Servant Leadership
I've been studying (and sometimes practicing) leadership for a long time. I was about to say how long when the size of the number staggered me. There is a topic that is gaining the status of "fad" even though the basic ideas have been around for a long time. It's called servant leadership. If any of you deal with DVT, you get a strong dose of it. CEO Bob Steinke is a true believer--even offering a class during the company's user conference with author James Hunter.
In a story about Unilever's CEO for the Ukraine and Russia in knowledge@Emory, the writer defines servant leadership as a philosophy of life and leadership dedicated to the growth and development of others; servant leaders are committed to building value-based institutions that contribute to creating a sustainable, just, and caring society.
I think there are two keys here. One is developing others; the other is values. I've worked for a couple of people in the past whose values were, shall we say, not the highest. I consider that one of the most important things. The developing others part I first learned either from reading Peter Drucker or articles in the Harvard Business Review in the early 1980s. In one of my previous management stints, one of my favorite questions was "what can I do to help you." It worked
The article in knowledge@emory is http://knowledge.emory.edu/index.cfm?fa=viewArticle&ID=839. The site requires registration, but it is well worth it.
9:21:20 PM 
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