The Servant: A Simple Story

about the True Essence of

Leadership

By
James C. Hunter

The ideas I stand for are not my own.

I borrowed them from Socrates.
I swiped them from Chesterfield.
I stole them from Jesus.
And if you dont like their ideas,
whose ideas would you rather use?
Dale Carnegie

1. Leadership Definitions
What is leadership?
The skill of influencing people to work
enthusiastically toward goals identified
as being for the common good.
Building influence with others is available
to everyone, but requires a tremendous
extension of oneself.

Know the Difference Between

power and authority

POWER - the ability to

force or coerce
someone to do your
will, even if they would
choose not to, because
of your position or your
might. It can be bought
and sold, given and
taken away. People can
be put in positions of
power.

AUTHORITY - the
skill of getting people
to willingly do your
will because of your
personal influence. It
cannot be bought or
sold, given or taken
away. It is about who
you are as a person,
your character.

The Top Ten List of Qualities that a

Leader should possess:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Honesty or trustworthiness
Good role model
Caring
Committed
Good listener
Holds people accountable
Treats people with respect
Gives people encouragement a motivator
9. Positive, enthusiastic attitude
10. Appreciates people

Of the top ten, the most important ingredient in any

successful relationship is TRUST. It is the glue
that holds relationships together.

To have a healthy and thriving business, you must

have healthy relationships with the C.E.O.S.
C - Customers. If they are leaving and going to
the competition, you are not
meeting their legitimate needs.
E - Employees. Labor unrest, turnover, strikes,
low morale, low trust are all
examples of a relationship problem.
O/S - Owners &
Stockholders. They have a legitimate need to get
a fair return on their investment.

2. The Old Paradigm

Clinging to outdated paradigms can cause us to
become stuck while the world passes us by.
Change takes us out of our rut (also known as
our comfort zone) and forces us to do things
differently.
A rut is nothing more than a coffin with the
ends kicked out.
IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO IMPROVE UNLESS WE CHANGE

OLD PARADIGM
CEO
VICE PRESIDENTS
MIDDLE MANAGERS
SUPERVISORS
EMPLOYEES/ASSOCIATES
CUSTOMERS

OLD PARADIGM
This is a top down mentality.

The question has to be asked,

Who is it you are trying to serve?
The customer, or the boss?

NEW PARADIGM
CUSTOMER
EMPLOYEES/ASSOCIATES
SUPERVISORS

MIDDLEMANAGERS
VICE PRESIDENTS
CEO

NEW PARADIGM
In this paradigm, the role of the leader
is not to rule and lord over the next layer down.
The role of the leader is to SERVE.
A leader is someone who identifies and meets
the legitimate needs of their people, removes
all the barriers, so they can serve the customer.
TO LEAD, YOU MUST SERVE!

What are the Differences Between

NEEDS and WANTS?
WANT - simply a wish or desire without
any regard for the physical or psychological
consequences.
NEED - a legitimate physical or
psychological requirement for the wellbeing of a human being.

What are the Differences Between

NEEDS and WANTS?
There is a big difference between identifying
and meeting the needs of their people, versus
identifying and meeting the wants of their
people.
1st statement - the leader serves the people.
2nd statement - the leader is slave to the
people.

The Main Question a Leader

Should Ask Himself/Herself is:

What are the needs of the people I lead?

3. The Model

Remember the definition of leadership:

The skill of influencing people to work
enthusiastically toward goals identified as
being for the common good.

The Model
The true leader accomplishes goals by
exerting authority and influence, not power.
Leadership must be built upon authority.
Authority is built on service and sacrifice. The
leader serves. It is the Law of the Harvest You reap what you sow

The Model
Service and sacrifice are built on love. Here
we are talking about the verb describing behavior,
not the noun describing feelings.
Love is built on will.

INTENTIONS - ACTION = SQUAT

INTENTIONS + ACTION = WILL

The will to do
whats best for the
team

The will to maintain

the highest level
of character

The will to win

The will to keep

my word

All the good intentions in the world dont amount

to anything if they dont line up with our actions.
It is not what people say, it is what people do.
This then, is the will.

The Leadership Model

Leadership

Authority
Service and Sacrifice
Love

Will

How can we best

achieve success?

Leadership boils down to a four word job description:

Identify and Meet Needs.

Who Are Some of the Greatest

Leaders of All Time?
The greatest leader of all time is Jesus Christ!
Other leaders who rose to greatness include:
Gandhi
Martin Luther King
Mother Teresa

Great leaders always have a servant attitude.

4. The Verb - LOVE

Vince Lombardi - I dont necessarily have to like

my players, but as a leader I must love them. Love
is loyalty, love is teamwork, love respects the
dignity of the individual. This is the strength of
any organization.

