66 years with?Marriott International, I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the people – our associates, guests, owners, franchisees, suppliers and more – who helped us become the company we are today.” From this statement you can see a leader’s priority from the order of people he choose to thank. ?

So next time when you meet your associates ask them, “is there anything you need?”