Where My Journey With Servant Leadership Started

Intro

Most new concepts, new models, new frameworks, new lines of thinking...

... are rather nothing new!

After a few thousand millennia existing in this planet, with the added support of pen and paper to document much of our knowledge, human beings became masters into re-purposing content, or bringing it back past some wave during which such idea was not perceived as relevant and valued.

It's such the case with Servant Leadership.

In his book "The Servant", which I read almost 15 years ago, James C. Hunter brings up the concept in a short tale of an executive who is feeling frustrated with himself despite all material successes, and engages with a monk in order to find a different way of being.

Funny fact: the title in Portuguese, as you can see, is completely different than the original one!

But before we jump into the book, let's make a quick pause to add context to it.

Origins of Servant Leadership

While I don't think we have the full picture, because much of our history is not even documented, often literature will mention that the concept of Servant Leadership was first described by a Chinese philosopher in the 5th century, B.C.

"The sage is self-effacing and scanty of words. When his task is accomplished and things have been completed, all the people say, 'We ourselves have achieved it.'"         

Moving the spot into the team, rather than the self, and helping them feel proud and motivated in order to achieve even more, and to live a fulfilling life.

In another example, Buddhism aligns its values tightly with those of servant leadership (or vice versa, whatever the reader prefers). It emphasizes what sort of person we should be rather than how we should act.

But it was in 1970 that Robert K. Greenleaf, a management expert, described how he conceptualized the idea (and coined the term) of Servant Leadership upon reading Journey to the East by the German writer Hermann Hesse. That's also where we can connect his experience with this book we are reviewing together today.

The novel portrays the account of a group of knowledge seekers in pursuit of the ultimate truth. Among them was Leo, a humble servant who performed menial chores and kept their spirits high with his positive attitude and song. One day, when Leo disappeared, the group fell into chaos. Their journey was over. When one individual of the group encountered Leo a few years later, he learned that Leo was actually the titular head of the Order that sponsored their quest, yet he had also been their servant and a noble leader.

Since leadership was bestowed upon Leo by others, it could have been taken away just as easily. However, since he was a servant at heart and by nature, that was something that could not have been taken away. In his publication, The Servant as Leader, Greenleaf said: “...this story clearly says—the great leader is seen as servant first, and that simple fact is the key to his greatness.”

As defined by Greenleaf, servant leaders are not motivated by the traditional manifestations of power:

“The servant leader is servant first ... It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve. ... Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first, perhaps because of the need to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire material possessions…

Honestly, we could go back a lot more years and I am sure we would find some cavemen exercising Servant Leadership. Adding a bit of Simon Sinek to the mix here, we wall aspire to have leaders who can protect us. Lead the way. Take the risks. Take the hits!

It's not difficult therefore to see how Servant Leadership could have been the very first style of leadership ever exercised: as a group would notice that individual that would put other's needs in front of their own, and assuming such a leader would be strong enough to support the pressure and the risks, it would be a no-brainer to follow that leader in order to increase chances of survival.

Now, back to the book.

The Story of John Daily

It would resonate with many middle aged men, who had already had the time to get some business successes and to build a family and...

... who feel frustrated with some of the how it happened. Maybe even with how she/he feels about the results. Wasn't it supposed to feel so much better?

There is the usual life trigger, that sets John into a spiritual retreat, where from the very beginning things seem to "make sense" to his life. I felt that there were two important things to notice then:

• how the "universe" or the inner self were capturing clues, therefore exercising (and being open to) intuition
• how the individual was rather open for most of the experiences.

The second enabled much of the first, which is to say: to go into that journey and get the benefits of it, one must be at least open to it.

It happens, for example, rather soon at the very beginning, when John realizes he never paid attention to Kim while she was presenting herself. He is, at the point, aware enough to his fault and he understands what is the behavior (being self-centered) that lead into it, and the spiritual guide is doing nothing more than bringing that into the surface.

That episode alone shows as well the level of attention the leader is paying on John: noticing what is going on with him, before he ever opens his mouth! Then, taking action that is helpful to John, while still being kind about it.

