In outstanding businesses, people serve one another. Leaders serve employees and employees, in turn, serve customers. Customers respond by being loyal to the business and the employees they know. One way to reflect this servant mindset is to codify it in mutual promises. I learned from Admiral Vern Clark, who was the head of the US Navy from 2000-2005, that he told his leaders the sailors under their command promised to support and defend the US Constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic, and they, as leaders, needed to make promises to sailors in return. Promises such as giving the sailors the training and resources needed to do their jobs. That make me think, what promises do we want from employees we lead and what promises should we make in return. I spoke this morning on Jim Blasingame’s radio program about his and you can hear it at this link.
Here are some promises to consider:
Promises of a Servant Leader:
1. Help you see how your role fits in the whole of the organization
2. Help you find a role that fits your strengths and provides the right degree of challenge
3. Get to know you as a human being
4. Help you learn and grow and achieve your potential
5. Give you the training, tools and autonomy you need to do your work
6. Recognize you, in the way you prefer to be recognized, when you perform well
7. Keep you in the loop an consider your opinions and ideas
8. Compensate you fairly based on your contribution
9. Give you a reasonable amount of time during the day to connect with your colleagues at work
Promises of Servant Citizens:
1. Give my best efforts at work
2. Learn our organization’s values and strive to live up to them
3. Recognize my colleagues for their good work and actively help them
4. Learn about our organization’s work and be on the lookout for opportunities to improve what we do
5. Respect legitimate authority and align my behavior with our organization’s goals
6. Safeguard relational connections at work
7. Seek the ideas of others and share my opinions honestly
