In his book, “Authentic Leadership,” Bill George refers to the late Robert Greenleaf, a former AT&T executive well known for his concept of “leaders as servants of the people.” Describing this concept, Mr. George says, “he advocates service to others as the leader’s primary purpose. If people feel you are genuinely interested in serving others, then they will be prepared not just to follow you but to dedicate themselves to the common cause.”

I was introduced to this concept several years ago by Steve Sanghi, CEO of Microchip. He recommended that organization charts be inverted from the norm, to show the leader at the bottom, symbolically showing that the leaders’s job is to support and help the people in his organization.

I like to start each business day by asking myself the question, “How can I best serve and deliver value to my employees, my employer and my customers today?”

Answering that question helps me to focus on what is really important in my role as a manager and employee – servant of the people within the span of my stewardship.

Technorati Tags: Leadership
Microchip,
Steve Sanghi,
Robert Greenleaf

Steward: “a person who manages another’s property or financial affairs; one who administers anything as the agent of another or others.”

Twice last Sunday, I came face to face with the term “Steward.”

The first was Sunday afternoon when my good friend Mark Jones taught our men’s class in church about the concept of a “wise steward” taking very seriously his duty to serve members of his family and members of the church with great care.

The second was in the book entitled “Authentic Leadership,” by Bill George, a former CEO of Medtronic and current Professor of Management Practice at Harvard Business School. I began reading this book, which had been recommended to me by my colleague Anand Shah, Sunday evening while on the airplane travelling to my business destination. In the preface to his book, Mr. George states, “When leaders are dedicated stewards and lead in an authentic manner, they build enduring organizations that do great good for people and make an enormous differerence in the world.”

Monday morning, still intrigued with the concept of stewardship, I made this topic the focus of my personal study. I learned that the word “steward” was derived from the Old English words “stig” (house or pen) and “weard” (guard) coming together as “stigweard” or literally “house guardian.”

It occurs to me that if we consider ourselves to be “house guardians” over the people and affairs that have been entrusted to us by our employers and by God, we would make better decisions, act with more integrity and serve with more diligence, because we would be seeking to “guard” the virtue and value of our businesses, our families and our fellowmen.

Technorati Tags:
Stewardship,
Leadership,
Bill George

One of Stephen Covey’s recommended “Seven Habits” is to “sharpen the saw,” or take time to improve or refresh skills. I am doing so this week by taking part in the Sun Microsystems course, “Managing for Success,” a workshop required for all new Sun Managers. Since I became a Sun manager nine months ago, it is high him I pause to take the course.

I have been pleasantly surprised by the course content and instructor, June Ramos. Although I have been managing people in one way or another for almost 30 years, it has been a good experience to pause again and focus on the basic principles and techniques of leadership that really work – a “familiar principles, revisited” type of experience.

I’ll share a few insights from the course with you over the next few days.

Technorati Tags:
Sun Microsystems,
Management