How is this book different than all of the other servant leadership written in the past?
100% in most cases. The notion of ‘Servant Leadership’ is a noble concept and is a great concept for us to use in business today, but what many have been teaching and trying for years is wrong in today’s world. We should be serving those that lead us. We should serve those that pay us; our bosses and the organizations we work for. The way we serve our people is to coach them and make them better, similar to raising children. As parents we must teach our kids how to be strong, disciplined and a person that contributes positively to society. But when we take all of their struggles away and protect them from everything and give them everything—they become spoiled kids and ultimately entitled adults. Servant leadership is not about making our employees’ lives easy by removing their problems or defending them or protecting them. It is about coaching them and making them better. We should however serve those that follow us by coaching them. If everybody in the organization coaches down and serves up they will be aligned in belief, principle and action and will ultimately create a thriving culture.
How is serving up different than sucking up?
Completely different in intent and action. First, sucking up is not about serving at all. Sucking up is about manipulation and deceiving others. Sucking up is typically achieved with words and not action. Serving up is shown through action. A person that understands their job is to do the best work possible and exceed their boss’s expectations.
Are middle managers lower level managers?
Not at all. Middle managers make up over 90% of the leaders in business today. A middle manager can be a President, VP, Director, Manager or supervisor. A middle manager is anyone that has a boss and also has employees. No one likes to be called middle manager because they see it as an insult. But it’s not; it is the most powerful leader in the company which is why we call them ‘Leaders in the Middle.’
Why are middle managers or LIM the most powerful leaders?
LIM are the most powerful because they have the responsibility and the power to take the vision or direction of their leaders and own it as their own. A great LIM is able to take a vision and turn it into execution. There is no success without execution.
What do you mean when you talk about “Keeping the Power” in your book?
One of the biggest issues with LIM is keeping the power. By power I mean that a LIM is not viewed as just another link in the chain of command. Most LIM give up the power by accident; when they tell their followers that someone above them made a decision and they must follow the direction. This appears to those that follow them as powerless. The key to keeping the power is owning all directions regardless of where it came from. This is achieved when a LIM does not blame leaders rather they focus on how they will achieve the goals versus question why a decision was made.
