March 4, 2025 • 8 mins
What if the leadership style you've been following is just corporate lip service? Join me as I unravel the intricacies of servant leadership, a style often praised but frequently misapplied in today's business world. In our latest episode, discover how "steward leadership" can redefine your approach to leading by emphasizing the ethical stewardship of both human and material resources. This isn't just about hitting targets—it's about cultivating environments where everyone involved can thrive. You'll walk away with fresh insights into which leadership philosophies might resonate with your own style, challenging the status quo and sparking a deeper understanding of what true leadership entails.
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Here For the Memories
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Here for the memories thought-provoking audio memoir
shorts filled with stories,humor, anecdotes and commentary
on social, cultural, businessand religious issues.
Whatever Lyndon remembers andthinks will entertain, challenge
and inform is a possiblesubject.
(00:20):
The collection of memoriesabout one's life allows for the
development and refinement of asense of self, including who one
is, how one has changed andwhat one might be like in the
future.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Greetings and salutations.
This is Lyndon Wolfe, and youhave been fortunate enough to
find my audio memoir, not apodcast.
It's called here for theMemories.
It's where I share about mylife and my opinions for those
that I love who might want toknow something about me when I
(00:54):
leave this planet, somethingthat I haven't shared, and they
may not read a book, but theymay listen to small excerpts
from my life.
I am not a servant leader.
You heard that correctly.
I know that's very populartoday, but I'm not a servant
leader, and I will explain Firstsome definitions.
(01:15):
A leadership style is a leader'smethods, behaviors and
characteristics when managing,motivating and directing their
team.
A leader's style can beinfluenced by many factors,
including their skills,personality, values and
experiences.
Good, solid definition.
So here are what are consideredto be the top six.
(01:36):
Transformational Leaders inspireand motivate their employees to
work for the greater good.
Delegative Leaders give theiremployees minimal supervision
and allow them to make decisions.
Authoritative, top-downdecisions with little input from
subordinates or peers.
Transactional A system ofincentives and penalties to
(02:01):
motivate team productivity andresults.
Participative Leaders seekinput from their team in the
decision-making process.
And servant leadership Leadersprioritize their team's and
organization's needs and growthover their own agendas.
So, although every great leaderdisplays elements of these
(02:24):
styles with the exception,hopefully, of authoritative and
maybe transactional each has anoverarching guiding principle or
philosophic linchpin, such asinspiration, employee autonomy,
control, behavior, reinforcement, participation and, of course,
service.
So the style is a reflection ofa philosophy.
(02:47):
So maybe you could use thoseterms interchangeably, and I
will here, because it's mypresumption that the style and
philosophy are almost impossibleto separate.
The much-invoked servantleadership is the one most
linked to a principle that goesbeyond leadership and its
philosophy could and shouldgovern all human interactions,
(03:09):
leadership or not.
It is the one with the mostspiritual or religious
connotations One could say it'seven theological, springing from
biblical teachings and exampleslike Jesus Christ and the
prophets.
That's why I like it the mostof the six mentioned, and I'm
sure you aren't the least bitsurprised by that.
(03:30):
But here's my issue with servantleadership and its ubiquity in
the business world.
Many claim it, but you'rehard-pressed to find those that
genuinely practice it.
It's primarily lip service, andso is DEI, by the way,
unfortunately, but that's anepisode for another day.
So when the rubber meets theroad, the leader though they may
(03:53):
claim to be a servant leader isalways most concerned about his
or her well-being first andforemost.
Some may schedule situationswhere they appear to be serving,
like spending a day in thecorporate cafeteria doing meal
prep or delivering plates offood to the common worker, but
these are often just photo opsand do little to consistently
(04:13):
elevate others' needs over theirown.
But for the vast majority ofleaders, and therefore companies
, we don't see an upside-downtriangle that servant leadership
would suggest.
The broad base of the triangleis the hourly workers and the
triangle narrows and comes to apoint at the top with the CEO.
(04:33):
This is the most typical orgchart and this is the way
leadership works in thatorganization Heck.
With most companies, even theexecutive suite is located on
the highest floor of thebuilding, symbolizing this
entire masquerade called servantleadership.
The problem, however, isn't thephilosophy.
(04:53):
It's brilliant.
The problem, as is always thecase, is people.
We aren't wired to serve, toput others first.
Do you expect me to believethat the CEO served his or her
way to the top?
A highly competitive world doesnot work that way.
Or the hard-driving, maybe evencutthroat, executive suddenly
(05:13):
buys into and becomes a servantleader once they have achieved
such a lofty position Ridiculous, you say.
Well, what about the executivesand managers underneath that
leader?
Ridiculous, you say.
Well, what about the executivesand managers underneath that
leader?
Forgive me if I don't believethat a company exists where the
management team is full of trueservant leaders, when the person
at the top is not one.
