You're New, You Made It – and you're scared to death.

successI looked out my office window toward the open office floor where my team was working. I had just secured a senior management role that seemed ideal.  I knew that the other candidates were awesome but I had made the cut…and I was scared to death. Yea, I know no one admits this readily. But, I made a transition from an industry I had learned to master to a new one.  I was in the middle of a steep learning curve because the company wanted my leadership skills. I knew that leaders who transition into organizations from the outside often suffer a higher rate of failure because they are not familiar with the organizational structure and informal networks. I did not really know this corporate culture and understood that I had to work to be assimilated. I knew I had to earn credibility inside the organization.
So, how does a new leader succeed?  Michael Watkins book, The First 90 Days, offers some great insight I recommend to all new leaders.

  1. Establish a clear break point: discipline yourself to make a mental transition in terms of job responsibilities especially in those occasions you must work both your old and your new job in transition.  Take time to celebrate your move.
  2. Hit the ground running: the transition to a new job begins the moment you understand you are being considered for the role. Within the first 90 days your boss, peers and direct reports expect that you will get some traction in the new role. Hence, plan what you want to accomplish by specific milestones. The simple act of planning will help you keep a clear head.
  3. Assess your vulnerabilities: promotions occur because those that hire you thought you had the skills to succeed. You probably do. Avoid the temptation to work at the level below where you are hired to be. Do this by assessing your preferences and comparing these to the demands of your new role.  In your early career technical advice is all important however the focus on technical expertise diminishes in comparison to the need for conceptual and human skills as one promotes up through the ranks to executive roles. If leaders succeed through others then it makes sense that the most effective leaders who those who know how to identify and marshal the skills/capabilities needed to succeed in strategic plans.
  4. Watch out for your strengths: every strength has attendant pitfalls, you need to watch out for these as much as you watch out for your weaknesses. Your strengths could lead you down the fatal path of micromanagement or other forms of demoralizing your direct reports. (The use of an assessment like the Birkman Method assessment is an excellent tool for understanding your perceptual strengths and interests as well as your potential blind spots and the impact of stress on the way you are perceived by others.  For information on this see http://leadership-praxis.com/unseen-potential/.)
  5. Relearn how to learn: exposure to new demands typically results in feelings of incompetence and vulnerability. While these emotions are normal to learning they become problematic when they unconsciously cause you to gravitate toward areas you feel competent (usually the next level down from where you should be functioning).  Learning strategies that go wrong result in behaviors that are defensive, screen out criticism and blame-shifting.  Be committed to a learning process.
  6. Rework your network: as you advance in your career your need for advice/coaching changes. Part of promoting yourself is reworking your advice-and-counsel network. The higher up the chain of command you go the more important it is to get good political and personal advice. I really can’t over emphasize this. Add to your mentoring constellation new mentors who can help you stretch into your new role. Consider a coach as well. Many of my friends who entered new C-suite roles have confided in me that their coach was a life-saving catalyst to their adjustment.
  7. Watch out for people who want to hold you back: consciously or unconsciously people exist who do not want you to advance. Negotiate clear expectations about what you will do to close out your old job.  Be specific about what projects or issues will be dealt with and to what extent things will or will not be done. Recognize that mixed emotions are involved including those who do not want relationships to change (they will change), jealousy, suspicion of favoritism etc. Your authority will be tested. Meet such tests by being fair and firm. “If you don’t establish limits early, you will live to regret it. Getting others to accept your promotion is an essential part of promoting yourself.”[1]
So, what was the most important thing you did to succeed in your last transition?


[1] Michael Watkins. The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at all Levels (Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press, 2003), 30.

