How Servant Leadership Leads To Business Success
by Kendrick B. Melrose
Author of Making the Grass Greener on Your Side

Leadership is not about being. Leadership is about becoming. Leadership is dynamic and active, always changing, always growing. In describing spiritual growth, St. Francis of Assisi wrote: "There is always more growing yet to come, and more light yet to shine." So too with leaders — there is always more growth and more light yet to come. But the journey must begin somewhere. It can begin by taking stock of where you are: your skills, your talents, and most importantly, your beliefs about leadership. Understanding yourself is the first step in deciding what kind of leader you want to become.

In 1973 I began an important experience that gave shape to the kind of leader I wanted to be. I was thirty-two at the time and found myself in Litchfield, Michigan, a tiny town situated in the south-central and rural part of the state. I was the newly appointed president of Game Time, Inc., a recent acquisition by The Toro Company. Game Time manufactured and marketed playground equipment for the commercial and institutional market. The company had revenues of less than $10 million and about two hundred employees, many of whom lived (and worked) on nearby farms. I was coming from a role in marketing lawn mowers and knew little or nothing about the business of playground equipment.

Different people had "helped" me build preconceptions about the Game Time company, its plant, and the small, rural town in which it was located. I presumed that the environment was not very sophisticated and that the company's culture and management practices were much simpler than those at Toro. The Game Time employees had their preconceptions about me, too. The head office at Toro had told them to expect a Princeton graduate with advanced degrees from MIT and the University of Chicago. I don't know who was more uncomfortable that first day — they or I.

Before I arrived, Game Time had been run by its founder, a man I would describe as a benevolent autocrat. (I'll call him Bill.) I didn't know what my leadership style was or exactly what it would be a week after I arrived, but I knew one thing: Bill's leadership style and mine were worlds apart.

During Bill's tenure, the people at Game Time had learned that Bill made the decisions — all the decisions. He liked to be involved in every aspect of the business. There were reasons for this, of course. Game Time had been Bill's company. He started it and he knew everything there was to know about building playground equipment. Regardless of the question, Bill always had an answer. There was no doubt about it; Bill was the boss.

The problem was that Bill's management style had taught his people to wait for him to tell them what to do. As a result, they did not exhibit much initiative in their jobs. During my first few weeks with the company, employees would walk into my office and ask for advice. For example, I might have been asked, "How much steel should we purchase?" "Should I ship this order or that order first?" "In what magazines should we advertise?" I didn't know the answers to those questions, but I knew how to find them.

I turned the questions and decisions back to the employees and focused on teaching them the process of decision making, that is, gathering information, getting others involved, finding out what the requirements are, determining the impact, and then finally making the decision. As the people who had the knowledge, experience, and information began to solve problems and make their own decisions, they began to enjoy their work more. We made mistakes at first, but we learned together. People didn't get fired or chewed out; rather, they simply used the mistakes to learn and to get better. My fledgling leadership role created a learning environment. Together, we became more confident in our jobs and we developed more trust in one another. The bonds that formed allowed us to work as a team. We learned to accept and rely on our interdependence. We all grew in self-esteem and self-actualization, and through teaching others, I was the one who learned the most.

Lessons Learned at Game Time
Soon after my Game Time experience, I read Servant Leadership by Robert Greenleaf — a book about leading an organization by serving instead of by directing or controlling. Greenleaf's leadership model resonated with me as I reflected on my experience at Game Time. Bit by bit, I came to understand that leaders lead best by serving the needs of their people. The result of my leadership lessons at Game Time was that in three years Game Time became the most productive division of Toro with the best return on investment. The most important lessons I learned are the following:

• Everyone has the potential to be a strong contributor in an organization.
• Individuals work best within a nurturing, valuing environment because that environment allows them to trust, risk, create, and measure up to the expectations of others, and thus become more valuable people.
• The primary driving forces behind continuous improvement are positive self-esteem and trust (not tools, techniques, and skills).
• Effective, long-lasting personal growth and learning are accomplished interactively on the job.
• Even though individuals may feel helpless at times and unable to exert enough influence to actually change an organization, they can in fact make a difference.

My experiences at Game Time also taught me how important it is to step back every now and then to look at what you are doing with your life. I came to understand that my core beliefs, principles, and values are at the heart of what I do and why I do it. If we are to become wise stewards of our organization's future, we must begin by carefully assessing our core beliefs, principles, and values. This is not a one-time assignment. Periodic self-assessment helps us understand where we are, where we are going, and why. It also helps us understand the impact of our beliefs and behaviors on others. And it's the best way to grow as a person.

Progress from one growth level to the next requires you to continually reach down within yourself to find and unleash new power and to open new perspectives, with commitment and passion. Progress means tapping your inner strengths and sharing with others the power and spirit you discover. Each day I try to take on the challenge of making at least one thing better. It may be dealing with the person who irritated me the day before, attempting to solve a nagging problem at the office, or a personal issue that I've been avoiding.

When you set out to accomplish things, you discover there are no easy resolutions to the challenges of life and leadership, especially when the process depends on self-discovery. I do think, however, that self-assessment and self-renewal are an important starting point. When you take the time to consciously consider your own life experience, to think about your values, and to reflect on how those values influence your daily activities, you are taking the first steps on the path to becoming a servant leader.

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First of a Series
Series Courtesy of Article Resource Association

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