servant or self-serving?

In a discussion with a colleague earlier this week, the idea came up of the difference between servant leadership and self-serving leadership...and what may be a supposed fine line between the two.  Of course, very few people would admit to engaging in self-serving leadership and would claim that they were all about servant leadership; very few people would want to be known as self-serving leaders and would rather be lauded as servant leaders; very few people would be able to recognize self-serving leadership in themselves and would be quick to point out how they are actually practicing servant leadership; and very few people understand the difference between the two, especially in themselves.  Even as I write this blog and think about this topic, I am putting myself at risk of being seen as someone who might be more self-serving than a servant in my own leadership.

So what might the difference look like?  And is it possible to be both a servant leadership and self-serving at the same time?  What follows are a few ideas about the differences between the two:

• Pride: leaders should take pride in their work and the execution of strategy for their organization.  Where that pride is placed is one indicator of whether one is a servant or self-serving leader
• Recognition of Others: when leaders recognize the accomplishments of others, is the end result a stronger and more constructive organization or is it only that more people appreciate the leader mentioning their names?
• Execution: as strategy is rolled out and executed upon, do others thank the leader for their vision and determination or do they look around and thank each other?
• Communication: who is at the center of the story the majority of the time? and who determines what gets said, when it is said, and how it is said?
• Decision Making: how does the leader react when decisions are made outside of her or his purview? are decisions mostly centralized or pushed out to others?
• Vision: Is the vision about something bigger and more aggrandizing? or is the hero of the story the client or the one being served?

While none of these ideas are exact and readily seen or known, they begin to give an indication of whether or not one is a servant leader or a self-serving leader.  The paradox of this concept is that in order to serve others, leaders may have to act at times in a manner that is perceived as self-serving.  One of the things I tell up-and-coming leaders is that they must be able to embrace the paradox that it is all about them AND not at all about them.  This is not an exact science...there are no 21 rules or 7 habits of determining whether one is being a servant or self-serving...and it would not be fair to determine for someone else, based on these concepts, whether they are a servant or self-serving leader.  My hope is that as I have thought about this concept, so will you.  And, when looking in the mirror, you will be able to tell the difference and begin to shape yourself more toward being a servant for those you lead.