Servant Leadership

I yield the great influence of this blog to my brother, Brandon, who has penned this excellent piece…

I recently saw the movie “300″ about a band of elite Spartan forces determined to fight, to the death if necessary, to defend the City-States of Greece from the invading Persian forces led by Xerxes.
The mythical million man army of Xerxes is bottlenecked in a canyon defended by the 300. The Spartans know they cannot ultimately win but merely hope to hold off the Persians long enough so that the Greek armies can mobilize in time to defend their homeland. Day after day the Spartan forces fend off the invaders and slay thousands in the process. Xerxes reaches the point of exacerbation and calls for a meeting with Leonidas, the leader of the Spartan fighters.

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Xerxes offers Leonidas all the wealth, women and power he could ever want in exchange that he bow down before him, lay down his arms and join the Persians. Leonidas refuses. Xerxes fumes with anger as he exclaims,”I am willing to sacrifice all of my men to destroy you.

Leonidas responds calmly…”and I would willingly lay down my life for any of my men and that is why we will be victorious.” Ultimately, Leonidas and his men were overcome by the million, but he provided the time necessary for the Greek army to mobilize and push back the Persians. It would later be Greece that goes on to build a great civilization that would plant the seeds for Western culture.

The point is, servant leadership works. The 300 were motivated beyond words to defend their cause. Conversely, the unmotivated army of Xerxes knew they were simply cannon fodder for the selfish purposes and aggrandizement of Xerxes. Although this movie is part myth, part history, it clearly illustrates the power of great leadership which contrary to the perception of many, is not about charisma and power, but about humility and putting the needs of the many above yourself.

This simple but underestimated approach to leadership is missed by a great many managers and C.E.O.’s. I think servant leadership has most recently been damaged by Donald Trump and his T.V. series, The Apprentice, in which ambitious young business people are mentored by The Donald who encourages zealous competition, backstabbing and underhanded tactics to outmaneuver competitors. Only the most shrill and merciless tactitions have hope to become the next Apprentice. The uncritical observer may confuse this for leadership. However, these “apprentices” have no idea how to run an organization and I would dare say would probably destroy any organization in a matter of weeks. Donald Trump is an example himself. Although he has attained a great fortune, it has come at a cost of annihilation and destruction for anything he has touched. His only legacy is one of a “cult of personality” but he has no empire (contrary to public perception). Just ask all of his unpaid vendors and the Casino’s that have gone into bankruptcy due to his mismanagement. If you just want to simply get rich and leave a path of destruction along the way, you can always follow the path of Xerxes or Donald Trump. However, if you want to attain greatness and build an organization that will last the test of time, follow Leonitis.