Lead from the Front? No. Lead from Alongside.

Leadership is a calling. Servant leadership even more so. Let’s be frank. Given the right tools and a permissive environment, anyone can lead. In business, leaders on all levels have both a fiduciary responsibility and a moral obligation to lead the company to profit. What? You never read that in the Bible?

“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability…

Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So, I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So, you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned,

I would have received it back with interest.” (Matt 25:14-15, 24-27, NIV)

Sure, we often hear this passage quoted as the pastor instructs us on the best use of the talents and circumstances God has given us. But it carries a second meaning as well. That one applies to business (or any task, really). Even a weak leader, a poor leader, or a leader with little talent has a moral obligation to better his company. Anyone can lead from the front, not looking back. But a servant leader leads from alongside.

A servant leader’s duty goes beyond merely benefiting the company. Servant leaders are charged with benefiting their people because, for a servant leader, people are the business. As Sir Richard Branson has so famously quoted, “Take care of your employees, and they’ll take care of your business.” Turnover, poor quality, opportunities lost. Servant leader, those are the cost of failing to serve. We may improve our margin by hanging on to existing work and thinning out the workforce, but that’s not the servant leader’s way. (Caveat: Sometimes right sizing is required, and a Servant Leader must make the process the least painful as possible for the employee.)

Servant leadership is about treating everyone else, even the unlovable leader, the out-of-water worker, or the inept intern, better than we treat ourselves. We don’t love ourselves because of the benefit we get from it. We love ourselves and treat ourselves with kindness because we are the only one of us that we have. Likewise, that unlovable leader is the only one of his or her kind. It’s the same with the struggling fish out of water and the rookie intern. Everyone is deserving of service. Even enemies.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor[a] and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others?” (Matt 5:43-47, NIV)

So, Servant Leader, don’t be the one who “manages up,” focused more on what the owners or the boss wants. Be the one who manages around. Lead from alongside. Don’t just pull others along, help them gain your foothold and guide them alongside you. Face challenges together. Keep one hand on the door and the other on your people. As you force that door open, don’t let it slam in their faces. Bring them along with you. That is loving others as we love ourselves. That is serving while leading. That is leading from alongside.

That is Servant Leadership.

That is loving your neighbor.