If The Leader is Servant, What Does That Make The Followers?

Road To CEO	Monday Morning Leadership	12 Choices That Leads To Your Success

You have probably heard the saying, “You must first learn to follow before you can lead.” The problem with this is getting the right kind of leader to follow so you can learn to lead in the right kind of ways.

We lead as we were lead. From what I can see, many of today’s corporate and public leaders followed the wrong kind of leaders. If a young manager watches and even gets mentored by the average business person in upper management, what do they learn to do when they become a leader? Expect 10 to 50 times as much in compensation as the average worker they lead? Display arrogant buck passing and blaming of others lower in rank? Take more than they give because they think they “have earned it?”

Perhaps this sounds critical. It is intended to remind leaders that when our young people themselves attain leadership positions, they will be inclined to perpetuate leadership patterns that continue to demoralize work forces and rob their followers of personal integrity, that is unless they are shown otherwise.

Although it has religions undertones, “servant leader” is a pretty good alternative leadership style. In older Asian cultures, the leader was thought of as one who knew and used three pieces of information:

1. How things work, that is, the natural laws of people and human groups.
2. How to live consciously in harmony with those natural laws.
3. How to govern and educate others in accordance with these laws of human behavior.

Wise Asia people such as Lao Tzu did not call themselves religious but they advocated:

• Compassion for all creatures,
• Material simplicity and frugality, and
• A sense of equality.

Leadership positions call for the practical application of these principles and in so doing some will say the leader has become servant to those he or she leads.

The hope is people who follow you, wise servant leader, will eventually lead as they were lead. If you are a wise leader, your followers are those served. They are also learners of your example.

Paul W. Anderson, Ph.D. coaches people to get from where they are to where they want to be without giving up who they are. Hook up with him at http://www.bulletproofcoach.com

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