You’re New, You Made It – and you’re scared to death.

successI looked out my office window toward the open office floor where my team was working. I had just secured a senior management role that seemed ideal.  I knew that the other candidates were awesome but I had made the cut…and I was scared to death. Yea, I know no one admits this readily. But, I made a transition from an industry I had learned to master to a new one.  I was in the middle of a steep learning curve because the company wanted my leadership skills. I knew that leaders who transition into organizations from the outside often suffer a higher rate of failure because they are not familiar with the organizational structure and informal networks. I did not really know this corporate culture and understood that I had to work to be assimilated. I knew I had to earn credibility inside the organization.
So, how does a new leader succeed?  Michael Watkins book, The First 90 Days, offers some great insight I recommend to all new leaders.

  1. Establish a clear break point: discipline yourself to make a mental transition in terms of job responsibilities especially in those occasions you must work both your old and your new job in transition.  Take time to celebrate your move.
  2. Hit the ground running: the transition to a new job begins the moment you understand you are being considered for the role. Within the first 90 days your boss, peers and direct reports expect that you will get some traction in the new role. Hence, plan what you want to accomplish by specific milestones. The simple act of planning will help you keep a clear head.
  3. Assess your vulnerabilities: promotions occur because those that hire you thought you had the skills to succeed. You probably do. Avoid the temptation to work at the level below where you are hired to be. Do this by assessing your preferences and comparing these to the demands of your new role.  In your early career technical advice is all important however the focus on technical expertise diminishes in comparison to the need for conceptual and human skills as one promotes up through the ranks to executive roles. If leaders succeed through others then it makes sense that the most effective leaders who those who know how to identify and marshal the skills/capabilities needed to succeed in strategic plans.
  4. Watch out for your strengths: every strength has attendant pitfalls, you need to watch out for these as much as you watch out for your weaknesses. Your strengths could lead you down the fatal path of micromanagement or other forms of demoralizing your direct reports. (The use of an assessment like the Birkman Method assessment is an excellent tool for understanding your perceptual strengths and interests as well as your potential blind spots and the impact of stress on the way you are perceived by others.  For information on this see http://leadership-praxis.com/unseen-potential/.)
  5. Relearn how to learn: exposure to new demands typically results in feelings of incompetence and vulnerability. While these emotions are normal to learning they become problematic when they unconsciously cause you to gravitate toward areas you feel competent (usually the next level down from where you should be functioning).  Learning strategies that go wrong result in behaviors that are defensive, screen out criticism and blame-shifting.  Be committed to a learning process.
  6. Rework your network: as you advance in your career your need for advice/coaching changes. Part of promoting yourself is reworking your advice-and-counsel network. The higher up the chain of command you go the more important it is to get good political and personal advice. I really can’t over emphasize this. Add to your mentoring constellation new mentors who can help you stretch into your new role. Consider a coach as well. Many of my friends who entered new C-suite roles have confided in me that their coach was a life-saving catalyst to their adjustment.
  7. Watch out for people who want to hold you back: consciously or unconsciously people exist who do not want you to advance. Negotiate clear expectations about what you will do to close out your old job.  Be specific about what projects or issues will be dealt with and to what extent things will or will not be done. Recognize that mixed emotions are involved including those who do not want relationships to change (they will change), jealousy, suspicion of favoritism etc. Your authority will be tested. Meet such tests by being fair and firm. “If you don’t establish limits early, you will live to regret it. Getting others to accept your promotion is an essential part of promoting yourself.”[1]
So, what was the most important thing you did to succeed in your last transition?


[1] Michael Watkins. The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at all Levels (Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press, 2003), 30.

7 Syndromes that Undermine Servant Leadership

stethoscopeI don’t know any pastoral leaders who explicitly argue against the idea of servant leadership. It is after all the basis of legitimate leadership as described by Jesus. However, I do know leaders who are implicitly stuck in behavior that contradicts servant leadership in their organizations.
If the behaviors that constrict or stifle expressions of servant leadership are made explicit they become much easier to overcome. Once we understand the implicit resistance the work needed to fix a trajectory of servant leadership in the organization is easier. I have identified seven syndromes evident in leaders who lose their way under the pressure of getting things done or keeping up with the growing demands inherent in effective in ministry.[1] Not only does keeping up have to do with the capacity of the leader to internally manage a growing complexity of challenges it also has to do with adjusting the organization’s capacity to meet challenges and opportunity without losing the servant leader culture that caused it to grow in the first place.

