7 pillars servant leadership

Seven Pillars of Servant Leadership
Puts People First
• Displays a Servant’s Heart
• Is Mentor-Minded
• Shows Care & Concern
“The first and most important choice a leader makes is the choice to
serve, without which one’s capacity to lead is severely limited.”
-Robert Greenleaf
“Pilihan utama dan paling penting yang dilakukan oleh pemimpin ialah pilihan untuk
memberi layanan, tanpa itu kemampuan seseorang untuk memimpin adalah sangat terhad.”
Skilled Communicator
• Demonstrates Empathy
• Invites Feedback
• Communicates Persuasively
“If you want to be listened to, you should put in time listening.”
-Marge Piercy
“jika anda mahu didengari, anda perlu memberi masa untuk mendengar.”

“When people respect each other and
value differences, they can work
together more amicably which results
in greater productivity. Multicultural
leadership encourages synergy and
innovation.”
– Juana Bordas
Salsa, Soul and Spirit: Leadership for a
Multicultural Age
“Bila orang menghormati sesama sendiri dan menghargai kelainanan, mereka boleh bekerja bersama
dengan lebih mesra yang berkesudahan dengan produktiviti lebih tinggi. Kepemimpinan berbilang
budaya menggalakan sinergi dan innovasi.”
-Juana Bordas
Salsa, Soul and Spirit: Leadership for
Multicultural Age
Foresight
• Visionary
• Displays Creativity
• Exercises Sound Judgment
“Business, more than any other occupation, is a continual dealing
with the future; it is a continual calculation, an instinctive exercise
in foresight.”
-Henry R. Luce, Co-founder of Time

“Perniagaan, berbanding dengan pekerjaan lain, adalah penerusan urusan dengan masa depan; ia
adalah penerusan perkiraan, satu amalan naluri mengjangka masa hadapan.”
Traits of Servant Leaders: Foresight
Posted by: Cheryl Bachelder Posted date: January 28, 2013 In: Leadership | comment : 2
For the next several weeks I will be blogging about the essential traits of servant leaders. The
framework for the conversation comes from a book called Seven Pillars of Servant Leadership
by James W. Sipe and Don M. Frick. For those of you who think the term “servant leader” is a
tired, old idea, this conversation may change your mind. First, the authors present the business
case for servant leadership with a long term look at the financial performance of companies who
operate with a servant leadership culture. These companies outperform the S&P 500 by a wide
margin. So if you want competitive advantage, if you want to “win”, you need to find out what
servant leaders do that leads to industry leading results. Today’s essential trait: Foresight.
A leader’s goal is not to see but to envision.
Jack Welch
Enough said. Many books have been written on the importance of the
leader’s vision for the long term performance of the enterprise. A well-known example: CEO
Jack Welch decided that GE will be in the number one or number two position in every business
category where they compete. The destination is clear. It is easy to decide what businesses to
keep or sell. It is easy to measure success. And yes, Welch is famous for leading a sustained
strong performance results during his tenure at GE.
Head + Heart + Gut
Foresight has these three components, and all three are essential:
1. Head: Foresight requires rigorous analytical review of the past performance drivers and
the current business realities. Foresight identifies potential destinations from the lessons
of the past and a sound understanding of the present. However, too many leaders stop
with this step.
2. Heart: Foresight requires listening carefully to the many experienced and concerned
people involved in the business. Listening to your team and stakeholders is the best way
to demonstrate you care about them and value their input. The people are also the best
source of ideas on what destinations should be explored. When it comes time to start

moving towards the destination, more people will follow the leader if their input has been
given and valued.
3. Gut: Foresight requires leaders to draw on their experience, intuition and courage to call
out the destination. To lead, you are expected to foresee the unforeseeable. You are
expected to think about possibilities no one else has considered and then have the guts to
tell the team, “We are going where no man (or woman) has gone before.” This is the
scary, fun, and most distinctive quality of great leaders. They have the courage of their
convictions and they are willing to take the personal risk to lead the team towards the
vision. They defend the vision when it comes under predictable attack from those
skeptics and naysayers. They inspire the people to go forward.
Failure to Foresee is Unethical
Sipe and Frick claim foresight is one of the seven essential traits of a servant leader because
failure to foresee is unethical leadership. This thought stems straight from the original proponent
of servant leadership, Robert Greenleaf, who said:
The failure (or refusal) of a leader to foresee may be viewed as an ethical failure.
Robert Greenleaf
Greenleaf explains it in this way … If the leader fails to foresee the right destination for the
enterprise or workgroup, it causes great harm. Missing goals is miserable for the people
involved. Lack of a destination with a plan to get there results in harm: stalled careers, bad
morale, missed bonus checks, and lost jobs. Leaders, by position, are the stewards of people and
resources. If they lead the team to poor performance, they have contributed harm. Harm to the
people, when it can be avoided, is unethical behavior.
The second reason foresight is an ethical matter is simple. It is the leader’s job. Leaders who fail
to give the organization a destination are essentially guilty of malpractice. Nonetheless, we see
leaders routinely fail to call out a clear destination. The organization moves forward in a chaotic,
directionless state. People chose the wrong activities because there is no filter to discern the vital
few activities that would have the best chance of success. The stumbling, unguided team loses
capability and confidence to perform. The results disappoint.
Where there is no vision, the people perish.
Proverb
Transforming yourself from ordinary leader to servant leader requires this mindset shift. All
leaders must have a smart vision for the business to achieve results. The servant leader must also
view foresight as their ethical responsibility; to choose a destination that serves the people well
by delivering long term performance results. They consider themselves stewards of the people
and the resources entrusted to them. It would go against their belief system to lead a team to poor
performance and all the negative consequences that implies. And thus, the results of the servant
leader are extraordinary.

System Thinker
“Quantum physics: Imagining possibilities”
-What The Bleep Do We Know
• Comfortable with Complexity
• Demonstrates Adaptability
• Considers the “Greater Good”
Leads with Moral Authority Granted by Others
“Moral Authority: The principled exercise of free choice,
which almost always involves some form of sacrifice.”
-Steven Covey

Culture
Strategy
Employees
Patients
Community
1. A Person of Character
2. Who Puts People First
3. Skilled Communicator
4. Compassionate Collaborator
5. Has Foresight
6. Is a System Thinker
7. Leads with Moral Authority
Servant-Leader
Traits of a Servant Leader: Moral Authority
Posted by: Cheryl Bachelder Posted date: March 26, 2013 In: Influence, Leadership, Purpose |
comment : 2
In this last blog post discussing the themes of Seven Pillars of Servant Leadership: Practicing the
Wisdom of Leading by Serving by James W. Sipe and Don M. Frick, we are talking about Moral
Authority. This topic begs a definition if we are to have a meaningful conversation. My personal
favorite is this definition of moral authority:
… the alignment between a person’s convictions and his behavior that makes his life persuasive.
Andy Stanley, Visioneering

If we think about the most historic, influential leaders of our times, we see the connection to
moral authority immediately. We see that they are servant leaders. For example, Nelson
Mandela, who dreamed of making his own contribution to the freedom struggle of the people of
South Africa.1 Did he have personal convictions? Did his behavior line up with those
convictions? Was his life persuasive?
You and I will not be Nelson Mandela, but could we learn from what makes his leadership so
persuasive?
1. Having convictions. Have you thoughtfully decided on the convictions or principles that
you want to define your leadership at work? If not, you will likely not have much
influence. Personal convictions determine how you spend your time and how you interact
with others. The people that you lead want to know who you are before they commit
themselves to following you. They want to know what you stand for, how you will act
under pressure, and whether you will be reliable as a leader. Until your convictions are
well-defined and transparent to the team, you will have limited influence and limited
success as a leader.
2. Behavior consistent with convictions. Even more important than knowing your
convictions, is to behave consistently with those beliefs/principles in your daily life.
Without consistent behaviors, you will be viewed as a leader who lectures about morals
and judges people by standards that you are not demonstrating consistently in your
leadership. This is dangerous. Moralistic lectures will only lead to distrust; people will
wonder what makes you so great. Moral authority has one source only – your actual
behaviors. Only your actions will give you significant influence.
3. A persuasive life. In our heart of hearts, each of us wants to have some positive
influence, some legacy that says our life was worth living. Leaders like Nelson Mandela
have two characteristics that resulted in such a life.
 They led people for a PURPOSE that was greater than them; Mandela sought to end
apartheid, or segregation, in South Africa.
 Their actions were in SERVICE to others; Mandela went to prison for 27 years to win
freedom for others.
For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and
enhances the freedom of others.
Nelson Mandela
There was no doubt that Mandela had convictions and he lived them. After his release from
prison, he had such a following, that he was the first democratically elected President of his
country in 1994. He has certainly had a persuasive life.
Will you be able to say the same?
Lead. Serve. Succeed

Success Through Seeking the Well-Being of
Others
Posted on December 4, 2013
Part Two
By Jack Lannom
In my last article, I stated that the place for
maximum engagement and human connectivity to begin—not one good place, or one of many
starting points, but the place—is self-interest. I then went on to explain that self-interest is not
necessarily an attitude of selfishness, because if our self-interest includes the well-being of
others, we are not being selfish. It’s an argument that is somewhat counterintuitive; if you’d
like to review my thoughts, simply click here.
There can be no question that it is in the self-interest of business leaders to seek the well-being of
others. You cannot impart what you do not possess. If you want every member of your staff to
provide knock-your-socks-off customer service, then you must first serve them well. And that is
the whole purpose of the Value Generators in our People First Strategy Map. They communicate
to every member of the staff that who they are and what they do—both personally and
professionally—has tremendous meaning and significance.
Dr. Adam Grant, who serves at the Wharton School of Business, has written a marvelous book,
titled Give and Take. Dr. Grant has assembled a mass of empirical evidence to support his
conclusion that those who believe that their self-interest includes the self-interest of others will
always generate more profitable outcomes, both personally and professionally. These men and
women are givers.
On the other hand, Grant says that takers have no sense of altruism. Their self-interest does not
include the interest of others. That person—one who truly is selfish—will never enjoy optimum
results. To be sure, they may get results! But these men and women who are all about “winning”
will never enjoy optimum results, and they will never leave a legacy of truth, wisdom, and
excellence.

