The Essence of Leadership in Five Letters
Image source by George Hodan
Ken Blanchard and Mark Miller capture, “The Secret,” of leadership in five letters, SERVE. The beauty of SERVE is inescapable simplicity and actionable clarity.
Serve
See the future: envision and communicate a compelling picture of a preferred future.
- What do I want to be true of the future?
- Why should anyone care?
- How will progress be measured?
sErve
Engage and develop others: recruit and align people for the right job. Create environments where people bring vision to life.
- What invited my engagement in the past?
- Which of these factors are missing in those I lead?
- How can I help teams and individuals grow?
seRve
Reinvent continuously: continuously focus on improvement.
- How do I need to change?
- Where do I want different outcomes?
- What organizational changes will accelerate progress?
serVe
Value results and relationships: generate measurable results and cultivate great relationships.
- Which is my personal bias as a leader – results or relationships?
- How can I compensate for the area that’s not my personal strength?
- What happens if I don’t broaden my definition of success?
servE
Embody values: live fully aligned with stated values.
- What values do I want to drive behaviors in my organization?
- How can I communicate these values?
- What are my actions communicating?
The ultimate question
“Am I a serving leader or a self-serving leader?”
Application
Apart from the ultimate question, the question that most hits me this morning is, “How do I need to change?”
It’s easy to see where they need improvement. It’s fun to “help” them. This morning, I’m the one who needs changing. I shouldn’t say, “This morning.” It’s every morning.
Organizations grow when their leaders grow.
“The Secret” won’t take long to read but it takes a lifetime to live.
Which question in this post is most relevant for you, today?
“SERVE”..Another beautiful piece of information Sir.. Tweeted… 🙂
Thank you! It’s people like you who make Leadership Freak the most socially-shared leadership blog. Rockin’
Profound.
Yup!
Very well said. I believe that “Value” and “Embody” are definitely parts of leadership we easily overlook but are the most essential to growth as a leader. A leader can promote growth in an organization with SER but cannot themselves grow without VE. Embodiment truly reflects the credibility of a leader, which is necessary for long-term vitality of an effective organization. I especially like how communicating Embodying values involve communication of them, leading right back to Seeing the future.
Thank you Jason. Great observation.
The “V” question that kicks me in the pants is, “What are my actions communicating?” The rubber hits the road on that one.
And how is my communication acting?
🙂
Your ultimate question, “How do I need to change?” is powerful. Your follow-up statements are humble and useful. Thank you for being a role model in your introspection, sharing, and perseverance as you write this blog.
Power often clouds reasoning. Abraham Lincoln said, “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”
King David of Israel, about 3000 years ago, understood this, and sought truth. In one Psalm he says, “Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults”. In another he asked he One who sees most deeply, “Search me, oh God, and know my heart. Try me, and know my thoughts.”
in the same vein, Lincoln said, “I desire so to conduct the affairs of this administration that if at the end… I have lost every other friend on earth, I shall at least have one friend left, and that friend shall be down inside of me.”
Whether leader or follower (and those roles change from instant to instant), only by maintaining a humble heart that constantly seeks to improve will our lives be as useful as they can be. When we ask that question to ourselves and to others who love us enough to be truthful, we can gain much.
Thank you once again for your post.
Thank you Marc. Love the quote from David, “Who can discern his errors?” Powerful.
We can never walk the path of self-development alone.
My thoughts are “How do I want different outcomes…as a leader” (Reinvent) and I realized I had not build in enough affirmation, appreciation and celebration for the stretching and learning that is going on for my clients and myself. While the growth is its own reward, there is a special gift in taking time for celebration of the learning, growth, and intentional effort that is lost if I am not careful to reward myself and others. It IS an effort, it IS intentional and it IS worth acknowledging the diligence and that affirms people, affirms to myself that I am in integrity with who I seek to be, one who affirms and supports excellence.
Thank you Sweetie.
Those who work to improve often forget to celebrate improvements along the way. It’s so easy to allow where we want to go to overshadow progress.
Your comment really hits home. I hope all of us who work to reinvent realize we may not be great at celebrating progress because we are so focused on reinventing.
If all leaders understood that the essence of leadership is serving and valuing others, then perhaps we would have great schools everywhere. I love this post! One of the best I’ve read so far. Thank you.
Thank you Tagrid.
Thinking of leadership as serving keeps us on track and prevents many of the errors sincere leaders fall into. Cheers
Excellent post- servant leadership- one who supports those in making the vision happen- comments also inspiring. Thank you all for your insight.
Thank you dlw…
A leader who supports others in making the vision happen is certainly on the right path. Cheers
Gotta Serve Somebody….Bob Dylan
Shifterp OUT!
That’s it? 🙂
Has an alien over your body?
BTW, Bob Dylan is awesome. I think he also demonstrates that most of his listeners were stoned. He fits into a long line of singing artists who can’t seem to sing, in my opinion.
Dan, SHHH, it’s the new scott serving!!! 😉
Ahhh… I should have affirmed him. 😉
We better be careful. They say humor doesn’t translate well on the Internet.
Servant Leadership is a method I teach my Scouts all the time. This is a great breakdown of the word SERVE and one I will use at our upcoming Troop Leadership Training weekend next month! Thanks Dan!
Thank you Bill.
Best wishes with your training.
The added tag on the title of The Secret is even excellent…”What Great Leaders Know — And Do”
Most times, in continuous improvement realms, one does not advocate ‘cut and paste’ approaches, however SERVE is the exception to that rule. I put it up on our board, with appropo credits to Messrs. Blanchard, Miller & Rockwell.
Great post Dan, thanks!
Thanks Doc. Always a pleasure.
“And do” 🙂
Dear Dan,
“How do I need to change” is perhaps the most powerful idea. How shows the way, options and path of improvement. The improvement could be anything- for leaders it could be its impact on surroundings, for manipulators, it could be impact on self development. Then comes ” Do I need to change” again is the great question that we need to ask. Do we really to change ourselves, and if answer is yes then why. This is introspective question. Then comes Need which is again very important for survival. Need could be physiological, social or psychological. Answers to these questions provide direction that we need to follow. Then start change that indicates future. And change determines our future based on our answers to questions. So, the question applies to every one but our answer determines our path. Whether we want to serve, be served and self served. And this category decides the leadership path.
Thank you Ajay.
Do we really want to change? Now that is a question. I’m supposed to want to change, for sure. In reality, I want to change without the discomfort. Trouble is, change is often uncomfortable.
Cheers
In answer to your question, lately I’ve been living in #5-Embody values. I am being reawakened to the powerful truth that the starting place for me to impart and promote values is to live them fully.
The big question: “How do I need to change?”. And the right question for me. Thanks!
Dan Excellent article and completely ties in with Safety Culture. I would love to reblog this. New to blogging so feel free to share more as I am going to follow your blog. Theresa
Great questions to ask when growing and inspiring great leaders and leadership and growth of your/our own. Thanks.
Beautiful piece and straight to point. Good to practice.