Organizations must exercise flexibility to expand capacity, keep the correct controls so that its work remains focused, and engage the giftedness of the people who make up the organization. This means organizations must create mechanisms consistent with servant leadership to mobilize the spiritual gifts and abilities of new leaders constantly to meet their future opportunities with focus and discipline.

Without a means of fixing the trajectory of servant leadership in the organizational culture organizations face the challenge of supplanting their mission with structures. Seven common symptoms indicate that clarity in mission has broken down.

The vending machine syndrome – occurs when leaders create processes to avoid relationship as a way to coping with failed energy management. This syndrome robs vital personal relationships from both the leaders and the followers. When leaders fail to manage their energy and overextend themselves because they are not developing others they turn to processes and policies as a way to hide. One of the first questions I ask an organization when I consult with them is, are you policies bridges to your mission or barriers to personal interaction because you do not know how to discipline people or effectively control the mission? Hirsch describes the problem this way,

As we shall see, structures are absolutely necessary for cooperative human action as well as for maintaining some form of coherent social patterns.  However, it seems that over time the increasingly impersonal structures of the institution assume roles, responsibilities, and authority that legitimately belong to the whole people of God in their local and grassroots expressions.  It is at this point that things go awry.[2]

The manikin syndrome – occurs when leaders spend time rearranging and dressing up forms and structures that give nothing to the mission of the organization but give the impression of great activity.  Some leaders remind me of the retail workers I watched one morning racing about a department store moving and redressing manikins before their customers arrived.  The point can’t be the manikins! One of the signs of a loss of purpose is sometimes an increase in activity that seeks legitimacy by virtue of the amount of stuff the leader is doing. Jesus consistently pulled away from the crowds and the hubbub of popularity to reconnect with God and refocus his work so that the activity he did engage was fruitful to his mission.  Organizational leaders must do the same or end up with what Hendricks describes,

There is nothing intrinsically wrong with institutions.  But how easily they become the enemy of spiritual life!  In some cases we even have ecclesiastical structures with no spiritual life.[3]

Wrong script syndrome – is a condition that occurs when leaders adopt the latest church growth or discipleship craze without doing their own critical thinking about mission. Running from seminar to seminar to find the secret to success brings great success – to seminar presenters. We all tend to look for shortcuts but the danger to not doing the hard work of differentiating one’s own identity and calling is that we adopt a script and live like an actor in a play.  After a while the play becomes meaningless and a sense of aimlessness takes root – it is as though the leader is acting off the wrong script.  I have watched pastors, spouses, and congregational members wake up one morning and simply walk away from their families and friends because they have forgotten how to get access to their own identity and their own convictions and their own sense of purpose.  The same thing happens in entire organizations. Hirsch and Ford describe the results this way,

It is one of my deepest held beliefs that all of Jesus’ people contain the potential for world transformation in them.  Our problem is not that we don’t have the potential, but rather that we have forgotten how to access these potentials because we have been so deeply scripted to think of ourselves through more domesticated, non-missional manifestations of Christianity.[4]

Tunnel vision syndrome – occurs then leaders reacting to abuse or toxicity elsewhere decide to create a healthy environment but fail to see the lessons of history or the healthy diversity around them. They become the only healthy organization in their minds and cut themselves off from advice and wider connections that challenge the smugness that precedes their own fall. I had arranged for a series of interviews with pastors in the Portland area for a research project I was working on. One of them was an acquaintance I knew from a distance when I worked for our denominational mission department. After I left the department I worked in several denominations. As we sat down for the interview he said, “Ray, before we begin may I ask, do you have a covering?”  For those unfamiliar with this code language he meant to ask whether I had a system of accountability to which I was answerable. Then as now I am a part of a local congregation in which I have ongoing personal relationships, I keep up a group of personal advisors with whom I exercise vulnerable transparency and I have several layers of professional accountability determined by various certifications.