Dr. Grant observes that people immediately pick up on insincerity. If a leader is not authentic—if
that leader simply appreciates employees for the utilitarian value that serves the leader’s self-
interest, the staff will sense that very quickly, and the organization’s culture will be marked by
impersonal professionalism, what I often call “close encounters of the impersonal kind.”
In all your interactions with everyone in your company—all your relationships, internal and
external—everyone should strive to create interactions that are close encounters of the intensely
personal, honoring, valuing, and caring kind. Walk into any store or corporation, and that
organization’s belief about people manifests itself in mere moments. We wear our beliefs like we
wear clothes. People will quickly see if you’re clothed with a caring philosophy or not.
The operative word here is “caring.” As the late Zig Ziglar said so well, “People don’t care how
much you know until they know how much you care.” When I was first rolling out the People
First Leadership program, emphasizing the way we should relate to one another personally (not
just professionally), a senior manager responsible for the output of more than 1500 employees
came up to me after a presentation and told me that I was right on the money. “I get much more
out of the staff when I invest time in getting to know them individually and personally,” he said.
This is a perfect example of one who is motivated by self-interest, while simultaneously seeking
the self-interest of others. When his team put discretionary effort into their tasks, this manager
received personal satisfaction and performance bonuses. However, his self-interest included the
interests of others. When his team excelled, the goals and directives of the company were
achieved. And showing genuine interest in the well-being of others solidified caring, trust-based
relationships which made the employees happy to come to work.
Creating these authentic relationships is not “a” way to create maximum engagement in your
organization; it is the way to create discretionary effort and passionate performance! Every
leader who has adopted this philosophy of “Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s
well-being”—every single one of them—has reported back to me that nothing has served them
better as a business person. They are seeking the well-being of others first . . . yet
they are motivated by self-interest.
Almost every business leader will say, “Our greatest asset is the people.” They know they’re
supposed to say that, and they repeat it like a mantra. But if they really believe it, why did Gallup
find that only 30% of the employees in America are engaged? My contention is that most leaders
have never been taught how to include the self-interest of others with their own personal and
professional goals and objectives.
When leaders understand the power behind “Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s
well-being” and drive it throughout their organizations, everything they do internally and
externally will be a model for excellence. It’s not just your business model that will be worth
emulating; the men and women who are operating within that model will live lives that are well-
lived and well-worth modeling.
And when every member of the staff treats each other exceptionally well, your external
customers will marvel, “This is excellence! They serve us so well and they treat us exceptionally

well!” The way to achieve this magnanimous goal of “knock-their-socks-off customer service” is
to shape a culture in which everyone loves and pursues truth, wisdom and excellence in all things
. . . and in which they are encouraged to pursue their own self-interest!
Posted in Best business practices, Helping others, Internal Customers, Leadership, Motivation,
People First, Servant leadership, Sustainability, Uncategorized | Tagged Adam Grant, customer
service, engagement, Gallup, Give and Take, Jack Lannom, motivation, People First, self-
interest, selfishness, Zig Ziglar | Leave a reply
The Economics of Putting People First,
Conclusion
Posted on May 8, 2013
2
By Jack Lannom
I’ve been talking about the philosophy of putting
people first and the ages-old exhortation: “Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s
well-being.” If you missed any of the posts, you can get caught up here, here, and here.
So what should they be teaching in business schools? Adam Grant is teaching it at the Wharton
School: we should look to give to one another, rather than take from people or push past them.
We should seek to serve one another, rather than to be served. “Let no one seek his own, but
each one the other’s well-being.” This is the people first philosophy of servant leadership that
has fueled dramatic success stories like those of Southwest Airlines and Wegmans.

And please note that when I say “leadership,” I mean that everyone in the organization should
take the lead in building a culture of service and support. People First is not a unilateral
philosophy, calling on leaders to serve and employees to sit back and enjoy being served. This is
a life-philosophy for all people! Our organizations will grow stronger and more profitable when
we seek the welfare of others first—when we all become givers, as Adam Grant suggests.
Business leaders and managers should sit down with the men and women who report to them and
initiate a dialogue built around both parties asking and answering this question: “How may I
better serve you?” Everyone in the organization, from the CEO to the newest hire in the facilities
department, should lead the organization toward a reciprocity of showing honor, providing
service, and offering support.
Will we all do this well all the time? Certainly not! No human being is perfect, and we must
graciously allow for imperfection and irritation. Many of my clients have distributed T-shirts to
all members of their teams which bear the words Under Construction. We’re all still learning
and growing, and there will be those times when I thoughtlessly tread on your toes and you tread
on mine. But if we are truly focused on building a culture of serving each other, apologies will be
sincerely offered and readily accepted. We will frankly acknowledge our own imperfections and
freely forgive those that reside in others.
Let me close with this vitally important point: People First is not merely a management
system; it is a way of life. If you want to live the best life possible, I encourage you to embrace
the concept of “Let no one seek his own, but each one the others well-being.” You won’t merely
be building a better workplace; you’ll be building a better life!
Your home is the greatest lab in which to cultivate the economics of people first. There should be
no disconnect between your attitudes and actions in the home and your demeanor at work.
People First is not like a lab coat that we put on when we enter the workplace in the morning and
deposit on a corporate coat rack when we go home at night. To the contrary, the mindset of
seeking the well-being of others must begin in our home! Simply put, the personal drives the
professional.
Too many of us pour our hearts into our work and then go home and give our loved ones cold
leftovers. We must first choose to honor our loved ones; we must communicate our love and
appreciation to them; we must consciously work to honor their dignity and worth and joyfully
celebrate all their successes. When these behaviors become second nature to us at home, they
will become standard operating procedure in the workplace.
The fundamental question business owners should ask is not “How should I run the business?”
Instead, we should ponder this: “How shall I live my life?” I choose to put people first . . . at
home and at the office. I choose to seek the well-being of others before I seek my own. The years
have taught me that this is a philosophy fit to live by, a life fit to live with, and a legacy fit to live
for.
“If they were selling underwear, I’d buy it!” my friend said of Southwest’s leadership. The
bottom line is, it’s really not about your product or service; sustainable profitability in the

primary sense is about the quality of relationships of the people who stand behind those products
and services. Therefore, the best way to learn how to be successful in business is to learn from
the companies who are successful because they have figured out the ennobling economics of
putting people first!
Posted in Achieving Balance, Best business practices, Economics, Helping others, Human value,
Internal Customers, Leadership, Legacy, People First, Servant leadership, Sustainability | Tagged
Adam Grant, economics, Jack Lannom, leadership, management, People First, philosophy,
Southwest, under construction, Wegmans, Wharton | 2 Replies
The Economics of Putting People First, Part
Three
By Jack Lannom
I’ve been talking about the solid
economic practice of putting people first. You can read my first two posts on the subject here and
here. I introduced you to Dr. Adam Grant of the Wharton School and showed you how his
philosophy echoes the wisdom of the ages: Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s
well-being. I also showed you how two companies—Southwest Airlines and Wegmans—have
employed this philosophy and enjoyed tremendous success.
I’ve met people who mistakenly think that the People First®
philosophy discounts the
importance of profits. That simply isn’t true. I’m in business to make a profit. When I speak of
the economics of putting people first, I’m not making a distinction between what is important
and what’s not important. Both people and profits are essential for sustainable development. I am
not saying that people are important and profits are not, nor am I saying that profits are important
and people are not. It’s not an either/or prospect; it’s a both/and philosophy.

I am however, making a clear declaration about the order of importance. With limited resources
at our disposal, we must choose to put people first. The ability to maximize profits begins with
an understanding of the value of the human spirit. Business leaders shouldn’t focus on profits
as first in importance, because profits don’t produce profits; people produce profits! Even
more importantly, we should highly esteem people more than profits because of the intrinsic
value and worth of who people are. People are worth infinitely more than all the profits a
company could ever make.
Perhaps you think I’m making an altruistic statement. I disagree; I believe I’m making a
statement that resonates in the hearts of tens of millions of people! Whether it be a terrorist
bombing in Boston or a killer tsunami in Thailand, Americans (and people all over the world)
open their hearts and their wallets and offer their prayers in support of the victims.
In 1987, when 18-month-old Jessica McClure fell down a well in Midland, Texas, the entire
world tuned in to watch the rescue efforts in real time. Two years ago, Jessica, now 27 and a
mother of two children, was able to access a trust fund that was created from $800,000 worth of
donations that poured in shortly after her rescue. “People First” is not my own idea; it is not a
theory; it is the way the vast majority of us live.
Our ears are gifts so that we can listen with care and concern to the needs of others; our hands
are gifts so that we can be helpful in carrying the burdens of others; likewise, our feet are given
to us so that we can walk in humility to serve others. Consequently, people are truly the most
fulfilled and the most productive when they are caring for, helping, and humbly serving others
without expecting anything in return.
I will insist with my dying breath that the ennobling economics of putting people first are the key
to sustainable development. At the outset of this article, I defined economics as the science of
human choice; sound economic policy dictates that you choose to put people over profits.
You choose to value people, first and foremost, as human beings. You choose to create trust-
based, caring connections with people. When you love people—value them, honor them, and
listen to them—you clearly communicate that you esteem them more than profits. And when
people absorb that and believe that, they will pour their hearts into their work. They will engage
with their hearts, not just their hands, because they will view their work with you as something
more than a career—they’ll see it as a calling.
What is the most obvious thing that so many business leaders are missing? Let me answer that
question with another question: Why do people keep coming back to spend their dollars with
companies like Wegmans and Southwest Airlines? It’s because they love the experience! My
good friend Tom Manenti, Chairman of the Board of MiTek Industries, Inc., a Berkshire-
Hathaway company, often says that “People like to buy from people they like and trust.” And
customers like and trust people who live in a culture that celebrates likeability and integrity.
When customers see that members of that culture don’t just treat each other well, but
exceptionally well, customers will want to engage with that. A culture built on the foundation of
truth, wisdom, and excellence will cultivate the exemplary qualities of love, joy, and peace.
When the members of that culture seek to outdo each other in showing honor to one another,

