JS Tip 487: Leaders as Servants

From the Leadership Workshops: Leaders as Servants

The Staffing Chart

Think about your typical staffing chart.

Leaders at the top. Executives in the middle. Managers near the bottom. 

Yup. That’s it. 

The typical staffing chart is wrong.

The typical staffing chart is upside down.

The ideal staffing chart should have workers at the top, then managers, then executives, then leaders. (Leaders at the bottom.)  

Why?

Because leaders, executives, and managers serve the workers. They—the workers—are the ones who get things done. They’re the ones who need support. Who need resources. Who need obstacles cleared.

The Leadership Model

In the Army, we had a saying: “Leaders eat last.” 

Why?

Because leaders must make sure that those they lead are taken care of first. 

Otherwise, it’s arrogance. And arrogant leadership doesn’t last long, either by removal (because of their failure to get things done) or by revolution.

Caring leadership—leadership through service—endures because it develops loyalty. Loyalty develops commitment and—if necessary—sacrifice.

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