“Thanks for asking Reese,” I replied, “I do.”

“But,” he said with genuine concern, “guys like us born into this movement need to stay connected because we have a unique history.”   His suggestion was interesting.

“Do you mean to imply that accountability is only valid if it occurs within the purview of the movement you are a part of?” I queried.

“You have a history here,” he continued, “you need to be faithful to the family you were raised in, we need men like you.”

“Ah,” I said, “I see.  First, thank you for validating my contribution to the church. Second, you do know that I was not raised in the movement, I did not graduate from the movement’s college and I have no genetic family in the movement. I was raised Lutheran, baptized as an infant and I sometimes drink Luther’s favorite beverage when I study the scriptures.”  The wide-eyed expression surrounding his gaping mouth alerted me to the fact that he was unaware that I was one of “them” – those strangers somehow let into the organization and given credentials whose very existence threatened the “purity” (his earlier description not mine) of the denomination’s doctrine. I took the moment to transition to the interview I wanted to conduct.

All the servant leaders I have been around have a working grasp on church history and wide connections in the global church that help them avoid the pitfall of parochialism.  If we do not grasp our wider connection to history and the body of Christ outside our immediate tradition we will fail to develop true community at a local level.  Frazee describes the challenge this way,

“One peculiar thing about early Christianity was the way in which the intimate, close-knit life of the local groups was seen to be simultaneously part of a much larger, indeed ultimately worldwide, movement or entity.”…The principle of sharing a common purpose is not new; it is an ancient principle that must be rediscovered.  Its presence is simply not optional if you want true community.[5]

The disequilibrium paradox – occurs when leader’s actions resist the change they acknowledge they need to engage. Any time a group faces challenges that their current coping mechanisms are inadequate to address they face disequilibrium that causes them to lose confidence. Disequilibrium is manifest in anxiety, anger, panic and a rush to deny new realities in favor of turning the clock back to the way it was before. Change of any kind predicts the disequilibrium paradox. Jesus knew it well and modeled how to walk people past its gravitational pull to a new way of seeing. Jesus used a variety of communication methods to leverage learning including: narrative, interrogative, corrective, didactic and non-verbal. Leaders who want to move people past disequilibrium are wise to develop the same kind of diversity in communication and to exercise confident patience. Ford verifies the existence of this paradox and Regele and Schultz outline the needed response,

It’s not that churches deny the need to change – to move out into a transforming journey.  Church members frequently invoke the need for transformation when they hire new pastors or ministry leaders. But these same leaders face a paradox: The churches resist the very change they claim to need.[6]

What are the options? Simply, we can die because of our hidebound resistance to change, or we can die in order to live. As an institution, the American church must choose between these two.[7]

The Theory X syndrome – occurs when leaders view their followers as possessing an inherent dislike of work and will avoid it if they can. Such leaders complain that people need to be coerced, controlled, directed, and threatened with punishment to motivate them toward any adequate effort to achievement organizational objectives.[8] MacGreggor framed Theory X and made clear that he did not equate autocratic decisions with theory X, sometimes autocratic decisions carry a prophetic significance or are needed to bypass danger or give a call to action in the face of unseen hazard. Servant leadership works with the intrinsic motivations of people. The inadequacy of the Theory X syndrome is described by Easum this way,

Tightly controlled organizations and institutions will not do well in the Quantum Age.  The top-down oppressive approach of bureaucracy is on its way out.  In its place are emerging permission-giving networks. These networks are freeing and empowering people to explore their spiritual gifts individually and in teams on behalf of the Body of Christ.[9]