The journey first take them through defining some of the words they use around leadership. Without getting too much into each of them, it reminded me that as a leader we can't get anywhere unless we are sure we are speaking the same language, and sharing at least some minimal mutual understanding about the vocabulary we are using.

Using Models

Then, it moves into comparing the old paradigm to the new paradigm. It is shocking. Let me tell you why.

Old Paradigm:

??? USA is invincible ?? Centralized administration ??? Management

?? I think ?? Attached to a model ?? Short-term profits

?? Work ?? Afraid of changes ?? Good enough

This is a book from more than 20 year ago... and yet so many business are STILL living and loving those values!! Compare with the new>

?? Global Competition ?? Decentralized Administration ?? Leadership

?? Cause and Effect ?? Continuous Improvement ?? Long-term vision

???????? Partners ? Change is constant ?? Zero Defects

I think we all can see that some of those "new" are already getting old... and we still have space to move from the past into that one.

Another good example of that is the use of the Maslow's hierarchy of needs as the only model to explain human needs. It was a hype at that time, yet now we know it is only one perspective from very many we can usefully take and apply.

The Problem is on the Top

As the book continues, it tries to further describe behaviors and to link those behaviors to beliefs the individuals are holding. Like, for example, respecting others (behavior) and linking that to the people we believe to be important. Then, getting to the obvious conclusions, e.g. in the above example that we will often respect people we believe to be important, and one possible key to behave respectfully more consistently lies into truly believing everybody is equally important - that your team is as important as your boss, for example.

Through the many examples, it arrives into a few qualities that the characters believe to be fundamental for a leader:

??Patience ??Kindness ??Humility ??Respect ??Forgiveness

??Honesty ??Commitment ??Results (Service and Sacrifice)

It's as good as a list as many others. For me, the insightful lesson is to define that list through a process of self-discovery, and the power of doing that together with others to gain perspective.

But why would people work on all that?

That's when the author brings the - not at all surprising - example from his consulting experiences, when often he visited companies and got the leaders finger pointing problems everywhere.

Everywhere, except themselves.

Where It All Ends... and Start

The title of this book could as well be "Start with the Why", but that would have make things difficult to Simon Sinek ??

It is the truth, though.

In concluding their journey, instead of looking outwardly and finding ways to put this new fancy leadership style to work, the participants are invited to look inside themselves, in search for their own mission and vision.

As the problem in the companies is at the top, with leadership, that's also the solution, which makes things incredibly simple and complex at the same time. As an individual, as a leader, that personal change may incredibly alter the perceived reality - and obviously the results - for the entire organization, and beyond.

But it starts with the self. That level of awareness of going through that journey and then, since the door is now open, entering into the soul to discover why we want to be there and do that.

Unsurprisingly, the book suggests that love will be in the center of that mission, whatever it is. And yes, I agree with that. If anything, the "AI" revolution may be yet another chance for human beings to discover and tap into that power, because it will be what will make us different and valuable when compared to the machines.

You start with a choice.

Observations

Knowing again that we mostly re-use and re-invent concepts, I do appreciate the style used by the author here, in which he uses a contemporaneous tale to illustrate how such a concept can be used.

I find it both more honest and more accessible, comparing to other authors who just try to give the concept a new name in order to sell it, making it a theoretical management book instead of something so easy and practical.

As I read it so many years ago, rating it may not be too fair with the book. That actually makes me think about how ratings are not only subjective, but contextual. Anyways, let me share what I have with you!

• Easy of reading: 5 stars. because it was made short and the story is engaging, it flows very naturally and delivers wonderful few hours of accompanying the main character in his personal journey.
• Learning something new: 2 stars. Let's say that even then the concept was not completely alien to me, therefore it was more about reflecting than learning.
• Interesting and Engaging: 3 stars. It feels at this point that I have read too many similar books, too many authors following the same script.

Being clear here to avoid confusion: I recommend this book. It's one of those short tales to be read in a quiet afternoon that will inspire change and give perspective, without getting into anything too prescriptive or heavy.

Or boring.

Have you been aware of Servant Leadership before? Who would be an example of Servant Leader that you could share and celebrate?