rock-solid, trust-based relationships are formed, and the quality of those internal relationships
will inevitably spill over into joyful, genuine interaction with external customers. I’ve been
saying it for years: Whatever you want your external customers to feel, your internal customers
must feel first! You can’t impart what you don’t possess.
Posted in Achieving Balance, Best business practices, Economics, Helping others, Human value,
Internal Customers, Leadership, People First, Philosophy, Servant leadership, Sustainability |
Tagged customers, economics, Jack Lannom, Jessica McClure, Manenti, MiTek, People First,
profits, Southwest Airlines, Wegmans | Leave a reply
Two
By Jack Lannom
In my previous post, I defined economics as the science of human choice, necessitated by the
circumstances of limited means. What does “the science of human choice” have to do with
putting people first? Simple: the connection is in the choices we make. And the People First
philosophy encourages us to choose to seek the well-being of others before we seek our own.
Seeking the well-being of others is not an altruistic mindset reserved for moms and missionaries;
it works in the business world as well. The New York Times recently profiled Dr. Adam Grant,
who, at age 31, is the youngest tenured professor at the Wharton School . . . and also already the
highest-rated.
Why was Grant profiled? His philosophy of giving of himself to others is attracting national
attention. “Helpfulness is Grant’s credo,” The Times said, and went on to explain his philosophy

this way: “The greatest untapped source of motivation, [Grant] argues, is a sense of service to
others; focusing on the contribution of our work to other people’s lives has the potential to make
us more productive than thinking about helping ourselves.”
This young academician is espousing the servant leader’s philosophy, that it is more blessed to
give than to receive. And Adam Grant is not speaking only to colleagues in the ivory tower; his
reputation for excellence extends well beyond the world of academia. The Times quoted Prasad
Setty of Google as saying that he contacts Dr. Grant when “we are thinking about big problems
we are trying to solve.”[1] What sets him apart? Adam Grant’s success is predicated on his
preference to be a giver and not a taker.
The Harvard Business Review has taken notice. The prestigious management periodical recently
published an article by Dr Grant, in which he argues, “Organizations have a strong interest in
fostering giving behavior. A willingness to help others achieve their goals lies at the heart of
effective collaboration, innovation, quality improvement, and service excellence.”
Grant buttressed his assertion with a study conducted by the University of Arizona, which found
that “the link between employee giving and desirable business outcomes was surprisingly robust.
Higher rates of giving were predictive of higher unit profitability, productivity, efficiency, and
customer satisfaction, along with lower costs and turnover rates. When employees act like givers,
they facilitate efficient problem solving and coordination and build cohesive, supportive cultures
that appeal to customers, suppliers, and top talent alike.”[2]
I don’t know if Dr. Grant is aware of People First Leadership; I do know he is underscoring the
acute importance of the economics of putting people first. Ancient wisdom literature exhorts us
not to act out of selfish ambition or conceit, but to esteem others better than ourselves. We are to
look out not only for our own interests, but also the interests of others. This is the philosophy Dr.
Grant is espousing and it is the philosophy of People First.
And this philosophy of choosing to invest in the people on the front line of your business
translates directly into a healthy bottom line. Wegmans, a privately owned supermarket chain
that operates 79 stores in the Northeast, is another organization that has seized on the concept of
servant leadership. “Our employees are our number one asset, period,” Kevin Stickles,
Wegmans’ VP for human resources, told The Atlantic magazine. “The first question you ask is:
‘Is this the best thing for the employee?’ That’s a totally different model.”
“The Wegmans model is simple,” The Atlantic reports. “A happy, knowledgeable and superbly
trained employee creates a better experience for customers. Extraordinary service builds
tremendous loyalty.” [3] Clearly, Wegmans’ customers like the business model; the readers of
Consumer Reports ranked Wegmans as their favorite grocery store chain.[4]
Customer loyalty translates into profitability. Wegmans did $6.2 billion dollars of business last
year and generated higher average daily sales volumes than any of its competitors across the east
coast. “When you think about employees first, the bottom line is better,” Kevin Stickles
asserts.[5]

Operating in today’s uncertain economy, business leaders are forced to challenge their
employees to generate more output with fewer resources. Ten years ago, we were all hustling to
“Grow the business, grow the margins, expand!” Now it’s “Spend less, hire fewer, but do more!”
The best way I know to enlist people in such a herculean task is to demonstrate that you care
about them. As Adam Grant says, the greatest source for releasing untapped potential is service
to others.
I’ll be posting Part Three in this series on Monday. We’ve seen how the philosophy of putting
people first has worked for Southwest Airlines and Wegmans; but will it work in your business?
Does putting people first mean that we simply forget about profits? I’ll give you a sneak preview
here: Yes, it will work in your business; No, I’m not saying profits aren’t important! I hope you’ll
be back to read and comment.
______________________________
[1] Susan Dominus, “Is Giving the Secret to Getting Ahead?” The New York Times, March 27,
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/31/magazine/is-giving-the-secret-to-getting-
ahead.html?pagewanted=all&_r=2& (Viewed 4/24/13)
[2] Adam Grant, “In the Company of Givers and Takers,” The Harvard Business Review, April
2013, http://hbr.org/2013/04/in-the-company-of-givers-and-takers/ar/1 (Viewed 4/24/2013)
[3] David Rohde, “The Anti-Walmart: The Secret Sauce of Wegmans Is People,” The Atlantic,
March 23, 2012, http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/03/the-anti-walmart-the-
secret-sauce-of-wegmans-is-people/254994/ (Viewed 4/25/2013)
[4] Geoff Herbert, “Wegmans named best supermarket by Consumer Reports; Walmart one of
the worst,” syracuse.com, April 3, 2012,
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2012/04/wegmans_best_supermarket.html (Viewed
4/26/2013)
[5] Rohde, “The Anti-Walmart.”
Posted in Best business practices, Economics, Helping others, Internal Customers, Leadership,
People First, Philosophy, Servant leadership, Sustainability | Tagged Adam Grant, Atlantic
magazine, Consumer Reports, economics, Harvard Business Review, Jack Lannom, People First,
profits, Wegmans | Leave a reply
One
By Jack Lannom

I recently chatted with a man who works for
Southwest Airlines, a company widely known for its positive culture . . . and its dramatic
success. The man’s face lit up as he described the things that Herb Kelleher, Southwest’s
founder, had done to create a culture that celebrates people and their successes. He said that he
and his friends love working for Southwest. “It’s the quality of our leadership,” he told me; “if
they were selling underwear, I would buy their underwear!”
He was being humorous, but the comment stuck with me. What creates that kind of passionate
employee loyalty and respect? Would you say that Herb Kelleher introduced a business
philosophy that is the root of which my friend’s enthusiasm is the fruit? Or does such a culture
happen by chance?
It certainly didn’t happen by chance at Southwest. The company’s NASDAQ symbol is LUV,
short for “Love.” All their airplanes are emblazoned with a heart symbol. And Southwest doesn’t
talk about love for marketing copy; building a culture of love is part of the way they do business.
Here’s how the company’s website explains their philosophy: “Happy Employees = Happy
Customers. Happy Customers keep Southwest flying.” Southwest’s mission statement includes
these words: “Employees will be provided the same concern, respect, and caring attitude within
the organization that they are expected to share externally with every Southwest Customer.”
Southwest’s employees appreciate the investment that is made in them. The LUV company
ranked #12 in Glassdoor.com’s 2013 Employees’ Choice Awards Best Place to Work. OK, so
the company has a great culture, but does that translate into profitability? As a matter of fact, it
does! Southwest recently announced its 40th
consecutive year of profitability. Let that sink in for
a minute: forty consecutive years . . . and that working in an industry that has been bludgeoned
by skyrocketing fuel costs, terror threats, and economic malaise.
I have asserted for decades now that building a winning culture will translate into sustainable
profitability. I tell business leaders, “Put people first and profits will follow.” Creating a work
environment which causes employees to wake up in the morning saying, “Yay! I get to go to
work”—rather than “Yuck! I’ve got to go to work!”—is not ancillary to success; it’s an integral
component of it! Putting people first isn’t a “happy-clappy,” feel-good issue; it’s a matter of
sound economic policy.