How is Love Defined?

Strong affection
Warm attachment
Attraction based upon sexual feelings
A score of zero in tennis

The true definition of love is not one of feeling,

but the behavior and choice.
(From the Greek word agapao).

You cant always control how you are going

to feel about another person; but you can
control how you are going to behave toward
that person.

Qualities of Love
Patience
Kindness
Humility
Respectfulness
Selflessness
Forgiveness
Honesty
Commitment

How does this list compare to the qualities of a good leader?

Patience - Showing Self-control

The leader must model good behavior. Point out

gaps between the set standard and performance.

Kindness - Giving attention,appreciation,

and encouragement.
Are you a good listener? Do you cut people off?

4 Ways to Communicate Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening

6% - Writing
9% - Reading
20%- Speaking
65%- Listening

Kindness
One of the primary works of love is paying
attention to people.

Be kind to others. How far you go in life

depends upon your being tender with the young,
compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with
the striving, tolerant of the weak and the strong.
Because someday in your life, you will have
been all of these. - George Washington Carver

Humility - Being Authentic and Without

Pretense or Arrogance.

Not thinking less of yourself,

but thinking of yourself less.

Respectfulness - Treating Others as

Important People.

The leader has a vested interest in the

success of those being led. One of our roles
is to help our followers become successful.
Are you routinely late for meetings,
appointments, etc.?

Selflessness - Meeting the Needs of Others,

Even Before Your Own.

Again, differentiate between needs and wants.

Forgiveness - Giving Up Resentment

When Wronged.

Forgiving behavior is dealing with situations

as they arise in an assertive manner, and
then letting go of any lingering resentment.
Resentment will consume the leader.

Honesty - Being Free From Deception

The number one quality most people list of
what they want from their leader.
Honesty is about clarifying expectations for
people, holding people accountable, being
willing to give the bad news as well as the
good news, giving people feedback, being
consistent, predictable and fair.

Commitment - Sticking to Your

Choices
True commitment is a vision. It is a dedication
to growing, stretching and continuously
improving. It is a passion for the people and the
team. We must be the example for them as well Dont ask for something that you are not willing
to do yourself.
Influence, not manipulation!

Love
The end result of Love is service and sacrifice.
Setting aside your own wants and needs;
seeking the greatest good from others.

Love - the verb - could be described as the act

or acts of extending yourself for others by
identifying and meeting their legitimate needs.

5. The Environment

What is the proper environment for our

people to grow?

The Garden - What Does It Need?

Fertilization (appreciation, recognition, praise)

Weeding
Pest Removal
Patience for the fruit and flowers to grow
Dont give up too quickly on your garden.

The Relationship Bank Account

Its like your checkbook
Deposits - being trustworthy, honest, giving people
appreciation and recognition, being good listeners,
keeping our word, not talking behind someones
back, being courteous.
Withdrawals - being unkind, discourteous,
breaking promises and commitments, backstabbing, being poor listeners, being arrogant.

One of the important tasks of a leader

is to create and maintain an environment
where growth can occur. Leaders do not
make growth occur.

6. The Choice
We are more likely to act ourselves into a feeling
than feel ourselves into action. Feelings follow
behavior.
Responsibility:
Response - ability. The stimulus is always coming
at us, but we as human beings have the ability to
choose our response.

There are two things we MUST do in life Die, and make choices!

4 Stages of Developing New Skills:

1. Unconscious and unskilled - Oblivious to the
behavior or habit
2. Conscious and unskilled - Aware of new
behavior, but have not yet developed the skill
3. Conscious and skilled - Become more skilled and
comfortable with the new behavior/skill
4. Unconscious and skilled - Dont have to think
about it anymore. Becomes second nature;
Building Character.

The Choice
The labors of leadership and love are
character issues. Our character
building blocks (patience, kindness,
humility, selflessness, respectfulness,
forgiveness, honesty, commitment) must
be developed and matured if we are to
become successful leaders who stand
the test of time.

7. The Payoff
There are many payoffs for living a life of
authority and servanthood. The mission of
building authority by serving those for whom
the leader is responsible could give the leader
a real vision of where he/she is headed. With
that vision comes purpose and meaning.

Personal mission statement.

The Payoff
Another payoff is JOY. Not happiness,
but joy. Joy is the inner satisfaction and
the conviction of knowing that you are
truly aligned with the deep and unchanging
principles of life. Serving others breaks
you free from the shackles of self and selfabsorption that choke the joy of living.

The Payoff
There is no profit to have learned well if you
neglect to do well.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.