The Servant Leader: How to Build a Creative Team, Develop Great Morale, and Improve Bottom-Line Performance

I'm not going to go into the details of the book itself, as previous reviewers have done that sufficiently. And if you're a student of the "Rock Star" CEO's, this probably isn't for you. What I will try and hammer home is that while it might seem contrary, this is the direction that good leaders in the submarine fleet have been going for years. Yes, the military is trying to practice servant leadership. Why? Because all of the assumptions that make Autry's book tick are true for the military. With few exceptions, like a civilian company, you have a team of skilled, highly trained individuals that want to do a good job. The best thing that you can do is provide them with the support, resources and feedback to let them get that job done. My only regret is that someone didn't hand me a copy of this book when I was a baby officer and tell me to read it. IT WORKS. Seriously. It works particularly well when you think it wouldn't, eg: high-stress situations. It works because your people are operating at their peak _effectiveness_ already, so overcoming this latest hurdle isn't the cause for doom and gloom that it might otherwise be. The book overall is a great read with concrete examples, how to implement it successfully and even recommendations for when you screw up (because you will.) I'm really looking forward to using this style in the civilian sector as well. This has a permanent slot on my leadership bookshelf, right next to Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't. And this is because having read the two shortly after one another, I see that a great path (perhaps the only path) to becoming a "Level Five" leader is to first become a student of servant leadership. From both, your company can be great as well.

As an executive coach, I often rely on books for extra inspiration for my clients. James Autry's Servant Leader book is the one I most often recommend to clients. The first half of the book is especially compelling and succinct, and it supplements my efforts to instill change in old-style managers and executives. There are plenty of "servant leader" books available, but this is the one I turn to every time.

James Autry's (2001) book is essential reading for the servant-leader and servant-led who are looking for practical tools to change organizational culture. The book was arranged in four major sections: "A Foundation of Character and Vision" (pp. 1-36); Servant as Manager: The Everyday Nuts and Bolts" (pp. 37-98); The Harsh Realities of Organizational Life" (pp. 99-154); and "Finding the Balance" (pp. 155-240). His main contribution to servant-leadership is threefold: (a) he rightly points out the famous proverb about managers doing things right and leaders doing the right things is not a prescription that recommends leaders to think only of the forest and not the trees; "instead, it is meant to define what a manager must move beyond (focusing on how to do) in order to become a leader (focusing on what to do and how to be" (pp. 37-38); (b) as an organizational leader with deep experience, he does not shy away from discussing the harder aspects of organizational life--he is an effective counterweight for some of the Pollyannaish literature; and (c) as an experienced organizational leader, he provides some management and leadership technologies and understandings that the theorist alone cannot. "Because this concept of serving others is an essential part of what I believe about leadership, let me offer you a list of six things I believe about leadership: 1. Leadership is not about controlling people; it's about caring for people and being a useful resource for people. 2. Leadership is not about being boss; it's about being present for people and building a community at work. 3. Leadership is not about holding on to territory; it's about letting go of your ego, bringing your spirit to work, being your best and most authentic self. 4. Leadership is less concerned with pep talks and more concerned with creating a place in which people can do good work, can find meaning in their work, and can bring their spirits to work. 5. Leadership, like life, is largely a matter of paying attention. 6. Leadership requires love." (pp. 20-21).

I've just spend a thought-provoking afternoon with Jim Autry. No, I've never met the man. But, I feel like we've had a personal conversation and I can call him friend. That's the way this book reads. Now I'm motivated to read his previous books: "Love and Profit," "Life and Work," and others. As a consulting futurist, I advise my client organization's leadership teams how to prepare for their future. The emphasis of my work is workforce and workplace issues. Looking at the design and performance of the corporation of the future, I'm confident that we'll see a significantly different style of leadership than we see in today's organizations. I teach-and-preach this shift in my consultations, seminars, and speeches to management groups. The emerging style is much more employee centered, less authoritarian. Some have called this emerging model "servant leadership," so I was eager to read Autry's book to learn about his perspective.Though a consultant and speaker himself, Autry's "been there, done that." He's practiced the principles he espouses in a number of settings, including in his former role as president of the Meredith Corporation's publishing group. This experience enables him to present real-life examples from his personal leadership career, moving this book from an academic treatise to almost a personal story of "here's how I did it . . . and got great results." Readers of this book will enjoy a feeling of sitting in a comfortable setting having a conversation with this thought leader.The book is organized into four parts. The first part, A Foundation of Character and Vision, presents two baseline chapters: Characteristics of the Leader as a Servant, and Understanding the Three Aspects of Vision. This portion of the book alone produced sufficient value for me that I knew I wanted to give this volume high marks. Managers and leaders may find themselves looking more introspectively at their own styles, values, and expectations as they read these pages. Sure started me thinking.Part Two of the book gets into some nitty-gritty. Application of the servant leader approach. How to build a community of people who enjoy working productively together to achieve shared desired results. Listen to the chapter titles: Finding the Right People. Training the Servant Leader. Tools of the Trade. Coping with the High-Tech Workplace.There were a couple of places in this portion of the book where my mind began to wander, but I was quickly drawn back to the text as I gained insight into how the principles of servant leadership work hand-in-hand with the more mundane aspects of management like job descriptions and performance appraisals. I turned down a lot of page corners.The book's third section is entitled The Harsh Realities of Organizational Life. In three chapters, Organizational Issues, Personal Issues, and Legal Issues, Autry tackles everything from Firing People to Sexual Harassment. In the fourth part of the book, Autry gets into what he calls Finding

Is so-called "servant leadership" solely for softy saps? Is it a hopelessly romantic notion for the "why can't we all just love one another" crowd?Or is servant leadership an implementable approach to managing people that even a grizzled task-master might find appealing for its effectiveness?Such questions are explored realistically in this gentle, approachable book filled with beautiful and grounded thinking.Author Autry, a retired magazine publishing executive, takes the idyllic concept of servant leadership and makes it even more attractive by anchoring it in reality. As a former manager, Autry had to turn a profit, fire clunkers, and wrestle with turbulent economic conditions. He comes across as fully aware of the pressures bearing down on real managers --- and appreciative of the truth that a mere touchy-feely approach won't cut it. Even more importantly, he makes the ideal seem doable for those willing to do the, admittedly hard, work of overcoming selfish impulses that are antithetical to serving others.While a poet and imaginative optimist, Mr. Autry is no wide-eyed utopian fantasizer. Just as instructive as his attractive descriptions of serving-while-leading are his candid accounts of business people he knows who simply don't --- or won't --- get it. Anyone who rubs shoulders with workaday managers must conclude that at least a few are but self-centered neandrathals.Autry reframes the-boss-as-servant to mean functioning as a *resource* to your colleagues, not as a slave to them. And he provides many examples of how to take that general orientation and make it actionable.The Servant Leader is a book you can breeze right through, but should instead savor. It is a hopeful yet grounded work that serves as a practical and useful guide to those ready to receive its inspiring teachings. If you think you qualify, order, read and heed this wonderful book immediately.