Leadership Style

Unit I Interview Transcript

[00:00:00:000]

Sonya: Hello, I'm Dr. Sonya Rodgers. And today I have the pleasure to meet

with Dr. John Hargadon. He is one of my cohorts who I've worked with for

many years. And we have spoken at different conferences in regards to

leadership topics. Whether it's the different styles of leaderships or one type

in particular, like servant leadership.

So today I'd like to ask John, in all of his experiences in working with other

leaders in his different work settings, what types of things have you noticed

about servant leaders that stuck out in your mind or that you thought was

important?

John: Right, so servant leadership is a topic that I've actually spent quite a

lot of time researching.

As I was doing my dissertation, the primary variable of interest was servant

leadership, so it is something that I've been interested in for quite some

time. The key attribute looking at the different literature that discusses

servant leadership, and some of the research that I've personally done on

servant leadership, It

[00:01:00:000]

really all comes down to a desire to help other people, right? So a servant

leader's someone who's going to have that altruistic sort of tendency, the

desire to help other people progress themselves either in their careers or

personally. So a servant leader is going to be someone who has the ability to

see beyond themselves and their own personal needs and desires, and to be

able to see what's going to be good for the organization.

And understand that developing the individuals within the organization

because, let's be honest, the organization is the individuals, right? Without

the individuals, there is no organization. And so developing each one of

those people as an individual person is going to help develop that person to

achieve their highest level of abilities, and which in will in turn help the

organization achieve its goals.

[00:02:00:000]

Sonya: Okay, so a servant leader, as you were saying is not someone who's

very selfish, they think of others first.

John: Right.

Sonya: They inspire others, they want others to grow and develop, and then

that builds for the organization as a whole. So what would you say might be

a barrier to someone who wishes to become a servant leader?

John: Well, obviously, the other end of that continuum would be someone

who's interested in personal self-gain. Someone who's interested in, or sees

the employees as assets to be utilized, rather than individual people to be

developed. So trying to sort of think about how someone's going to

personally gain from an interaction with an individual.

I spent some time in the Marine Corps, I sort of developed this idea of

servant leadership, or this interest in servant leadership. Through the night

before we graduated boot camp, drill sergeant

[00:03:00:000]

got us all together, asked us all what our jobs were. Our jobs, it was

everything from infantry to artillery, motor transport, cooks, avionics, and

he made the comment that everybody is either infantry or they're infantry

support. And so what he meant by that is you're either the person on the

ground doing to job or no matter what rank you are or no matter what your

job title might be, you're supporting that individual who's on the ground

doing the job.

So from an organizational standpoint there's the idea of value added work,

whether you're in a manufacturing facility, the person who's turning the

screws, and turning the raw materials into the finished goods. If you're in a

firehouse, the person who's actually going out on the fire, on the run to fight

the fire or the emergency situation.

If you're not the person who's actually doing that, and you're in a leadership

position, your role really comes down to, as a servant leader, your role

comes down to providing

[00:04:00:000]

the resources necessary that those individuals need in order to be

successful. And if you've provided those resources, which include hard

assets by the way, machinery and equipment that works as well as the soft

assets like motivation, and discipline, and training. And so as a servant

leader your idea is to serve those individuals by providing them with what

they need in order to be successful.

And combining that altruistic aspect of wanting to help develop the

individuals from a motivational standpoint, it helps as well as from a very

practical and pragmatic standpoint of providing assets. The servant leader

really understands that they really are serving those individuals whom

they're leading, as opposed to the people who they're leading and working

for them if that make sense.

Sonya: It does. And I worked for leader one time who would actually sweep

the cafeteria floor while students were eating their lunch, and I thought that

was impressive.

[00:05:00:000]

He wasn't walking the floor just saying, “Look at me; I'm in charge.” He was

saying, “Hey, I'm here with you, I want you to succeed, and I'm involved,

I'm visible.” So I think ego might be a barrier to this.

John: Absolutely.

Sonya: Yeah, who want to become a servant leader, and maybe they have

some leadership qualities and they have a style they follow, but they don't

realize what it's like to truly be respected by those who are following them.

John: Right. Well, there's certainly going to be a level of respect if you're in

a situation where you're asking people to do something that you either

haven't done or aren't capable of doing, it's going to be difficult for those

individuals to find you credible. So getting in the trenches, so to speak, with

the folks that you're leading, being able to demonstrate that you don't think

that you're too good to do the job, and that you're competent enough

[00:06:00:000]

to do the job. So then there's a certain level of expertise that comes along

with that. But so in addition to the motivational aspect of knowing that this

individual is interested in me and developing me as a person, there's also

that level of respect that comes from being able to see that they're

competent and that they actually know what they're talking about.

So when they say that they want to develop me it's not just talk, they

actually know how to do it. And so, I think from across the board, servant

leadership certainly is one that would provide individuals with the ability to

respect and be motivated to work for that person.

Sonya: Do you think that someone who is maybe in a presidential role could

actually be labeled as a servant leader, and if so, why?

John: I don't see why someone in that role would not be able to. So when

you start talking about people that are in a presidential

[00:07:00:000]

role, whether that's president of a sort of a volunteer youth organization, or

president of a Fortune 500 company, the senior leaders in an organization

are the ones that are going to set the culture, right? So they're the ones that

are going to set the tone. And so if someone who's in that organization is

developing, finding folks at that level that they can develop, then the people

that they're leading are going to find people just below them that they can

develop, and that's going to trickle all the way down to the bottom levels of

the organizational chart, right?

And by the way, you don't necessarily have to have a specific title to be a

leader, right? Everybody's leading everyday. And so someone helping one of

your co-workers out with a problem or situation that they're having is a good

way to demonstrate servanthood as well as demonstrate leadership.

So, while I do think that at a presidential

[00:08:00:000]

level one can demonstrate servant leadership, I don't think that it's

necessary to have a title, a leadership title, a position of authority to

demonstrate leadership, and to demonstrate servanthood and be a servant

leader.

Sonya: So basically, you could be a servant leader regardless of your title,

regardless of where you work, and you can model the way for others who

may or may not already have a title?

John: That's right, and modeling the way is a good way to put it, right? And

so the change we want to see in other people, so be the change you want to

see is a common phrase that you hear sometimes. So, if you're a servant

leader, and getting into different leadership topics, being able to influence up

the organization.

So, there's a certain level of leadership that I think takes place from the

bottom of the organization to the leadership. Those who are in the positions

of official leadership

[00:09:00:000]

within the organization, if they're listening and they are paying attention,

and particularly if they are demonstrating servant leadership, they're going

to allow those who are below them on the organizational chart to be able to

influence some of their actions and their decisions that they make. And if

those who are influencing up are demonstrating servanthood, then that's

certainly is a good way to sort of show their leaders what it is that they're

interested in the way they want to be led.

Sonya: I agree. Well, these are some great examples that I think we have

shared today about servant leadership, and hopefully that will help any

student in any class who is wanting to pursue any career and serve as an

effective leader.