Ground Rules for Growth: Servant Leadership in Action
by Kendrick B. Melrose
Author of Making the Grass Greener on Your Side

Preparation is essential before planting. Once the major earth moving and fertilizing have been done, we plant seeds in the soil hoping these will eventually bear fruit for the harvest. We must observe certain ground rules, however, like measured daily watering and careful monitoring, if we expect to sustain real growth.

The same is true with an organization. A servant leader, someone who chooses to lead an organization by serving instead of by directing or controlling, must build his or her own model of leadership on a solid foundation of principles and observe certain ground rules in order to sustain long term growth. Successful leaders of the nineties and beyond are finding that being principle centered stands the test of time and best weathers the storms, rapid changes, complexities, and chaos of today's world.

Ground Rule One: Seed Not Sod
Do we go for the quick fix or for building a good foundation slowly? Do we lay sod or do we plant seed to get growth? In a culture that's accustomed to quick results, "seed not sod" isn't an easy choice for a leader. Seeding takes time and quite a bit of care. Eventually, however, it results in a healthy and more resistant turf.

When I became president of The Toro Company in 1981, everything seemed to be going wrong. The company had just lost $13 million--its first loss since 1945. The organization, the financial community, and our distributors all wanted a quick fix. They wanted to lay sod. Management, however, couldn't see how to do that without sacrificing longer term benefits. We would have achieved profitability faster by cutting some important long term projects in information systems or new product development, but these were needed to regain our competitive edge in the future. Or we could have continued to sell to the mass merchandisers and allowed our service dealer network to further erode.

The metaphor of seeding not sodding is useful to illustrate the importance of long term solutions, difficult as they are when they put short term goals at risk. The unfortunate reality is that the short and long run often compete and we are usually predisposed to take the quicker approach. In Toro's case, however, we convinced the board, the banks, and the distributors that the best course of action was to "seed the ground" and "cultivate the roots," knowing recovery would take a lot longer.

The greatest service the Toro leadership performed at that time was to pull everyone together for a long term, difficult battle to establish credibility with our constituents and dealers. To do that, we had to be up front about what we were and weren't going to do. We told the banks and our employees, "It's going to take a long time for us to recover. We might lose money for awhile, but we're going to report to you every month on our progress against a well detailed plan." And we did exactly that. We had to impose a discipline on ourselves that the company had lacked in the past. It was difficult to deliver on our short term goals and still be building for the future with some long term initiatives, but that's the challenge of real leadership — and it is a common challenge in today's environment.

Ground Rule Two: The Team Comes First
This concept can be hard to accept initially because there is a bit of the maverick in most of us, which the American culture celebrates. As a result, we have a high propensity to honor individual heroes. We celebrate men and women such as Neil Armstrong, Norm Schwartzkoff, Colin Powell, and Christa McAuliffe -- we often think of them as if they were solo heroes. We think differently, however, when we consider the masses of technicians, engineers, and unnamed individuals who stand with them and make their accomplishments possible. Many heroes are just the most visible members of impressive team efforts. Without each member of the team aimed in the same direction and sharing the same mission, individual heroism probably would not have been possible.

At Toro, teams are about building a more open and involved organization. We've built a strong team mentality by demonstrating the value of self direction, empowerment, cross functioning, and synergy. The organization has responded with a tremendous use of teams for solving problems and creating opportunities. Our employees are teaming in a cooperative spirit that permits every member to grow and develop personally and professionally.

Ground Rule Three: Provide Guidelines and Support
In order to see growth in your organization and among your people, you have to provide guidance and support, especially if the concept of teamwork is new. I have found that Stephen Covey's books, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and Principle Centered Leadership, offer leaders a good framework for supporting teamwork. Covey suggests that if we are centered on principles and processes instead of policies and practices, team members can avoid the turf battles that are common in organizations. Covey offers five guidelines to establishing a clear, up front, mutual understanding of mission, roles, and goals. They also clarify expectations.

At Toro, I have learned that you must create an environment for individual and team success, that the goals of management and employees are not necessarily so far apart, and that these goals are mutually attainable. In fact, they'll either be achieved together — or not at all.

Ground Rule Four: Do Unto Others
No one knows more about creating magic than the Disney organization. Michael Eisner, Disney's chairman and CEO, expressed it well when he said, "If you take care of your people, the dollars will take care of themselves." Disneyland and Disney World are in the magic business. Their philosophy about their "cast members" (what Disney calls the employees) is this: "Cast members are treated as we expect them to treat Guests (spelled with a capital G). If we treat our people properly, they will treat our Guests properly. We motivate our cast members not by promotions or threats, but by caring."

The leader's role is to create an environment where people can achieve their potential as they move toward their goals and work to help us achieve ours. At Toro, we ask our employees to make a commitment to whatever corporate or business entity they work for. We expect them to do their very best work as individuals and as team members. In return, we work to help them meet their goals with the understanding that we win or lose as a team.

As a leader, I've learned that it isn't enough to read the right books and attend the latest seminars. We need to be honest and humane — to "walk the talk" day after day. We need to create an environment for personal and organizational success that allows for a natural growth process. We need to make the goals of management and employees refreshingly compatible and mutually attainable. Unless our goals are met together, they likely won't be met at all.

Those who embark on the quest for deep rooted servant leadership need special characteristics not found in all leaders, even "successful and proven" leaders. But to those who follow natural growth processes, a rich harvest awaits — not only at the journey's end, but also along the way.

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Second of a Series
Series Courtesy of Article Resource Association

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