Think of a leader you’ve worked with

Think of a leader you’ve worked with who showed you what NOT to be like. 

Now, think of a leader you’ve experienced who has stood out in a positive way – who you want to be more like. 

My guess is, when you think of the positive leaders, you don’t recall a task or a technical skill, but rather their behaviours and actions, and how those made you and people around them feel. This is people-centric leadership – we call it ‘service leadership’. 

Paradoxically, service leadership is about leaders serving those they lead. The leader’s job is to create the conditions that allow their teams to grow, thrive and succeed.  

Let me throw back to 1993, to my first job interview: for a McDonald’s crew member role. I assumed the interview would be conducted by a crew trainer, supervisor or store manager – but no, I was interviewed by the owner of the business, John Ross. (He remains a mentor for me to this day. Here’s a picture of John at the State Library supporting me at a book-signing event earlier this year.)  

I think this speaks volumes about the entrepreneur, successful business leader and community leader that John Ross is, don’t you? An owner genuinely involved in the business. For John, interviewing 14-year-old potential crew members to flip burgers and make French fries was a high-value activity. He felt not only that it was necessary to serve his team by finding new recruits, but also that recruitment was an investment in creating the conditions for people to thrive.  

At its core, service leadership involves being deeply interested and invested in taking care of the people (staff) first, knowing the greater return this will bring through how they, in turn, approach taking care of the customer and the results of the business.  

If this doesn’t come naturally to you or the leaders in your business, know that it is a skill that can be developed and nurtured. You just need to believe that your role is to serve those you lead.