Let me explain. Economics is the science of human choice, necessitated by the circumstances
of limited means. Choice presupposes preferences; preferences are the manifestations of one’s
goals, motives, and means. Southwest Airlines has maintained 40 years of profitability because
their customers prefer the Southwest experience—which is a clear reflection of the Southwest
culture—and choose to book their flights with that airline.
We are the product of our preferences. Think of a person who is making a choice; what
motivates that choice? Choice comes from a person’s preference, and our preferences are
determined by what will satisfy our self-interest.
Now, when we hear the term self-interest, we frequently assume that it means selfishness, but
that assumption is not always correct. If our self-interest includes the self-interest of others,
we’re not being selfish. Dr. John Robbins explained this distinction in his magnificent book,
Freedom and Capitalism:
What about the missionary? He acts in his self-interest by enduring hardships because he has a
different conception of his interests from most people.
How about the mother? She acts in her own interest because her conception of her own interests
includes the well-being of her children.[1]
Dr. Robbins was highlighting the truth that two people we might think of as acting selflessly—a
missionary and a mother, both of whom are laboring for the good of others with little or no
remuneration—are still acting in their self-interest. That’s because they have voluntarily
expanded the realm of their self-interest to include the interests of others. They have freely
chosen to embrace the ages-old exhortation, “Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s
well-being.”
In my next article, I’ll show you how this economic theory of putting people first works out in
practice. I hope you’ll be back to read and comment!
[1] John W. Robbins, Freedom and Capitalism; Essays on Christian Politics and Economics
(Unicoi, TN: The Trinity Foundation, © 2006), p. 417.
Posted in Best business practices, Economics, Helping others, Internal Customers, Leadership,
People First, Philosophy, Servant leadership, Sustainability | Tagged culture, economics,
enthusiasm, Jack Lannom, loyalty, People First, profitability, respect, Robbins, Southwest
Airlines, sustainability | Leave a reply

Self-Awareness: The Lost Ingredient for
Outrageous Success, Part Three
Posted on April 30, 2013
By Jack Lannom
In my previous two articles (which you can read here and here), I introduced you to a manager
named “Bill,” whose excessive arrogance throws the emotional and creative kill switch in
everyone with whom he comes in contact. I went on to explain that throughout a consulting
career that began in 1973 I have met dozens of men and women like Bill, who seem to be bereft
of any self-awareness.
When you get right down to it, we would all do well to develop
our self-awareness, and I’ve created the AWARE acronym as a tool to help me check myself. I
hope you’ll find it helpful. I’ll lay out the acronym below and then explain it in detail.
Acknowledge
Willingness
Accountability
Revelation
Empathy
Awareness: Recognition is the first step to treatment and cure. I must first recognize that the
possibility exists that I have become a prisoner of my own self-importance. I must have the
courage to ask people I trust this question: How do you feel about yourself when you’re around
me? I must ask my loved ones at home and people with whom I interact regularly at work. And I
must possess the humility to encourage their candid feedback. I am working to develop my
own awareness.

Someone may say, “I feel devalued and disempowered when I’m around you. I don’t feel
important.” If that happens, it is critical that I don’t lay out five reasons why they’re wrong or
reprove them for hurting my feelings. No, I must ask probing questions about what it is I do that
creates that sense of devaluation and I must be sure to thank them for providing me with honest,
unflinching feedback. Feedback is the breakfast of champions; be sure to get lots of it!
Willingness: Peter Senge used the Greek work metanoia, which means a change of mind, to
describe the shift in thinking—the change of mind—that is characterized by willingness. It’s not
enough to be aware that I have, to whatever extent, fallen prey to hubris; I must be willing to
make some changes! No matter what discomfort, no matter what embarrassment, no matter
what amount of effort I must exert, I must determine that I am going to change. I must be willing
to become a model of servant leadership.
Accountability: To be truly self-aware, you must have a clear idea of how other people see you.
To do this you must actively recruit people to whom you can say, “Show me my blind spots,”
and listen to their responses with complete trust and respect. If you don’t currently have a good,
caring mentor whom you trust to speak the truth in love to you, you should get to work today to
identify an effective mentor.
Mentoring was the means of education for thousands of years. The protégé would learn a trade or
a philosophy, but he or she would also learn that the master’s excellence in the craft came out of
excellence in life. For the great teachers, instruction is a vehicle for imparting life skills—a life
of character and caring, marked by a commitment to truth, wisdom, and excellence in all things.
Such mentors are not only teaching how to make a living, but more importantly, how to make a
life.
Whether you have a mentor or you are just working with a loved one or peer to develop your
self-awareness, you are asking that person to coach you. You must give that person permission to
offer honest assessments. Invite that person to hold you accountable and call you on the carpet
when you misspeak or misbehave.
Revelation: We’ve seen that we need a great coach; that coach should provide us with a great
code that will equip us to grow in self-awareness. In other words, a great mentor will lead you to
a normative code for excellence that you study in order to grow in self-awareness.
This code or revelation should be a paragon of excellence that describes the broad principles for
enabling you to come out of self-absorption, as well as the particular steps you should take to
grow in self-awareness. It should be the kind of literature that provides inexhaustible wisdom
that never grows stale or goes out of vogue. You should be able to return to it daily for
encouragement and admonishment.
I commend the wisdom of Solomon to your attention. I’ll provide a few nuggets here in hopes of
whetting your appetite for more:
 Wisdom is the principle thing; therefore get wisdom.
 Humility goes before honor.

 Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.
You’ll want to seek out a wise coach who will encourage you to shape your thoughts and
behavior by the best code. And you should collect sayings like the ones above and meditate on
them in order to grow in serving others more effectively.
Empathy: As you grow in self-awareness, you move toward feeling and caring about the
thoughts and feelings of others. Your internal antennae are up for other people. You’re no longer
orbiting your own universe. You are consciously working to reach the point where you can
sincerely say, “What you think, how you feel, and what you have to say is very important to me.”
When people see and sense that you truly mean that, you have moved out of self-absorption and
into other-centeredness. Then you are living a profitable life. And then you will possess one of
the most powerful means for turning ordinary people into extraordinary performers.
Posted in Best business practices, Helping others, Leadership, People First, Personal
Development, Servant leadership, Sustainability, Untapped Potential, Wisdom | Tagged
accountability, empathy, feedback, hubris, Jack Lannom, mentor, metanoia, People First,
revelation, self-awareness, Solomon, wisdom | Leave a reply
Self-Awareness: The Lost Ingredient for
Outrageous Success, Part Two
Posted on April 25, 2013
1
By Jack Lannom
In my previous post I introduced you to a fictitious manager named “Bill,” who was described by
one of his demoralized purpose partners as “the official fault-finder of the universe.” In reality,
Bill is not so much fictional as he is a composite of dozens of men and women I’ve met
throughout my consulting career. These people continually throw the emotional “off” button in
the people who report to them.

A purpose partner comes in to see a man like Bill,
bubbling with new ideas. But after only a few seconds, Bill interrupts and shuts her down: “No,
no, no. We’re not going to do that.” Not only do his words discourage any engagement, but
Bill’s brusque tone and disapproving frown causes people to think, “I’m never going to offer
another suggestion. What’s the point?”
You don’t hear Bill say things like, “You have such great ideas! I really appreciate your input.”
He’s like a stern traffic cop with a hand up, saying, “STOP. We’re not going to do that!” He
completely chokes off the geyser of ideas. A great leader should be like an eager tourist standing
by Old Faithful, waiting for it to erupt, saying, “I can’t wait! Here come more great ideas!”
Sadly, Bill’s office is the place where enthusiasm and innovation go to die.
You might be surprised to know how many men and women I’ve met who are just like Bill. I’ve
observed how people react to Bill’s tactics—how they shut down. Bill’s “leadership” destroys
anticipation and engagement. People around him look very much like dispirited, lifeless zombies
Sad to say, the men and women who are the worst violators in this area are usually unaware of
how they’re totally disempowering their purpose partners. Of course, some know exactly what
they’re doing and don’t care. In either case, Bill and those like him are so enamored and so
impressed with themselves that they’ve become prisoners of their own self-importance. The only
things they value are those things that promote them. The only ideas they want to hear are their
own. They clearly and consistently communicate this message to others: What you think, how
you feel, and what you have to say doesn’t matter to me one bit.
Self-absorbed people don’t realize that every man, woman, and child they meet has MMFI
stamped on their forehead; MMFI stands for Make Me Feel Important! All too often, I don’t
see models who demonstrate humility and servant leadership in our homes and workplaces. What
I see is hubris—excessive arrogance. I see people who get their degrees and become successful
in their communities, but they use these accomplishments as a platform to exalt self. They give
no thought to laying a humble foundation from which they can become effective, empowering,
inspiring servant-leaders.

