This morning, I had the pleasure of driving Katie and Alex to their respective workplaces. They happened to be in a mostly straight line and even though we’d get to Alex’s Chick Fil-A (my apologies to Mr Coleman!) a while before his shift was due to start, that would allow some time to camp out and take care of some tasks on Alex’s phone as well as some research I needed to do for a client.
Alex was so wanting to deliver a meal the last time I had dropped him off (and then the sneaky bugger managed to find a way to give me a nice surprise when I made it round to the drive-through window!) that I thought I’d stick around this time and grant him his wish.
Ninety minutes of working later and it was crystal clear that what I hadn’t counted on was how quickly the lunch rush can be upon you.
OK…time for a new plan and I asked Alex to go round and ask for his manager to attend which he did quite professionally.
In spite of the lunch rush, Miss Gena was kind enough to come round for a few minutes for me to ask her opinion on how best to see that proper recognition for outstanding service during that previous visit was rendered in the best way.
I’m sure she gets plenty of instances to show diplomacy and understanding in the face of a Category Five Karening. My goal was to try to balance the scales a bit in the positive direction.
A few moments was all it really took to know why she’s in leadership and that she clearly has an instinctive feel for leading others in such a way that they will do what she asks not because they have to but because they truly wish to.
That’s rather impressive for someone I’d wager my entire maximum stake of $1 that she has never been enrolled at Command and General Staff College at Ft Leavenworth!
The notion of the servant leader who is much more concerned with serving the needs of others as well as those within her command where the idea that the team succeeds as a whole when the team is given the tools to be successful is hardly a new one and could be seen well before the days of Frederick II of Prussia (Frederick the Great) and Robert K Greenleaf’s tome “The Servant as Leader” published the year I was born.
Indeed, this particular passage from the Bible comes to mind where Jesus was speaking with his disciples:
42 And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43 But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Mark 10:42-45 (English Standard Version Bible)
It’s not hard to know a servant leader when you see them. Listening intently and immediately putting the other person at ease will come to them as naturally as breathing the air and they will make their job look effortless even though the servant leader is often taking on not only her tasks but also the others that may need doing.
If that’s not enough, then look round at those she works with. You’ll see a dignity and the right sort of pride in doing the job to the best of their ability because that’s often the best way to thank the one who serves those in her command willingly and well.
Done right, it can create a feedback loop that will make the team darned near indestructible and invincible against whatever obstacles they may face.
The best leaders throughout history understand this instinctively and I believe Miss Gena does as well.
After all, she was kind enough to completely give her support to Alex who had gone away during that conversation and on his own initiative came back bearing a large lemonade without ice (my favourite!) that I hadn’t even asked for and an even bigger smile that the Cheshire Cat wouldn’t dare to try to match.
I have no doubt he was on cloud nine for the rest of his shift for he is the sort who also wishes to serve the needs of others and do so in the right way.
I’m glad that he is in the right place to do just that with such wonderful leaders to help him grow and be the best he can possibly be. 🙂
