On servant leadership

The number of people I’ve met who claim to be servant leaders and can actually ship can be counted on one hand. And this isn’t an exaggeration.

Claiming you’re a servant leader is often a red flag for me, unless you’re in a position to handpick and staff your own team. Moreover, you need to understand how your business operates well enough to evaluate whether the people you’re serving are doing their jobs effectively. In too many cases, “I’m a servant leader” ends up meaning, “I let my team do whatever they want, whether or not they know what they’re doing.”

Being a servant leader for the wrong team is naive at best, dangerous at worst. It’s like giving a child a gun. Misaligned, ego-centric teams that are playing for territory, managing up while tyrannizing down, should never be led by a so-called “servant leader.” That is, unless the leader knows how to select the right people, get rid of the un-coachable ones, and guide the team with the necessary discernment.

Servant leadership, in its highest form, is an advanced level of leadership. But many people who claim to practice it are fooling themselves. They’ve read some books or a blog post and believe they’re operating at that level when they’re simply not.

Be careful when you throw this phrase around. It often says more about where you are in your leadership journey than you might think.