The People First®
Leadership program I created emphasizes a systemic approach for equipping
leaders with the mind-set and skill-sets that equip them to unleash the untapped potential that
transforms ordinary people into extraordinary performers. People First leaders exemplify the
servant’s spirit of love, joy, and peace. They communicate belief—belief in the dignity and
worth of others—and they celebrate their creativity. The tools they employ are encouragement,
education, and empowerment. The faith, innovation, and collaboration they model form the root
of vibrant, healthy fruit: namely, passionate, purposeful, productive performance.
I talk to executives who resist implementing People First principles. “We’ve been very
successful,” they insist. “Look at the numbers!”
I don’t argue. “You’ve earned profits using the old-school, high-command, high-control model,”
I’ll agree. But at what cost? I meet men and women who work in “profits first” environments. I
talk to them privately and ask what the workday is like. I watch how they react to managers and
executives who act just like Bill, men and women who lead by fear and intimidation, who erode
trust and kill productivity. People actually speak less and move more slowly in such an
environment; they are closed, cautious, defensive, and dispirited.
This must change! Today’s economy will pitilessly weed out those organizations that squelch
initiative and depress the human spirit. We must learn to lead men and women in the way they
want to be led if we are to achieve the results that will separate our organizations from our
competitors.
As the title to these articles suggests, leaders must develop self-awareness if they are to achieve
outrageous success. I have developed a simple, memorable, powerful acrostic that will empower
you to do exactly that. I’ll provide that acrostic and explain it thoroughly in my next article.
I’m eager to get your feedback on this series. Do you work with someone like Bill? Or perhaps
you are someone like Bill? If so, come back next Tuesday. I have some great reading for you!
Posted in Best business practices, Creativity, Fear, Ideation, Leadership, Motivation, People
First, Philosophy, Positive Reinforcement, Servant leadership, Sustainability, Untapped Potential
| Tagged arrogance, disempowering, hubris, humility, Jack Lannom, MMFI, People First, self-
awareness, servant leadership | 1 Reply
“Show Me My Blind Spots”
Posted on January 29, 2013
1
By Jack Lannom

Just a few weeks ago, I was asked
to be the keynote speaker for an organization’s annual conference. The CEO had flown in from
Spain for the event. This was a very important presentation for a prestigious client.
I was wearing my finest suit and looked every bit the part of a top-flight consultant who was
going to speak about cultural change to a multinational corporation.
I sat with several of the company’s senior executives and enjoyed a delicious spinach salad for
lunch. About five minutes before I was to begin my speech, one of the leaders leaned over to me,
smiled, and whispered: “You have spinach in your teeth!”
I had just met the man that morning, but I had seen that he loves to laugh and joke; frankly, I
thought he was pulling my leg! I grinned back at him. But I did excuse myself and headed for a
restroom.
As I walked, I was running my tongue over my teeth, and I couldn’t feel anything. I was quite
sure that after my speech, this man would come up to me with a big grin and say something like
“Made you look!” I kept telling myself I was wasting time and playing into a prank; I was this
close to turning away from the restroom and striding into the meeting room.
That man’s eyes were more perceptive than my tongue. I peered into the mirror, and there was a
large flap of spinach completely covering my two front teeth! I looked like I was wearing a
Halloween disguise!
You may have heard the wisdom writer’s words: Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness;
let him rebuke me—it is oil for my head. The very first thing I do when I walk out on a stage is
beam my biggest, brightest smile at everyone in the audience. Can you imagine the first
impression my gap-toothed “spinach-smile” would have made on this audience? I was so
grateful to that man!
I didn’t know how much I needed his kindness at the time . . . until I looked in the mirror. My
pride almost caused me not to look; but I have done a lot of thinking about the subject of asking
for feedback. I frequently ask my wife and several other associates this question: “Will you show
me my blind spots?”

I know I can’t see my blind spots, so I need other people to alert me to them. I know how
important it is to consciously push pride aside and listen to the voice of humility. That’s what I
did on the day of my presentation, and I’m so glad I did! How much better to get the “oil” of
wisdom poured on my head—rather than walk out on that stage with egg on my face . . . or
spinach on my teeth!
If we truly want to grow to our fullest potential, we must work to develop the humility to ask for
help. Most businesses conduct regular performance reviews with their purpose partners. Part of
that process is to identify areas for growth and development. But what if we could enter into our
personal and professional relationships with the mindset that we need to ask each other for
regular performance reviews? Do you see the truth that we really do need each other to grow?
If we learn to see our personal growth not as something that “just happens,” but as a skill to be
learned and developed and mastered, then some of the most important words we can ever use
throughout that process are: Please show me my blind spots.
Prideful people won’t say that—they can’t say that. And as a result, they often find themselves
broadcasting their weaknesses to a watching world every bit as clearly as I nearly did with my
spinach-smeared smile!
Everyone who comes into your life can contribute to your growth. But you have to give them
permission to do that. You have to ask them to show you your blind spots . . . and then listen to
them respectfully and thankfully. That’s not always easy! But the opportunities for growth far
outweigh any momentary discomfort.
Engaging in this kind of People First practice is one of the best ways to eliminate resentment,
and I’d like to explore that idea further in my next article. In the meantime, I’d love to get your
feedback. Could you live with the mindset of “Show me my blind spots”? Do you think you can
really live without it?
Posted in Achieving Balance, Best business practices, Internal Customers, Leadership, People
First, Personal Development, Servant leadership, Sustainability, Wisdom | Tagged
accountability, blind spots, growth, humility, Jack Lannom, People First, pride, resentment,
wisdom | 1 Reply
Positive Reinforcement Travels Full Circle
Posted on January 15, 2013
By Jack Lannom
I often tell our clients that we don’t teach People First® Leadership simply because it’s the right
thing to do, even though it is. The bottom line is, putting people first works! It is an

incontrovertible fact that whatever you want your external customers
to feel, your internal customers must feel first!
Take the example of Roberta, the office manager at Brite-ColorPrinting Company. Roberta
makes it a practice to look for opportunities to catch people doing things right and celebrate
them. One Monday morning, she watches Anne, one of the inside sales reps, working with a
difficult customer. Mr. Jones’ brochures are two days late in production. Mr. Jones was the one
who failed to okay the print proofs that Brite-Color had provided a full day ahead of schedule,
but he has conveniently forgotten that. Now he is very unhappy and seems intent on making
Anne feel the same way. He is loud and overbearing and questions Anne’s effort and integrity.
Anne’s poise never slips and her courtesy never wavers. Although Roberta had thought she
might need to intercede on Anne’s behalf, Anne handles the situation tactfully and
professionally. Finally Mr. Jones leaves, still grumbling, but with the warning that “The next job
I bring here better be on time!” When he is finally gone, Anne wilts, resting her elbows on the
counter and covering her face with her hands.
Immediately, Roberta is at her side. Many managers might focus on the unpleasant human being
who just left the premises—“What a miserable person he is!”—but Roberta takes a totally
different tack. Rather than demean the humanity of the customer, she chooses to affirm Anne’s
human spirit instead.
“Anne,” she says, “what a first-class job you did with Mr. Jones! That was an extremely difficult
situation and you handled it beautifully. I don’t think anyone else would have turned that around
as well as you did. You are a real asset to our company. I’m so proud to work with you!”
Anne looks up into Roberta’s eyes and smiles gratefully. “Thank you for saying that! Mr. Jones
really was nasty, but I know he was stressed about getting his brochures on time.”
“Well, as long as we have professionals like you working with our customers, we’re the finest
print shop in the city!” Roberta confidently asserts.
Just then, the front door opens and Mrs. Smith walks in. Anne greets her with a bright smile.
“Good morning, Mrs. Smith. Wow, what a beautiful dress that is! And it looks great on you!
Where did you buy it?” Mrs. Smith tells Anne about a sale at a nearby mall and mentions that
she would like to place a large order. Anne is quickly efficient, obtaining the necessary
information, while remembering to inquire after Mrs. Smith’s two children, who sometimes
accompany her to the shop.
It is a warm, genuine exchange, and as Mrs. Smith prepares to leave, Anne tells her, “It really
was nice to see you today. You’re always so kind and friendly. And you always have all the
information we need to process your jobs quickly and efficiently. It’s people like you who make
my job fun, Mrs. Smith. I really appreciate you as a person and as a customer.”

Mrs. Smith beams with pleasure. “Anne, I was having kind of a rotten day before I got here! I
don’t remember the last time someone said something so nice to me. I just love coming here! I’ll
have to do it more often!”
Anne smiles warmly back at her. “We love having you here! Stop by anytime, even if it’s just to
visit.” Mrs. Smith tucks the psychological paycheck she has just received into her spiritual bank
vault and leaves.
Three hours later, Mrs. Smith is having lunch with her friend, Polly, who is the purchasing
manager for a large manufacturer. Mrs. Smith mentions her chat with Anne at Brite-Color
Printing that morning. “Polly, it’s so rare to be treated that way these days! And it’s like that
every time I’m there. You have a relationship with the people; it isn’t just a business
transaction.”
“Brite-Color Printing, you say?” Polly responds. “It is rare to find that kind of customer service
in this area. We’re always on the lookout for good suppliers; I’ll have to give them a call.”
Several months later, Polly’s firm has become a major customer for Brite-Color Printing. Polly is
so pleased with the company’s service that she jots a brief note to her sales rep at Brite-Color,
enclosing it with a sizeable check that settles that month’s account. “I was referred to you by my
friend, Mrs. Smith,” Polly writes. “She told me about the quality service she receives from your
company, and I’m so glad she did. She was absolutely right!”
Polly’s letter reaches Roberta, the People First®
Leader who helped to begin it all. “Mrs. Smith is
Anne’s customer,” Roberta recalls. “Wait until Anne sees this letter! I’ll be sure to show it to the
owner, too.” Roberta pauses to reflect on the joy she experiences when one of the people she
influences shines. “It goes to show you,” she nods to herself, “You get back from people what
you invest in them.”
Roberta’s actions impact the bottom line, and she also contributes to the top line. She enriches
the spirit of those with whom she interacts, and, indirectly, she will enrich the spirit of
individuals she may never meet. Polly’s letter is positive reinforcement for Roberta’s
management style, and a powerful antecedent for her to continue to employ the success strategies
of People First®
Leadership. It works!
Posted in Best business practices, Internal Customers, People First, Positive Reinforcement,
Servant leadership, Sustainability | Tagged customer service, Jack Lannom, People First, positive
reinforcement | Leave a reply
Great Leaders Build Great Cultures, Part
One
Posted on November 27, 2012

