Leadership must first and foremost meet the high priority needs of others. –Robert K. Greenleaf
Greenleaf writes: Manipulation…is not first priority. Mediocrity in positions of influence is primary… Reducing mediocrity is a slow, difficult, person-by-person process in which the less able learn to identify and trust the more able who will diligently and honestly serve them. It is also a process in which able, honest, serving people prepare themselves to lead and accept the opportunity to lead when offered.
Reducing mediocrity in positions of influence by replacing the less qualified with more able, honest serving people is a manageable task with our available resources. It can be done. …it will be done on a substantial scale when the people and institutions that have the good of society at heart bring a clear focus to their efforts and concentrate on the one thing that will turn us about the quickest: excellence in place of mediocrity.
Once again, Greenleaf reiterates one of his common themes: ‘Mediocrity.’ Too many individuals and organizations settle for mediocrity. Those who are called to be in ‘positions of influence’ are the folks that can most dramatically determine whether mediocrity or distinction prevails. It is important to note that Greenleaf uses the word ‘influence’ and not ‘power’ or ‘status.’ The concept ‘influence’ opens the door for many different types of folks to enter and directly affect the dis-ease of mediocrity.
Anyone who has attempted to help folks move from mediocrity to distinction (for example, to become high achievers) understands that the process is slow and difficult (at best). We do not expect much of folks or organizations that are mediocre. In fact, in many organizations if one is high achieving one is not ‘rewarded’ one is given more work (the work of those who are mediocre) – don’t believe me: Ask any high performing secretary who is part of a secretarial pool.
A key, Greenleaf suggests, is that the ‘less able’ seek out and trust the more able. But not just any ‘more able’ – those who ‘diligently and honestly serve them’ (i.e. who serve the ‘less able’). It is not always easy to identify these folks – it is sort of like attempting to identify the ‘true prophet’ from the ‘false prophet.’
Another key is for ‘able, honest serving people’ to intentionally and purpose-fully prepare themselves to lead AND then embrace the call to being a leader when it is voiced. I cannot begin to put a number to how many folks I have met who were coerced or manipulated or cajoled into the role of a leader – they certainly were not prepared.
To what extent are organizations willing to replace the ‘less qualified’ with more ‘able, honest serving people’? It does depend, it seems to me, on what the organization believes the ‘bottom line to be.’ Is profit, for example, a by-product of the bottom line or is it the bottom line? The question of ‘Purpose’ (‘Why we exist.’) is crucial and cannot be asked too often. There is a high-performing, high-achieving organization that was founded in 1946 and the Founder’s Purpose was to create an organization where people could grow and develop and be high achieving while doing both. The Founder was an engineer and so the vehicle for achieving the purpose was via engineering and construction. The more they lived out the Purpose the more profitable they became. There are a number of organizational examples we can learn from; to what extent are we willing to learn? The question I continue to hold is: ‘Why would an organization choose to become mediocre?’
Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself. –Arthur Conan Doyle
Servant As Leader 