Several years ago, I started hearing bits and pieces about servant leadership. At the time it didn’t sound very attractive and gave me some negative connotations. As my leadership experience deepened in the trenches of corporate life, I “grew up” as a leader and I finally got it. Leadership was all about others and putting them first. I wanted to be a leader that truly serves people, not the interests of others. By investing in or supporting my team or those that I meet every day, we all win. I just regret that it took me so long to catch on and I didn’t exactly have any servant leaders around me as role models.
Surprisingly, servant leadership was introduced as far back as the early 1970s and remained an elusive secret. Robert K. Greenleaf wrote that “Servant-leadership is servant first…It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first”. He was very progressive and boldly shared that “Servant leadership is a philosophy and set of practices that enrich the lives of individuals, builds better organizations, and ultimately creates a more just and caring world” Center for Servant Leadership. Now, I was a mere child in the 1970s however, I know the world that my parents worked in was very autocratic, top down in the organization, and leaders were king. Everyone followed the leader back then. Servant leadership probably raised a lot of eyebrows in the day.
In the past two years, I have been a servant leader and an advocate. Unfortunately, they still remain somewhat elusive to find and learn from. Moreover, servant leadership in action has been tough to find other than in books. Where is it locally? Does it exist or are we just not sharing enough about it?
Recently, a friend invited me to go to a lunch event about leadership where several local companies were being recognized for exemplary customer service. Leadership? Free lunch? I was in. Little did I know that I was going to meet Zingerman’s. I had never heard of them even though they are only about 2 hours from me. Zingerman’s is a gourmet food business group established in 1982 headquartered in Ann Arbor Michigan. They have a collection of businesses, each with its own food specialty that wows customers with over 700 employees and has over $60 million in annual revenue. By the year 2020, Zingerman’s strives to have 12-18 businesses, all in the Ann Arbor area. Even more impressive? They are a true living and breathing servant leadership company.
For two hours I was emerged into the Zingerman’s culture, met their employees, heard from real customers, and heard the excited chatter at our tables about how cool Zingerman’s really is. Katie Frank shared their secret sauce and encouraged us to spread the word.
“A successful Zingerman’s leader is a Servant Leader who effectively designs, manages and teaches the components of the Zingerman’s Business Perspective Chart in order to attain agreed-upon performance results”. How many other companies’s do you know of that actually push out a servant leadership decree and lead with it? Here are the six responsibilities of a servant leader:
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Provide vision – Be inspiring, strategically sound, document it, and communicate it. It’s lived at all levels
Give great service to staff/each other – Figure out what the staff/customers want, get it for them, and go the extra mile
Manage in an ethical manner – Do what you say you’re going to do, all decisions must be ethical, push decision making downward, and provide feedback, both positive and constructive
Learn and teach – Form “Training Compacts” for joint benefit. Trainers provide training, recognition, and reward performance. Trainees agree to take responsibility for their learning
Help staff succeed by living the training compact – Managers must spend a minimum of two hours a week learning and one hour of teaching at least once a month
Say “Thanks!” – Be specific and focus on those behaviors that you want to see
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This is pretty down to earth, yet powerful. Although servant leadership may sound lofty or “academic”, it shouldn’t be if we want leaders to put it into action. You can only demonstrate and live what you understand and believe. At Zingerman’s, they strive to push the energy up and emphasize that servant leaders are to do just that, serve. Katie had several examples of servant leadership in action just in case there were a few skeptics left in the room.
Not long after my luncheon, I ran into a friend who recently went to Zingerman’s. I was curious about his experience to really see if the Zingerman’s model played out in their various stores. They didn’t disappoint. Don eagerly shared 3 key takeaways:
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Consistent – Everyone he had contact with was consistent, from the person taking the order, to the waitress staff, to the person who ran the register, they were all smiling, pleasant, friendly, looked you in the eye when they spoke. You can have amazing service, but your product needs to be just as amazing to ensure a full 360-degree experience.
Genuine – The staff was genuinely friendly and happy to serve and make your experience an exceptional one.
Memorable – Great service, great food, the great unique setting made for a memorable experience. His youngest son was graduating and the Zingermans team bent over backward to make the day special and memorable like no other place they had been to.
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Servant leadership starts with you. Have you defined how you are going to be a servant leader? How will you live it and bring others along on your journey? How can you push servant leadership up into your business or organization? It’s time that we all live servant leadership.
Fantastic article Lisa! Thanks so much for sharing your insights on servant leadership, and the great example of the culture of servant leadership at Zingerman’s. I appreciate all you do in helping people understand the positive impact of servant leadership. Blessings to you as you continue this journey!
I love talking about leadership. I will be teaching leadership next year. For leadership, each theory and strategy is rooted in assumptions. When the assumptions hold true, leadership works. But way too many disregard the assumptions — making leadership fail on a massive scale.
Leadership is a tool. And like any tool it must be used in certain ways for it to be effective. Servant leadership is the same way. This approach to leadership requires certain people, structures, cultures, and behaviours to preexist for it to be effective.
Interesting article and the 6 responsibilities are clear, simple and effective. I discovered servant leadership a few years ago and it seemed to click. We’re currently looking at Operational Excellence, Lean and the role of the manager, combining these to develop similar responsibilities. Thanks for sharing.
The six leadership responsibilities are spot on. It’s difficult to argue otherwise regardless of leadership style. My question is, rather than rely on one style of leadership – such as the servant approach – is it possible to rely on multiple methods depending on the situation? For instance, a Transformation Leadership approach tied to a strategic imperative and involving considerable organizational change may prove more effective than being a Servant Leader. Thoughts?
Robert, I believe that being a great servant leader involves adjusting your leadership style to the needs of the person you are serving. For instance if a person is very new in their role or responsibility, it will require you to provide more specific guidance and direction and the person will be energized by that. If the person you are leading is more seasoned, you take more of a coach approach with them, asking great questions helping them into discovery, and lifting them up for their great work. In each case you are a fabulous servant leader, as you are truly thinking about the greater good of others, and how you can most effectively help them as their leader. Blessings on the great work you are doing!
Thank you for taking time and using your gift of writing to share your experience of servant leadership in action. I heard the term servant leader back in 1997 in my first annual performance review with my manager and the manager above her. I wondered what they meant when that said I was a servant leader. I didn’t give it much thought – except that it sounded like a good thing. Now I am immersed in it and wish all organizations could be lead by people who practice the tenets of Servant Leadership.
By the way – I just went to Zingermans with my daughter. What a fantastic place to eat lunch, chat, enjoy the experience and be served by people who want to be there and want your meal to be memorable.