By Jack Lannom
When was the last time that you walked out of a place where you do business and thought, “Now
that is how a company should treat people”? When you encounter a genuine, caring culture, you
don’t soon forget the great experience.
You find yourself replaying that event in your mind and feel compelled to tell your friends about
your encounter with that outstanding organization.
Why is that? It’s because a culture that truly puts People First® is so rare that it might well be
regarded as an endangered species today.
When I employ the phrase “outrageously engaged, people-loving culture,” what organizations
come to mind? You might name Southwest Airlines, Chic-fil-A, or Ritz-Carlton. Rather than
identifying a world-class performance culture, let’s dig a little deeper: What kind of culture
have you created in the organization you serve? Have you, as a business leader, created a
committed, caring culture for your company—one that enables you to attract and retain the very
best people?
People read people. Every member of your staff is a walking billboard for your organization. If
you are the leader, the company culture is, quite simply, a reflection of your philosophy
about people. Everyone in your organization is the outliving of your in-living values!
Let me ask a more piercing question: Are you the kind of leader that all the people in a room
light up and radiate pleasure when you enter the room? Or does that happy
transformation only occur when you walk out of the room?
If you’re not sure, take a walk through your building. Take a good look at the people. Is there life
in your organization? Or do the people look like zombies? Have you assembled a collection of

passionless performance puppets? Or do you see a team of powerful purpose partners? Is
their performance characterized by discretionary effort or malicious obedience?
A truism of nature is that everything reproduces after its own kind. Cows only reproduce cows.
Cows can’t reproduce cats, and cats don’t give birth to caterpillars. In the very same way, an
impersonal leader can’t produce a personal culture. Aloof, autocratic leaders only reproduce after
their own kind; they create cultures marked by close encounters of the impersonal kind.
A People First culture is marked by listening and learning, laughter and love, engagement and
encouragement, empathy and empowerment, celebration and caring. A People First Culture
crackles with discretionary effort. There are millions of people who would gladly take a pay
cut to join a culture that truly cares about who they are and celebrates their humanity, not merely
measures their performance for the organization.
When you encounter a great culture you immediately feel it, see it, hear it, and trust it, because it
is authentic. A great, life-giving culture engages you and makes certain you know that you are
appreciated, honored and valued! It is a culture based on truth, not built on technique.
You can examine all sorts of theories about motivation; there are hundreds of theories that have
been developed during the last century! But virtually all of these are nothing more than
techniques based in behavioral science. Putting People First, on the other hand, is based on the
timeless truth about who people are. Putting People First is nothing more and nothing less
than doing the right things for the right reasons.
I’ll have more on this in my next article. Until then, I hope you’ll be busy putting People First!
Posted in Best business practices, Internal Customers, Leadership, People First, Positive
Reinforcement, Servant leadership, Sustainability | Tagged culture, discretionary effort, Jack
Lannom, leadership, malicious obedience, People First, performance puppets, Purpose Partners |
Leave a reply
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Traits of Servant Leaders: Putting People
First
Posted by: Cheryl Bachelder Posted date: February 11, 2013 In: Leadership, Personal
Development, Teamwork | comment : 3
How many places have you worked where they SAID, “we put our people first?” And how many
places was it a true statement? Putting people first is an essential pillar of servant leadership
based on the writings of Sipe and Frick in the Seven Pillars of Servant Leadership. But the words
have been so overused and abused, I almost decided not to write a blog this week. Who would
listen to ANOTHER article about putting people first?
So let’s skip that tired, misused phrase and go straight to the traits of the servant leader who
actually lives out the behaviors of putting people first. What does that look like?
Make a decision to serve. The first trait of the leader that puts people first is that they have
made a conscious decision to serve the people they have been entrusted with. The authors say
“how will you find, claim, and cultivate” the heart of a servant leader? Now there’s a good
question. As a leader, have you stopped and examined the basis for your leadership approach?
Have you searched out your heart and decided that what you love about your work is being in
service to others. If you have, you are a rare bird. Few have taken a vow of service as business
leaders. Most think a service mindset is reserved for people like Mother Theresa. Leadership
could not possibly stem from our hearts.

This one thing I know. The only ones among you that will be really happy will be those who
have sought and found how to serve.
Albert Schweitzer
Yet this is the counter culture idea I ask you to explore. Data suggests that those who start with
the heart of service towards those they lead have superior financial results in their business. It
seems that leaders who have found a passion, a heart for serving others are more successful than
those who don’t. Could you unlearn everything you’ve learned about leadership and make a
daily decision to serve the people?
Mentor future leaders. The second trait is that servant leaders make time to mentor future
leaders. But let me clarify. This is not the mentoring program most of us have attended, where
you are assigned a successful leader who sits down with you a few times and lectures you on
their life experience. No, true mentoring is not about the mentor. It’s about the mentee. I am
currently mentoring a leader in my company. It is not easy to do it well. I can tell you from
personal experience that it is difficult to stay intently focused on the mentee’s needs and to stifle
that desire to tell the person everything you’ve ever learned. Your responsibility to the mentee is
to help them develop their own wisdom. Ask them open-ended questions. Suggest that they do a
new project that stretches them. Give them a safe place to take risks and grow. Instead of
talking, could you listen to the heart felt passions and aspirations of your people and figure out
how you can help them?
Leadership is not an affair of the head. Leadership is an affair of the heart.
Kouzes & Posner
Show genuine care and concern in your actions. The difficulty is, if you don’t know the
people at work, you won’t be in a position to show much genuine care and concern. This year the
leader of our People Services team asked us to do three things with our leaders.
 Set up a block of time to ask team members what they aspire to do in their work life.
What do they want to learn? What role would they like to eventually reach?
 Set up a block of time to understand your team member’s values. We used a value card
exercise where the team member chose their top five values from a set of 34.
 Set up a block of time to have your team member tell you their personal purpose for
work. What means the most to them? How do they connect with the stated Purpose &
Principles of our company?
These are three ACTIONS that led us to crucial conversations where you begin to really know
the people that you work with every day. With this investment of time in knowing people, you
are in a much better position to show genuine interest in the people and care or concern for their
work and life.
I want you to be concerned about your next door neighbor. Do you know your next door
neighbor?
Mother Teresa

Conventional leadership teaching calls care and concern “soft” skills. They should be called
“hard” skills because they are so hard for leaders to actually do. Human beings are REAL people
with aspirations, goals, values, and plans for their lives. Building relationships with your
people? It’s powerful. It’s personal. It’s a lasting commitment. Could you set aside a
substantial amount of time to know your people and exhibit genuine care and concern for them?
These three things – Decide to lead out of a motive to serve. Mentor the future leaders by
listening to carefully to understand their aspirations. Show genuine care and concern for people
by spending time with them – That’s putting people first. And it will deliver superior
performance results for your business.
Traits of a Servant Leader: Systems Thinker
Posted by: Cheryl Bachelder Posted date: March 20, 2013 In: Leadership | comment : 5
Systems thinking has been in the leadership conversation for years,
probably most notably associated with The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practicing of The
Learning Organization by Peter Senge. But, I had not thought of it as a trait of servant leaders
until I came across “The Systems Pyramid” in Seven Pillars of Servant Leadership: Practicing
the Wisdom of Leading by Serving by James W. Sipe and Don M. Frick. As I explored this
concept, it illuminated a problem that I see in my workplace and I am betting you see it in yours.
The problem is this … too often we work on the events we see on the surface and we fail to
explore the underlying issue or root cause. But, as servant leaders, we must dig deeper than the
surface.

In our work, we are constantly faced with “events,” or issues or problems that are visible to us.
The System Pyramid suggests that we must get underneath the event to understand the root
cause.
First Level: The foundation of all events in your team or organization start with the people’s
belief systems.
The beliefs quietly run the show in organizations, just as they do in individuals.
Essentially, what people believe drives their behavior at work, just as it does at home.
Second Level: After beliefs, the level is culture. Culture is defined as the connections,
relationships and historical patterns that have become policies and assumptions in the
organization. Andy Grove, former Chairman of Intel, is credited with saying,
Culture eats strategy for lunch every day of the week.
In short, the culture of your team can either support or sabotage your strategy and the events to
come.
Third Level: Strategy is, in essence, the vision of what you are trying to accomplish. It defines
the desired outcome. It takes a longer view of the situation. It is the process of rising above the
current circumstances, to assess the landscape and determine where best to go.
Fourth Level: Lastly, events are situations we see and react to.
Sipe and Frick make the important point that beliefs and culture, while below the surface, are
where the greatest opportunity for leverage in solving business problems (events) lie. If you can
tap into beliefs and culture, you can bring the team to deep-rooted alignment on strategy and the
subsequent events.
Let’s walk through an example in real life. At one of our restaurants, a front counter team
member is rude to the customer who is placing their order. My inclination, as restaurant
manager, is to immediately address the problem by jumping in and solving the customer’s
concern or pulling aside the team member for some quick coaching. But systems thinking would
lead me to back up from the immediate problem and look deeper before trying to address this
“event.” For example, I could stop and reflect on how I had set up the customer service strategy
in the restaurant. Have I established clear expectations for customer service? Have I invested in
training each person on the behaviors of good customer service? Are the restaurant operations in
good order, setting up the front counter person for success?
Then, I take another step back. What kind of environment or culture have I established at the
restaurant that is working to support or defeat my goal of good customer service? Is the culture
“every man for himself” or a strong collaborative team? Is the culture a “we can do it” positive
attitude or “everything is against us” victim mentality? The environment or culture that I create
as a leader can either fuel success or fuel defeat of my strategy of good customer service.