The Peter Principle syndrome – occurs when leaders realize that the growth of their organization has outstripped their capability to lead it. The danger of this syndrome is that it limits the leader’s visible options to either resignation of fruitlessness or escapism. In many ways leaving or escaping is easier than learning and engaging the potential of expanding leadership capacity. The Peter Principle syndrome is only a problem when leaders either decide not to learn or cannot see the mentors around them they need to engage learning. The fact is every leader faces this syndrome more than once in their ministry. Corderio described his own encounter with the Peter Principle syndrome this way,

The church outgrew me in its first month. If it weren’t for the outstanding servant whom God brought to serve there, I am sure I would be locked away in a mental ward of a state institution by now.[10]

What do these seven syndromes have in common?  They all share the potential of derailing the organization’s mission by implementing a structure (implicitly or explicitly) that constricts or even contradicts the mission. Servant leadership recognizes the tension inherent in change and works to build and support an organizational culture and structure that engages its noble mission and purpose.  This was the call of Greenleaf as he saw the need in the corporate world,

…today is the urgent need, around the world, for leadership by strong ethical persons – those who by nature are disposed to be servants (in the sense of helping others to become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous and more likely themselves to be servants) and who therefore can help others to move in constructive directions.  Servant –leaders are healers in the sense of making whole by helping others to a larger and nobler vision and purpose than they would be likely to attain for themselves.[11]

When you look at your leadership or your organization what do you see? If these syndromes are chronic then it is time to reconsider the values from which the organization implicitly works and how to move toward a deliberate approach to servant leadership and clarity in mission and purpose.


[1] Leaders also lose their way when they have not differentiated their own identity from that of their profession. The failure to be a differentiated person leads to an abuse of organizational design because the organization becomes an extension of the leader’s sense of identity and the people connected to the organization are then effectively recruited to make sure the leader’s ego is continuously stroked. These leaders are overwhelmed trying to define their purpose and collapse under requests that they help the organization define its purpose because it is really all about them.  Consider for a moment the toxicity that results when the organization becomes the body of the leader and not an expression of the body of Christ.

[2] Alan Hirsch. The Forgotten Ways: Reactivating the Missional Church (Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2006), 23.

[3] William D. Hendricks. Exit Interviews: Revealing Stories of Why Some People are Leaving the Church (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1993), 274.

[4] Alan Hirsch and Lance Ford. Right Here Right Now: Everyday Mission for Everyday People (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2011), 30.

[5] Randy Frazee. The Connecting Church: Beyond Small Groups to Authentic Community (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing, 2001), 56-7.

[6] Kevin G. Ford. Transforming Church: Bringing ou the Good to Get to Great (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House, 2007), 3.

[7] Mike Regele with Mark Schulz. The Death of the Church (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing, 1995), 19.

[8] MacGregor, 45-47.

[9] William M. Easum. Sacred Cows Make Gourmet Burgers: Ministry Anytime Anywhere by Anyone (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1995), 29.

[10] Wayne Cordeiro. Doing Church as a Team (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 2001), 12.

[11] Robert K. Green leaf. Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness

Power and Accountability: There is More to the Story

AccountabilityWhat is the relationship between accountability and power?  Commentary on the abuse of power is perennial and reflects an underlying assumption about leadership; “…leaders are expected to exert themselves in the service of the collective interest.”[1]  In watching leaders I see leaders exercise a variety of postures toward power. Some fear power and shirk responsibility, some crave power and lose sight of what it’s for and who are comfortable with power and use it to serve the best interests of the corporation and their employees. Even the best leaders find that the act of serving the collective interests is complex and a minefield of competing interests.
There is ample evidence to show that those leaders who fail to pursue the collective interest have disastrous impact on organizations including such things as: public embarrassment, decreased employee participation, decreased leader effectiveness, decreased employee motivation, and decreased employee performance. The reality is that “Leader self-serving behavior carries the specter of negative consequences for subordinates as well as for the organization at large.”[2]

