Presidential Candidates: Are They Servant Leadership Material?

Cut through Rhetoric to elect a real Servant Leader

Danita Bye

As a management consultant who has witnessed the good, bad, and ugly in leadership styles, I believe that we can assess the potential effectiveness that the candidates for President offer as “CEO” of our Government. I’ve seen successful businesses of all types and sizes overcome and thrive in the most adverse conditions with servant leadership principles.

Outstanding management gurus like Warren Bennis, Ken Blanchard and Stephen Covey tout servant leadership as the most effective style for creating a culture that: recognizes the importance of individuals, supports accountability, conveys moral authority, and breeds a high-performance organization.

The concept of servant leadership was developed by Robert Greenleaf in 1970. The servant leader serves the people he/she leads to accomplish a shared vision. It avoids domineering, top-down leadership, valuing a more collaborative approach to build community and tap the talent reserves of the organization.

So how do we identify the real servant leader?

Both presidential candidates identify themselves as leaders for the times to come. It’s certainly not easy to cut through all the rhetoric, e-lore, and untruths. I want to trust at least one national slate (as I’m sure you do), but we must analyze claims made by politicians and compare candidates with the qualities of a true servant leader. This brief recap of servant leadership offers an insight to the qualities we should look for.

Do they encourage people to tap their unique talents?

They should demonstrate a sincere concern through their actions about meeting the needs of people. This concern surpasses the advancement of their career or personal agenda. A CEO focused on short-term profits may keep Wall Street happy; however the people and customers that built the companies’ success begin to disappear.

Do they demonstrate personal accountability?

Servant Leaders demonstrate a the-buck-stops-here attitude, talking full responsibility for their performance. When was the last time a government official actually resigned because of poor performance or poor judgment—that is, before they were caught red-handed? When the masses become skeptical of their leaders, they become mired in low productivity, lack of creative problem-solving and low growth.

Do they exhibit wise stewardship of our resources?

The stewardship of our national resources and finances needs to be a top priority as we look to future generations. Scrutinize them for moral character and a willingness to nurture shared visions. These traits are essential for inspiring all generations—legacy and future—who want purpose-driven lives.

Do they execute with courage?

Leadership requires difficult decisions—to translate what they know is right into actionable behaviors that create change. Take a look at the candidates’ track records—long or short—and search for the team that has succeeded in effecting change.

Whether you’re a community organizer, a governor, a statesman or a war hero, a true servant’s heart is always in the right place—with the people they serve. And there’s only one way to judge a candidate on whether or not they are a servant-leader—by what they do, not by words alone.

As part of your decision making process, consider the candidates’ actions in light of the seven pillars of Greenleaf’s servant leadership:

Person of character
Puts people first
Skilled communicator
Compassionate collaborator
Has foresight
Systems thinker
Leads with moral authority

And let’s elect a real servant leader.

Interested in more information on Transformational Leadership? Get Danita’s e-book Leadership Shift.

Bio: Danita Bye

Nationally recognized sales management and leadership expert Danita Bye built her reputation on building and inspiring process-oriented, no excuse, high-performance sales teams that deliver bottom line results. With her unique Fortune-100-turned-entrepreneur perspective, Danita helps CEOs and company presidents take their businesses to the next level. Her practical, no-nonsense approach to sales management, combined with her leadership acumen, enables sales leadership to increase sales, creating predictable revenue streams.

As a 10-year veteran of the Xerox Corporation, Danita consistently achieved award winning sales performance before leaving to become an equity partner and national sales manager for a Minneapolis-based medical device company. In this capacity, she increased annual revenues from $300,000 to a run rate of $20 million in just ten years.

Danita has authored numerous articles on sales management and leadership. In addition, she was a featured as a sales development expert on the TV show, “The Ruthless Entrepreneur,” which is currently airing on the Oxygen Network. Leadership Shift, Management Acceleration and a library of eBooks on critical sales management issues are available on the Sales Growth Specialists’ website.

Danita can be reached at Danita@SalesGrowthSpecialists.com, 612-267-3320 or 800-256-2799.

For more insights on Sales Strategy and Sales Process, visit www.SalesGrowthSpecialists.com.