But then, I take one more step back. What beliefs does the front counter person bring to the
restaurant that works for or against good customer service? Does the person believe that their
role on the team is to win the loyalty of the guest? Or, does the person believe that the guest is a
pain in the neck? The belief of the front counter team member will override all other aspects of
the pyramid. If they believe that it their job to take care of the guest, then no matter what the
environment, the strategy or the event, that is what they will do. If they believe the guest is a
nuisance, no matter what the environment, the strategy or the event, they will treat the guest
poorly.
This is systems thinking. Look at the event, but don’t stop there. Back up to the strategy and
examine if you have put the detailed strategy into action. Back up again to the culture; have you
created the environment to fuel the success of your strategy? Then one more step back; have you
explored the core beliefs of the team member to find out if they are truly aligned with the belief
that great customer service is important? Servant leaders get to the root cause and that leads to a
high performance solution.
Traits of a Servant Leader: A Skilled
Communicator
Posted by: Cheryl Bachelder Posted date: February 19, 2013 In: Leadership | comment : 6
Two weeks ago I had the privilege of hearing Ken Blanchard, author of
many books including One-Minute Manager, and Colleen Barrett, President Emeritus of
Southwest Airlines. The two of them sat on the conference stage in two big comfortable living
room chairs and talked to the audience about their recent book, Lead with LUV: A Different Way
to Create Real Success. They talked for one hour, without any notes, and it felt like they had just
stopped by for a chat over a cup of coffee. Communicating well is a gift; a gift of great leaders.
In the book we have been discussing over the last few weeks, Seven Pillars of Servant
Leadership, the authors say that being a Skilled Communicator is an essential trait of a servant
leader. I want to stand up and applaud – for my experience so completely supports this premise.
Yet I have met so very many leaders that were not skilled communicators primarily because they
were too busy thinking of themselves.

The single biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken place.
George Bernard Shaw
Demonstrate Empathy
A gifted communicator always expresses empathy toward the people they are communicating
with, just as I experienced with Ken Blanchard and Colleen Barrett; they spoke in a way that
connected with me. They had taken the time to get to know the audience. Then they prepared the
stories, facts and examples that would connect with the group. They were demonstrating
empathy in the way they communicated. Sipe & Frick tell us that “empathy enables us to
establish bonds of trust and caring with our colleagues and customers, to meet them with our
hearts as well as our minds, and to influence them to faithfully follow our lead.”
Empathy is not niceness or feeling sorry for someone. It is stopping long enough to see the world
from the other person’s perspective. It requires setting aside your own history and point of view
until you know theirs. Ask questions. Listen Carefully. Reflect on the things they tell you.
Respond authentically. Build a genuine connection with the other person.
Invite Feedback
If you are like most people, you don’t enjoy asking for feedback. It’s stressful. But a skilled
communicator asks for feedback and sees it as an opportunity to improve. A few weeks ago, I
asked a colleague to read a presentation I was preparing to give at a conference. I wanted to see
what parts of the presentation resonated with another leader and what sections needed more
work. But even though I asked for the feedback, I found myself a bit anxious awaiting the
response. But my colleague knew how to give great feedback:
 Respond quickly – his note came back in an hour
 Be supportive – his first comment was encouragement that I was on the right track
 Nonjudgmental – nothing he said was harsh or condescending in tone
 Specific – each comment had a page number and a specific suggestion
 Just the right amount – the feedback was not overwhelming, I was able to accommodate his
input
 Say thank you – he effusively thanked me for the opportunity to contribute and wished me well
This kind of feedback is what you need as a leader to continuously learn and improve your
communications.
Feedback is the breakfast of champions.
Ken Blanchard
Communicate Persuasively
This was my favorite section of the chapter on skilled communication. As John Maxwell often
says, “all leadership is influence.” And therefore, all outstanding leaders must learn to
communicate with persuasion. There is nothing manipulative about influence or persuasion. You
are simply making the case for what you believe to be the best path forward. It is up to the

listener to decide whether to agree and follow. Your job as the communicator is to address these
three essential components of persuasive communications:
 Smart: what is the logical, rational appeal?
 Heart: what is the emotional appeal?
 Character: what makes your appeal credible and trustworthy?
Like many aspects of leadership, these are proven techniques for making your case. They were
first written about in the fourth century B.C by the great philosopher Aristotle. That’s good
enough for me. Test your communications by these three viewpoints of your audience and see
your influence grow!
A skilled communicator serves the people well. They listen. They ask for feedback. They
influence persuasively.
Traits of a Servant Leader: Compassionate
Collaboration
Posted by: Cheryl Bachelder Posted date: February 27, 2013 In: Leadership, Teamwork | comment : 3
In American culture, we admire and celebrate individual
contributors. We hold up CEOs, celebrities, entrepreneurs, community leaders who have
accomplished great things, and we attach those great things to a person, more often than a team.
Even in our sporting events, we tend to celebrate the big name player, over the team. Without
realizing it, we often arrive at work with this mindset of individual contributor and we forget the
power of collaboration.
None of us is perfect by ourselves.
Robert Greenleaf
At Popeyes, we have been working on building a culture of collaborative teams. Today I share
with you a few observations from this experience. For context, five years ago we decided to
assign every critical strategic initiative to a cross functional team to define, solve and implement
the solution. Why? We were working on 129 projects that were NOT resulting in growth of sales

or profits of the company. Out of crisis, we had to work on fewer things and work in a different
way.
Not all of our teams were successful, but the successful, collaborative teams had these
characteristics:
1. The team set specific measureable goals; the goals were ambitious, but not crazy.
2. The team spent time mapping out what skill sets they needed to solve the problem and then
added team members where skill gaps existed.
3. The team established camaraderie early on. They took the time upfront to get to know one
another so that the work process would go more smoothly (and be more fun).
4. The team leader invited each person to bring their all to the team; communicating that each
person is uniquely valuable to the team.
5. The team developed a detailed work plan, assigned each deliverable to an owner, and made
sure the work could be accomplished in the time allotted.
6. The team figured out how to resolve conflicts constructively, without damaging relationships.
7. Team members met regularly to offer ideas and assistance to keep the work on schedule.
8. The team won as a team and the leader gave full credit to the team at every public opportunity.
So if you read the title of this blog, you may be wondering about the word compassionate
collaboration. The word compassionate, according to Merriam-Webster, means to be aware of
another person’s suffering and aim to alleviate it. I believe that when you lead a team, this is
your job: to think ahead to what the team needs to be successful, establish those conditions, and
alleviate stress points for them. In a nutshell, that is the work of a leader who compassionately
collaborates.
Traits of Servant Leaders: Be a Person of
Character
Posted by: Cheryl Bachelder Posted date: February 04, 2013 In: Leadership, Personal Development,
Purpose | comment : 4
Be a Person of Character

“Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be
without the strategy.
Gen. H. Norman Schwartzkopf
There is an initiative being taught in school systems called Character Counts (Josephson Institute
– Center for Youth Ethics). The curriculum teaches six core values to being a person with
character:
1. Responsibility
2. Respect
3. Trustworthiness
4. Fairness
5. Caring
6. Citizenship
Those are traits I would like my children to have. And also my neighbors. What about our co-
workers? Should we be teaching good character traits at work? Would a business organization
of people with good character traits outperform the competition?
In Seven Pillars of Servant Leadership, the authors make the case that “yes” we can define,
teach, and coach the development of character in our leaders. They conclude that leaders with
character display these three traits:
1. Maintain Integrity
2. Demonstrate humility
3. Serve a higher purpose than themselves
Integrity
Have you worked for a leader without integrity? I have. I’ve been asked by a boss to lie. I’ve
worked for leaders who did not do what they promised. I’ve worked for people whose word
could not be trusted. I’ve worked for leaders who did not do the right thing in the moment of
truth. A lack of integrity results in lack of trust. Patrick Lencioni establishes in his book Five
Dysfunctions of a Team that trust is the foundation of all high performance teams. Trust depends
on integrity.
Integrity starts with knowing your own core values and sharing them with your team. It
continues with leading by example to demonstrate what your core values look like in action. If
you have a core value of honesty, you will need to define it to your team and discuss specific
examples of what honesty looks like at work. For example: I believe honesty means telling your
supervisor the truth even if it is bad news. But to live out this value, my team must feel that I
provide a safe haven for bringing forward bad news. If I lose my temper and treat the messenger
badly, that will be the last time I get the truth from that team member. Instead, I need to evidence
calm as the news is delivered, ask clarifying questions, and ask how I can help the team solve the
problem. Over time, if bad news is received constructively, my team will feel confident in
always telling me the truth. Know your core values. Live them and teach them.

