Leadership Insights

The Servant follows a burned-out businessman at the end of his rope, John Daily, who has alienated his colleagues, underlings, and family through his selfishness, laziness and lack of tact at work and at home. He goes to a monastery to reinvigorate himself personally and to acquire leadership skills under the tutelage of a formerly famous giant of industrial accomplishment, turned into a monk. Our hero participates in this effort with several other characters, including a loudmouthed, militaristic sergeant who is the book’s only source of humor. Many of the leadership principles espoused here are matters of simple common sense, reminding us about how to be leaders by essentially following the Golden Rule. It’s that simple, really. This book’s message about servant leadership should not be necessary; however, sadly enough, it is. My professional experiences are in a government bureaucracy in which the good manager exists but is a diamond amidst a sea of sewage. By in large it is an agency riddled with incompetent technocrats and yes-men promoted for their ability to mindlessly tout the company line. The Servant wisely counsels independent thinking within the framework of team cooperation. It might benefit a good many managers in my agency and many others, despite its considerable flaws of character and story development.

Therein lies my problem with this book — not in the concepts advocated, but in its delivery. The characters are oversimplified, shallow, [typical], one-dimensional, and poorly developed, with all the spice and complexity of a glass of water. Daily’s simpering hero-worship of the monk, about whom he heard great things in business circles, pervades the storyline. The tale is so predictable, unimaginative and moribund that it tarnishes the message behind the story. If one is seeking a compelling storyline with depth and unexpected turns, this book should be avoided at all costs. I read it in under two hours on a plane; and it wasn’t worth that time.
Rating: 2 / 5

Excellent product delivered in a very timely manner. Great service!
Rating: 5 / 5

Overall, I found this book to be scripted and cliche’. The teacher only seems to get asked questions to which he has the answers. The individual characters seem like charicatures. I find the way in which they all become equally enlighted at the of the story to feel really fake.

That said, this book has some really good points. Most of them borrowed from others who have said it better and simply regurgitated here using narrative format with very simple language. Personally, I have found the greatest success (there have been few for me as a leader) when I have placed myself in the service of others. It is also helpful in understanding the need to meet peoples needs rather than just their wants. Good things to say about bounderies, integrity, and so on.

However, I really must take issue with a number of the points the book makes.

PG 32-33

All employees are volunteers of sorts. They can freely choose to work where they want. They can freely choose when to leave.

Well that ain’t really so. Last time I checked there were a number of factors that limit our choices i.e. education, age, geography, physical/mental capabilities, and so on. This book is a big proponent of free choice and a critic of determinism. Not surprising given its basis in evangelical thinking. They even site Frankl on matter of free choice later in the book. Fact is yes, we have choices but there are limitations on those choices. This is not a bad thing, it just is.

So basically, some folks stay in bad jobs because they need the money for food, rent, and gas. That can put them at a disadvantage when it comes to their relationship with their employer. Do not forget the power that money can yield in this society especially when you have limited sources of it. In many cases, the employer still holds a lot of the cards. Consider the children in developing nations that sew our childrens soccer balls together.

PG 43-44

Money ranks #4 among what employees want.

Money still ranks and frankly it is a function of being treated with dignity and respect. Our financial compensation is based on how much value we create financially but it is also a reflection of how much value is placed on us. Consider the child mentioned above. Consider how much money he makes and then consider the profits of the soccer ball company. Consider the compensation of the CEO for that soccer ball company. Consider that workers wages have consistently declined while executive compensations and corporate profits have soared.

PG 120

Throw-away society

No doubt we are a throw-away society and perhaps I am the worst offender in this regard. But I find the use of abortion to support this point to be problematic.

There is a comment here suggests that the decision to have an abortion is as simple and easy as tossing away something unwanted. There are so many points to be made against this that I am not sure where to begin. But I will end here, this is a difficult decision for any person or couple to make. If they are pro-life (that’s right folks pro-life people have abortions) or if they are pro-choice, it is a emotional, serious, and tough choice to make. It is even tougher to follow through with. I would be naive if I did not say that there are people who are flipant about this decision but that is extremely rare. The vast majority of people make such a significant decision carefully and thoughtfully.

Perhaps a better example, one that is never touched on very strongly, is the amount of resources that we use compared to our population. Not sure the exact percentages here but in the USA we consume a large portion of the available resources relative to our population. How about those gianormous SUVs we see crusing around the burbs? You know the ones that get about 10 miles to the gallon? I could be wrong here but their sole purpose seems to be to prop up the ego. Is that not wasting resources? The take more material to manufacture, utilize, and maintian than cars 1/2 to 1/3 their size. If the purpose of a vehicle is to get us and our gear from point A to point B AND a smaller vehicle will do the job, then isn’t any vehicle larger than that in effect a waste? Is that not simply throwing away resources that could be better used elsewhere? Wouldn’t our world be better served by a more wise use of our resources? How about applying servanthood in this context?

PG 153

Smokers blame cigarette companies to their addiction.

For the most part, I have to agree with the book on this one but fact is the cigarette companies deliberately manipulated nicotine levels so as to maxmize the chances for the smokers addiction. Yes, everyone who put that first cigarette in their mouth made that choice freely AND there are plenty of people who struggled with the difficulty of quitting to shake the habit. So we know it can be done. But the fact is, the cigarette companies stacked the deck…or pack…in their favor to intentionally addict users and ensure a continued market for their product. They even went so far to create cartoon characters to market their product so as to get young people to smoke. Here again, coupled with nicotine levels intended to produce addiction, they ensure a stable and reliable market for their products and profits. All this while internal documents clearly and directly link their product to cancer and heart diesease. Were it not for these actions, the books point would have been stronger.

If we are talking about being servants here then where is the service in the cigarette companies actions? Where is their responsiblity? There is a subtle message here that corporations are not to blame for the impact of their actions. Why isn’t the notion of responsibilty that is applied to individuals also leveled at corporations?

PG 154

The Twinkie Defense

This is simply a bad example. The so called Twinkie Defense was hyped by the media to grab the public’s attention and create ratings. If you take about 10 seconds to drill down into the issue, you would find that the legal defense of Dan White based based on a bi-polar disease and not twinkies. Twinkies were simply evidence supporting an overall defense based upon mental illness. And from what little I know, the guy was definately whacked. He should be held responsible but still he was whacked out.

My point is this. As a casual observer of the news, we can have these sort of knee-jerk reactions and comments. As a published author, one has a greater responsibility to get their story straight. Otherwise, we simply perpetuate a half-baked understanding of the facts. Where is the servant in that?

Okay, I am off my soap box.
Rating: 1 / 5