In light of this calls to greater accountability usually emerge and those calls are not without foundation. Researchers have found that accountability has a mitigating effect on high power leader self-serving actions. Recognizing that power is inherent in the leader role the researchers observed that power affects self versus group-serving behaviors. “Because high power leaders inhabit reward rich environments, they should be more likely to pursue rewarding outcomes than low power individuals, a proposition substantiated by a growing body of research.”[3]

Research and experience show that possessing power impairs one’s ability to take others’ perspectives into consideration and the ability to consider others’ background knowledge or correctly identify their emotional expressions.  The powerful tend to view others through an instrumental lens as tools for one’s own purposes i.e., to help the powerful achieve their goals. I have observed relationships between CEOs and their managers deteriorate in the CEO’s self-serving quest to the point that manager behavior begins to constitute a drag to the accomplishment of the organization’s objectives.

Yet it is important to recognize that self-serving perspectives are not experienced as a black and white reality nor do they simply pop up out of thin air. The quest for organizational success which presumably benefits all stakeholders is the backdrop for a shift from service in the collective interest to self-serving behaviors that undermine the collective interest.  Herein is the challenge for one working from the seat of power. The shift from collective to self-interest is an evolution that occurs under pressure and always claims to have the collective interest in mind.

In one company I worked with the CEO started his tenure with clear commitment to a new day of teamwork, increased profitability, increased efficiency and customer service. He elicited innovation from the rank and file and during his first two quarters at the helm of the organization he maintained this call while also making difficult decisions needed to bring change.  It was working in every area in which the CEO was consistent to his own values. However, in those decisions in which he was inconsistent to his stated values he demanded workarounds. His mixed messages gave his managers pause. Then the management team noticed subtle changes. Executive meetings lost their regularity, decisions and adjustments were announced out of side meetings and over time all pretense of discussion melted into unilateral demands for action for the sake of profit. No one argued against the necessity of profit nor did they balk at the strategic direction of the company but the pace of change wasn’t moving fast enough for the CEO and he reverted to highly directive behavior focused on ensuring his survival as CEO which he made the equivalent to the survival of the company and security of all jobs.

In all the team told me that they wish the CEO had been held accountable. Accountability does play a role in mitigating self-serving behaviors. Accountability is “the implicit or explicit expectation that one may be called upon to justify one’s beliefs, feelings, and actions to others.”[4] Accountability has been shown to:

  • Increase judgmental accuracy
  • Promote careful decision-making
  • Increase thoroughness of information processing
  • Induce more complex decision strategies
  • Enhance a self-critical approach that implies consideration of multiple perspectives

Clearly accountability does counteract self-serving tendencies induced by power. Or is it that clear? The CEO in the story above was being held accountable of new levels of performance. In fact his meetings with the board and owners became highly spirited inquisitions into whether his plan would produce results fast enough to satisfy the risks the owners felt he was taking.

The CEO was accountable but as research had found accountability is not a panacea for all evils. Where accountability does not merge process as well as outcomes it can have the opposite of the desired effect. Where high power leaders are only held accountable for outcomes they tend to behave in ways that are less cooperative, less helpful, less truthful, and less willing to compromise in negotiation with subordinates.

This was the situation with the CEO above.  The challenge was not that he lacked accountability but that the pressure of accountability he faced focused only on outcomes.

A lack of accountability on process as well as outcomes seems to facilitate a “means justifies the end approach” and tendency to treat others as means to an end.  High power leaders who are not held accountable for process typically institute draconian work policies that dehumanize their workforce and may actually work to negatively impact performance accountability was intended to increase. The lesson is a significant one for business owners and board members. The lack of accountability on process is pandemic in small and mid size companies where owners are either still directly connected to operations or have moved out of operations into a governance role.

