Servant leaders serve who? No one, themselves, as many as possible?
Sat 17 September 2011
, LEAPredactie, source Harvard Working Knowledge
The concept of servant leadership is quite popular and more and more peple describe themselves as servant leader. But Mitch Maidique, a professor of management at Florida International University, says it still leaves open the question of who you are truly serving: yourself, your group, or society at large? For Harvard Working Knowledge he wrote an essay on six levels of leadership, from sociopath to transcendent. See if you can recognise yourself or your boss in one of these:
Sociopath : serves no one
At the base of Maidique's model - level one - is the person who serves literally no one: the sociopath. This type of leader has abnormally low empathy, making it difficult to create connections with followers, and destroys value for the organization, himself, and ultimately those who surround him. Example: Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi.
Opportunist : serves him/herself
The opportunist serves only himself, often at the expense of others. Opportunists are obsessed with "What's in it for me?" Examples: Bernie Madoff, who developed the investment Ponzi scheme that primarily benefited him (until it sent him to prison); and Jeffrey Skilling, the ex-Enron CEO who also is behind bars
Chameleon : serves as many as possible
Chameleons change colors all the time, trying to please as many people as possible by fitting in with everyone else's views. We know them in our companies and, of course, we also see them on the political stage. In business they tend to be weeded out before they rise too high, but in politics many prominent individuals fall into this category. Example: John Kerry, who said of his stance on a bill to finance the war in Iraq: "I actually did vote for the [authorization bill] before I voted against it."
There is not much to celebrate about the first three levels, although certainly two and three abound in organizations. There's much more to admire in levels four, five, and six.
Achiever: serves her boss and herself
The Achiever is “a monomaniac with a mission" . These leaders rarely fail to achieve their goals and often exceed sales quotas, create generous profits, and frequently star at merit-award dinners. Achievers are focused, energetic, results-oriented, and highly prized by top management. Achievers pursue goals established by their bosses or by themselves, in a single-minded manner. Therein lies the Achilles' heel of Achievers: They drive toward a goal without giving much consideration to the broader mission. Example: Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Mark Hurd is an excellent example of a level-four leader. Under his watch HP's stock price more than doubled, but he decimated the infrastructure and intellectual seed corn (R&D) of the company to do so.
Builder: serves her institution
The Builder strives not to reach a goal but to build an institution. Builders are legendary leaders such as IBM's Tom Watson and Harpo's Oprah Winfrey. These people serve their institutions by managing for the long term and not allowing themselves to be seduced by the twin mirages of short-term profit or stock market valuations. They have a grand vision for the future of their organizations, and they infect others with their energy, enthusiasm, and integrity. These are the leaders we write books about, study, try to understand, and lionize.
Transcendent: serves all of society
Builders are few and far between, but there is an even rarer type of leader: the Transcendent. They transcend their political party, their ethnic or racial group, and even their institutions. They focus on how to benefit all of society. These are "global citizens," who watch out not only for numero uno but for the wider public. Example: The first black president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela. He was able to soar above hatred for his jailers, the political tug of the African National Congress, the pull of his racial and tribal group, and the rejection by the Afrikaners to build a South Africa for all South Africans.
The Dalai Lama, another Transcendent, told Madique that the first thing he does in the morning after he finishes his prayers is to ask himself, "How can I help to make the world better today?" Imagine if our senior political and business leaders started their day by asking that question and acting on the answer.
We are all a portfolio mix
No one is a pure Transcendent or a pure Opportunist. Rather, we are all a portfolio of the different types with one type being dominant, says Madique. Even the Dalai Lama has to deal with the pull of his emotions when he makes decisions. And Madoff did his best to shield his wife and sons when he confessed his grand scheme to the FBI.
Read Madique’s full essay: http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/6752.html
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