Humility
Humility is a misunderstood word. Most think the word implies weakness and low self-esteem as
compared to the opposite end of the spectrum – ego, hubris and high self-esteem. Humility is not
about your self-esteem or strength. Humility is about how you act towards other people. Do you
put your needs first or their needs first? A humble leader listens carefully to the needs of their
team and makes sure they have the resources they need to be effective. The humble leader gives
frequent tribute to the contributions of others. The humble leader does not reference their title to
get work done. The humble leader admits mistakes promptly. The humble leader coaches the
team towards the winning outcome. The difference maker: the humble leader simply thinks
more about their people than themselves.
How much time are you spending developing the individuals that work for you? Are they your
#1 priority? Are you working with them on a plan to grow and achieve? A humble leader spends
the majority of their time helping others reach success. Interestingly, that service towards others
generates the best performance for the leader as well. Serve the people and succeed.
Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but rather thinking about yourself less.
C.S. Lewis
Higher Purpose
A recent book called Grow: How Ideals Power Growth and Profit at the World’s Greatest
Companies by Jim Stengel documents that those companies who center their business on
improving people’s lives have a growth rate three times that of their competitors and they also
outperformed the S&P 500 by a wide margin. These companies rally their teams by working
towards a higher purpose that improves people’s lives. The purpose could be as simple as
bringing people a fabulous cup of coffee (Starbucks) or as ambitious as bringing clean drinking
water to a third world country. The higher purpose aligns the team towards the mission and away
from their self-centered needs. Think about the phenomenon of TOMS shoes in recent years.
TOMS chose to donate one pair of shoes to a poor nation for every pair that our wealthy nation
buys. Everyone is wearing TOMS’ shoes in the U.S. and millions of poverty stricken nations
now have shoes for every person.
While these mission-oriented companies have an impressive purpose that drives performance,
the principle holds true for individuals, as well. You can have a higher purpose of your own –
right where you are in your workplace. Your purpose can be to serve the people in your
immediate circle of influence. For example, you may have a personal purpose of growing the
competence and character traits of the team that works for you. Your focus on training, coaching,
supporting, and “having their back” is a purpose beyond yourself. You are serving people,
advancing their capabilities, and preparing them for future opportunities. This higher purpose is
more important than the type of business you work in. Example: My purpose is to develop
leaders. I do that in a company that sells delicious chicken and seafood.
Frankly, your personal purpose is more important than the purpose of your employer. To perform
well, you need to know what you are doing at work. What is the point? What purpose drives

you? What makes you feel you are doing valuable work? Until you can articulate this and live it
in your daily routines, you will not love your job, you will not have many followers, and you will
not experience top performance.
Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.
Confucius
In summary, one of the Seven Pillars of Servant Leadership is to be a person of character. Act
with integrity. Be humble: think about yourself less. Find a higher purpose for your work that
helps other people and the business succeed. And watch what happens to your performance
results.
Lead. Serve. Succeed.
Serving Delivers Superior Results
Posted by: Cheryl Bachelder Posted date: January 22, 2013 In: Productivity | comment : 3
Here is a question I love to answer. Does servant leadership deliver
SUPERIOR financial performance results?
The answer: Unequivocally YES.
The reason I love this question is that I meet skeptic after skeptic that cannot follow this logic. It
is not plausible that you could serve the people you lead AND deliver superior financial
performance. This is a deep-rooted objection that is embedded in much of our teaching about
leadership. False assumptions like:
 Leaders with superior financial results are mean, tough, son-of-a-guns.
 Leaders that serve and care about the people are weak-kneed, soft, wimpy people.
You can’t serve the people well without delivering superior results.
Cheryl Bachelder
The first serious research in support of this premise came in Jim Collins’ book, Good to
Great. He demonstrated that 28 companies exhibited superior, long-term performance results that
beat the general stock market by an average of seven times in fifteen years. These companies had

what Collins’ coined “Level V” leaders. Here is his definition of Level V leaders; essentially
leaders in service to the enterprise.
Level 5 leaders channel their ego needs away from themselves and into the larger goal of building a great
company. It is not that Level 5 leaders have no ego or self-interest. Indeed, they are incredibly ambitious-
but their ambition is first and foremost of the institution, not themselves. – Jim Collins
The next serious research on the topic is in a lesser known book called Seven Pillars of Servant
Leadership by James W. Sipe and Don M. Frick. These authors took the financial performance of
the eleven publicly traded “good to great” companies and compared them with eleven companies
most frequently cited as “servant-led.” The eleven companies studied by Collins averaged a
17.5% return. The servant-led companies averaged a 24.2% return (both outperforming the S&P
return of 10.8%).
There are additional studies that build on this body of research and support the fact that purpose-
driven, people-centric, service-minded companies simply outperform the rest. Which overtime,
has led me to the well-founded conclusion that serving the people and the enterprise is by far the
best path to superior financial performance.
Good leaders must first become good servants.
Robert Greenleaf
Over the last five years, we have been building such a case study at Popeyes® Louisiana Kitchen
restaurants. We like to say “how we do business is more important than what we choose to do.”
First we chose our most important constituent, our franchisee, as our focal point. They are the
investors and entrepreneurs that drive the performance of our restaurant chain. We then chose to
SERVE their interests, by making their sales and profitability our number one goal. And most
importantly, we chose to work with our franchisees in close partnership (the ‘how’) which has
been the accelerator to our business performance. Today our financial performance is best in
class in our industry. By Wall Street measures, our stock appreciation over the last five years is
over 300%. Our stated purpose: Inspire servant leaders to achieve superior results.

If you don’t believe that you can serve AND deliver superior financial performance, please
follow this blog over the next few weeks as I discuss the behaviors and traits of servant leaders.
They may be different than you think. Stay tuned.
Lead … Serve … Succeed.
What Real Leaders Do
Visiting restaurants is where I learn the most important leadership lessons. Better than
conferences, books, speeches, and blogs. Restaurant leaders don’t complicate leadership. They
DO leadership.
A leader is one that knows the way, goes the way and shows the way.
John Maxwell
Meet Min Cho, leader of the Popeyes restaurant on Osan Air Force Base in Korea. Min Cho is no
ordinary leader. Last year she won the coveted Popeyes Gold plate for running the best
international restaurant in our system. I wanted to visit her and learn from her. And I am so glad
that I did.
After looking at the spotless, organized, smooth-running restaurant that Min Cho leads, I asked
her:
Please tell me your leadership secret.
Without taking a breath, she said, “I focus on my people. I find that when I do that they take
good care of the customer.”
Tell me more.
“My people have been with me a long time. We are like family. We live in the same town. We

often go out to dinner together.”
How do you keep things running well during the day?
“We talk often. We have three 5 minute meetings each day. We remind ourselves to take good
care of the guest, explain the specials, and always upsell dessert. It doesn’t take long, but it keeps
us all on the same page.”
At the end of my time with Min Cho, she says to me, “Tell me what your leadership secret is?”
And I said, “My goal as a leader is to be like YOU. I want to focus on the people. Make sure
they have the preparation and resources they need to be successful. I want them to feel like they
belong to something important. I want to communicate with people so that we are all on the same
page. Frankly, Min Cho, I hope I am half as good a leader as you are.”
“Leaders don’t create followers. They create more leaders.
Tom Peters
Meet Amelia Binto Rahman, leader of a new restaurant at 313 Somerset in Singapore. Amelia
opened a new restaurant this week, starting with a “friends and family” night on Tuesday to
make sure everything was ready to open on Wednesday. But just four hours before the big event,
Amelia was attending a leadership training workshop that I was teaching at a nearby hotel.
I walked up to Amelia and said:
How can you be here at this workshop, looking calm and collected, when your new
restaurant is opening in a matter of hours?
She says without hesitation, “The leader must be calm. It tells my team that I have complete
confidence in them. They are prepared. There is no need for me to worry.”
Sure enough, the event went off without a hitch. Her team was prepared and capable.
So later in the day I asked Amelia:

Have you always been so calm, collected and capable?
“No. Actually I used to be quite different. I used to run around and yell a lot and I was always
stressed. It was not a good way to lead. I have changed the way I lead and it is working much
better now.”
Leadership is expressed, not so much in words, as in attitudes and in actions.
Harold S. Geneen
Leadership Lessons from Real Leaders:
 Focus on your people.
 Treat them like family.
 Talk to them often.
 Help them get ready for the opportunities ahead.
 Be calm.
 Exhibit confidence in your people.
These are the attitudes and actions of leadership.
And your point is?
Feedback is a gift. Last night my daughter said to me, “just what is the
point of your blog, Mom?” In case you have the same question, I offer this answer …
I want to challenge you to re-think your approach to leadership. Or perhaps, come to a point of
view on why you lead for the very first time.
Power and Authority.
The business leaders of my generation have been an embarrassing bunch. Their model for
leadership can be summed up as “it’s all about me.” They strive for the highest position available
to them. They use their position to wield power over others. They seek recognition and rewards
for themselves. And they do whatever it takes to reach their personal goals, with disregard for the
impact on others. This is the leadership model celebrated in our culture. These are the leaders on

the covers of our business magazines. Think Donald Trump and you’ll have the right picture in
your mind.
Every leadership position has power and authority. The question is, how will you use it … for
yourself, or for others?
Achieving the Win.
I’ve discussed this notion with a lot of leaders. They quickly acknowledge that they have
experienced leaders who are self-absorbed, and they abhor such a leader and the work
environments they create. Then they say the most interesting thing. “I am not that type of leader.
I am an achievement driven leader. I just love the thrill of the win.” I call this the athlete’s
response. Generally these leaders have played a competitive sport in high school or college, or
maybe their competitions were for straight As in school. Either way, this model is best summed
up as “It’s all about the win.” The leader chases stretch goals, they run hard towards them, and
they drive the team to perform. Their psyche requires a win. Everything is scored.
Every leader must achieve. I believe performance and competence are character traits of great
leaders. The question is who is the win for … for you, or for your team?
Get over yourself.
This brings me to the alternative leadership model. I’ve dubbed it “Get over yourself.” My blog
is to convince you that when you stop leading for yourself and your own outcomes, you start
being a great leader with superior performance results. For you skeptics, there is research that
confirms my point – three long view studies that prove when you lead for the sake of others you
deliver superior financial performance results1
. Said another way, you cannot be the top
performing leader you aspire to, until you ditch your self-centeredness. And it is simple to
explain. No one else is inspired and motivated to follow you because of your personal ambitions.
Followers are inspired by leaders who help them grow and reach their goals and potential.
The purpose of my blog is to ask you to explore a model of leadership where you serve the
people and the enterprise, not yourself. It’s the hardest, most counterculture, counterintuitive
idea about leadership. It remains “fringe” thinking in leadership thinking. Skeptics are many.
Some say it is an outdated notion. I beg to differ.
Over the next several weeks, I will be describing what this kind of leadership looks like in
action. Join me in the conversation.

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