The big lesson for anyone with governance responsibility is this, “… process accountability can lead to increased perspective taking and more careful decision-making, a combination of process and outcome accountability appears to carry the most promise in terms of mitigating some of the negative effects of power – including the ‘ethical hazard’ of power.”[5]

If you see your organization or company floundering or experiencing something less than flourishing, consider your accountability structures for you top leaders.  High powered leaders are the ones setting the tone of the organization’s culture.  Is it moving in the right direction? Does the overall approach to leadership and organizational culture offer a platform to sustain performance? There is little doubt that high power leaders accountable for only outcomes will hit their performance goals.  There is strong doubt however these leaders will survive to see another year or be able to sustain performance over time. But then the criterion of success often depends on the person who is viewing the outcomes.


[1] Diana Rus, Daan van Knippenburg, and Barbara Wisse. “Leader Power and Self-serving Behavior: The Moderating Role of Accountability.” The Leadership Quarterly 23 (2012) 13-26.

[2] Ibid, 24.

[3] Ibid, 14.

[4] Ibid, 15.

[5] Ibid, 22.

Servant Leaders Show Up With Great Effect

Publication1Leaders who understand the power of servant leadership share an important characteristic – they “show up” in every relationship and are able to adjust to the needs of the person in front of them. By “showing up” I mean that the servant leader is attentive to other people’s motivations and needs.  Servant leadership is an approach to leading that is identifiable in the belief that others want to bring their best selves and their best contribution to work. As a result servant leaders engage and develop the knowledge and energy of all employees.  Simultaneously servant leaders expect and encourages the best contribution of others.
Jesus’ encounter with Nathanael illustrates what it means to “show up” in a relationship and provides a great insight into how servant leadership works.

Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found the Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets spoke, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” And Nathanael said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!” Nathanael said to Him, “How do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”[1]

Jesus recognized that Nathanael was a man intent on knowing and deciphering truth – this is the meaning of saying Nathanael was without fraud or deceit. Jesus’ assessment amazed Nathanael for the insight into Nathanael’s character and for the verdict of guileless inquiry. Nathanael was a skeptic. Jesus did not shy away from addressing skepticism head on. Nathanael’s skepticism is rooted in his awareness that Nazareth (Jesus’ home town) did not play into the prophetic narrative of Jewish Scriptures regarding the Messiah.  The skepticism of today’s workforce is often rooted in their experience with leaders who are uncaring, inconsistent and concerned only for their own prestige and survival.

In contrast to Jesus, some leaders fail to “show up” in any relationship because they are distracted by what must be accomplished or recent challenges or new opportunities. Distracted leaders are self-absorbed leaders who would not have recognized the potential in Nathanael much less exhibited the presence or insight to speak directly to Nathanael’s skepticism. Instead distracted leaders often interpret anything other than compliance as insubordination and see skepticism as equal to disapproval.

How a leader is present in every relationship demonstrates the degree to which they believe that it is important to know and address the needs of those in front of them. This is one of the reasons why being with servant leaders is encouraging and inspiring to others.  Servant leaders call out the kind of commitment and behaviors that lead people to be their best. Barclay’s description of Nathanael’s experience is profound,

…Jesus had read the thoughts of his inmost heart.  So Nathanael said to himself: “Here is the man who understands my dreams! Here is the man who knows my prayers! Here is the man who has seen into my most intimate and secret longings which I have never even dared to put into words!  Here is the man who can translate the inarticulate sigh of my soul!”[2]

Who wouldn’t find a leader like this intriguing? This simple, direct, and abbreviated encounter between Jesus and Nathanael illustrates the power of believing in others and knowing what they need to thrive and be their best.  Servant leaders make explicit what is implicit. This kind of insight into others is not out of the reach of servant leaders if they exercise six practices of effective servant leadership.

First, believe that others want to be and give their best. Servant leaders work at knowing others. When a leader pays attention to knowing others through observation, vulnerability and questions significant insights into others emerge.

