Servant Leadership: Who's on first?

“Then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” (Phil 2:2-4, NIV)

Servant leadership is about putting others first. In his letters to the Philippians, Paul praised them for being faithful to the word, but also reminded them not to climb the ladder the same way that non-Christians do. I can imagine Paul writing his letter today. He’d address it to the barons on Wall Street or managers of big defense contracting companies. I can imagine it would go something like this.

“Unite under a common cause, with equal concern for employees on the third floor as those in the C-suite. Don’t use them and their talents to advance your own position. Rather, use your position to help your subordinates improve their own. Rather than focusing internally on your next accolade for the General Manager, focus externally on advancing your employees’ skills so that they are equally competitive for an executive position.”

Maybe Paul would quote some Tim McGraw lyrics in his tagline. “When you get where you’re going, don’t forget turn back around. Help the next one in line. Always stay humble and kind.”

But if I focus on others, how do I stay relevant? This business, this world, its dog eat dog. If I relinquish my edge, if I’m not at least as ambitious as the next guy, how will I keep my spot, let along get ahead?

Paul had an answer for that question too.

“Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, ‘children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.’ Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain. But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. So, you too should be glad and rejoice with me.” (Phil 2:14-18, NIV)

The solution seems rather simple. Focus on others and let God focus on you. I’ve made a habit of saying, “My professional brand is flexibility, capability, and availability. I say ‘yes’ where others say ‘no’ and that keeps me relevant.” It’s my Christian way of saying “I’ll put you first and let God carry my ambitions,” without beating people over the head with scripture. But its true. Otherwise, how could a simple country boy from a small town in West Virginia possibly be writing a blog instructing Fortune 100 executives on how to lead their teams to success?

If you haven’t figured it out yet, I’ll give you a hint.

God is on first.

(Photo: courtesy of the Baseball Hall of Fame)

(Humble and Kind: Big Machine, written by Lori McKenna, produced by Byron Gallimore and Tim McGraw, January 20, 2016)