Second, recognize that people are intrinsically motivated and that this motivation possesses three critical elements: (1) autonomy, the desire to direct our own lives; (2) mastery, the urge to get better and better at something that matters; and (3) purpose, the yearning to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves.[3] Mastery and purpose are understandable in common usage.  Autonomy requires definition. By autonomy I do not mean independence and a quest for narcissism. Instead I use the word as Pink describes it,

Autonomy… is different from independence. It’s not the rugged, go-it-alone, rely-on-nobody individualism of the American cowboy.  It means acting with choice – which means we can be both autonomous and happily interdependent with others.[4]

Jesus gave invited people to decide to act. A 2004 study of 320 small businesses illustrates the power of choice and autonomy. Researchers found that those businesses offering autonomy grew at four times the rate of the control-oriented, top-down management companies and had one-third the turnover.

Third, stay engaged. The recognition of autonomy does not mean that servant leaders must practice a laze faire approach to organizational leadership. Servant leaders stay engaged with their operations and the development of their team. They use the right kind of controls. Controls help shape the culture and effectiveness of an organization.  Not all controls however are helpful.  The difference between helpful and damaging controls is the assumptions behind the controls. Controls that presume trust in others are far different in their impact on participation and contribution than controls that assume people cannot be trusted and need extrinsic motivation to work.[5]

Fourth, avoid a focus on empathy that mollifies the emotional immature.  Mollifying the emotionally immature is regressive and toxic in outcome – it is impossible to relate to another person as a peer when the other person fails to exercise responsibility for their well-being and is by nature all take and no give. Servant leaders recognize the difference between causing pain in others (as is often the case in making difficult decisions) and in causing harm to others. The challenge induced by painful experiences is often the development of a greater capacity for self differentiation.

Fifth, use tools that help you define other’s usual behavioral style is and to play to those strengths. Use the tools that do not insult the complexities of each person. I have found that the Birkman Method is the best in providing leaders with an understanding of the unique perspectives and needs of each individual.  The Birkman Method helps people understand the multi-dimensional aspect of human behavior that starts with recognizing the diversity of observable behavioral characteristics.[6]

Sixth practice vulnerability. That servant leaders expose their vulnerable side to enhance communication and relationship seems counter intuitive particularly in times of interpersonal stress. However, vulnerability is an adaptive tool that owns personal emotions and encourages others to take responsibility for their emotions.  Vulnerability is accepting the uncertainty and risk associated with emotional exposure. What is the benefit to this approach? This approach gives opportunity for love to grow.  “Shame, blame, disrespect, betrayal, and the withholding of affection damage the roots from which love grows. Love can only survive these injuries if they are acknowledged, healed and rare.”[7]  Love is no stranger to servant leadership. Love has everything to do with engaging work as the real you not the “you” others think you should be.

Conclusion

High capacity servant leaders understand their strengths and needs and have developed the skills needed to approach people differently depending upon the unique strengths and needs of their team.  Servant leaders engage interpersonal relationships authentically with attention to the needs and aspirations of the person. Jesus’ illustrates how to use the skepticism so common in organizations today as a foundation for commitment and contribution by identifying the person’s desire for authenticity and interaction.

Those people who understand the importance of relationships and work to enhance their skill in building strong authentic interpersonal connections set the stage to multiply the effectiveness of their organization and multiply leaders around them. Will you be a servant leader?


[1] John 1:45-48 (NASV)

[2] William Barclay.  The Gospel of John, Volume 1, 2nd ed. (Philadelphia, PA: Westminster Press, 1956), 78.

[3] Daniel H. Pink. Drive: the Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us ( New York, NY: Riverhead Books, 2009), 204

[4] Pink, 90.

[5] Douglas McGregor. The Human Side of the Enterprise, Annotated  ed., (New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2006), xii.

[6] Sharon Birkman Fink and Stephanie Capparell. The Birkman Method: Your Personality at Work (San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2013), 65.

[7] Brené Brown. The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are (City Center, MN: Hazelden, 2010), .