(05:34):
So I've created and seek topractice my own leadership
philosophy.
The guiding principle isstewardship.
I call it steward leadershipShocking right and it speaks
directly to a leader'sresponsibility for resource
development and results.
Leadership, in my humble butaccurate opinion, must also be
measured by what the teamaccomplishes with what the
(05:56):
leader has to work with.
Don't get me wrong greatresults don't always indicate
great leadership.
Great results don't alwaysindicate great leadership.
We have too many examples inhistory of people that
accomplished what seemed to begreat results, but they were
terrible people and terribleleaders.
And great leaders don't alwayshave great results.
In a sense, that could be saidof Jesus and many of the
(06:19):
prophets, at least from aworldly perspective.
But a great leader must alwaysbe focused on the responsibility
of resources, and resources ofcourse, include people as well
as results.
More on this in a later episode.
But here is my definition of asteward leader.
As a steward leader, I practicea philosophy that realizes the
(06:41):
human, monetary and materialpossessions in my care are a
sacred trust.
I seek to lead with integrity,wisdom and diligence to nurture
and develop these resources toaccomplish the goals and
objectives of superiors andstakeholders.
Those are my thoughts on thesubject.
(07:01):
You probably won't agree agree,most people in the business
world would not agree, but I'vesaid it and you can do what you
want with it.
I would be curious what youthink is the best leadership
style, or the leadership stylethat you would employ, or the
leadership style you would mostthrive under.
(07:21):
These are questions not justfor the business world, but
other organizations likechurches, and teams and families
and everywhere we go, there isa leader and there are followers
, even if it is not by design.
Thanks for listening.
This is Lyndon Wolfe and youhave visited my audio memoir and
(07:46):
some opinions today called herefor the Memories.
Come back and visit often.
I hope you got something out ofthe discussion today and it
prompted you to think about yourleadership and the leadership
of others.
I look forward to seeing you inthe very near future.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Hello friends, If you appreciate the content and what
it takes to create and deliverit, please consider a small
contribution.
Just go to buymeacoffeecomslash here for the memories.
That's buymeacoffeecom slashhere for the memories Much
appreciated.
Here for the memories thought-provoking audio memoir
shorts filled with stories,humor, anecdotes and commentary
on social, cultural, businessand religious issues.
Whatever Lyndon remembers andthinks will entertain, challenge
and inform is a possiblesubject.
(00:20):
The collection of memoriesabout one's life allows for the
development and refinement of asense of self, including who one
is, how one has changed andwhat one might be like in the
future.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Greetings and salutations.
This is Lyndon Wolfe, and youhave been fortunate enough to
find my audio memoir, not apodcast.
It's called here for theMemories.
It's where I share about mylife and my opinions for those
that I love who might want toknow something about me when I
(00:54):
leave this planet, somethingthat I haven't shared, and they
may not read a book, but theymay listen to small excerpts
from my life.
I am not a servant leader.
You heard that correctly.
I know that's very populartoday, but I'm not a servant
leader, and I will explain Firstsome definitions.
(01:15):
A leadership style is a leader'smethods, behaviors and
characteristics when managing,motivating and directing their
team.
A leader's style can beinfluenced by many factors,
including their skills,personality, values and
experiences.
Good, solid definition.
So here are what are consideredto be the top six.
(01:36):
Transformational Leaders inspireand motivate their employees to
work for the greater good.
Delegative Leaders give theiremployees minimal supervision
and allow them to make decisions.
Authoritative, top-downdecisions with little input from
subordinates or peers.
Transactional A system ofincentives and penalties to
(02:01):
motivate team productivity andresults.
Participative Leaders seekinput from their team in the
decision-making process.
And servant leadership Leadersprioritize their team's and
organization's needs and growthover their own agendas.
So, although every great leaderdisplays elements of these
(02:24):
styles with the exception,hopefully, of authoritative and
maybe transactional each has anoverarching guiding principle or
philosophic linchpin, such asinspiration, employee autonomy,
control, behavior, reinforcement, participation and, of course,
service.
So the style is a reflection ofa philosophy.
(02:47):
So maybe you could use thoseterms interchangeably, and I
will here, because it's mypresumption that the style and
philosophy are almost impossibleto separate.
The much-invoked servantleadership is the one most
linked to a principle that goesbeyond leadership and its
philosophy could and shouldgovern all human interactions,
(03:09):
leadership or not.
It is the one with the mostspiritual or religious
connotations One could say it'seven theological, springing from
biblical teachings and exampleslike Jesus Christ and the
prophets.
That's why I like it the mostof the six mentioned, and I'm
sure you aren't the least bitsurprised by that.
(03:30):
But here's my issue with servantleadership and its ubiquity in
the business world.
Many claim it, but you'rehard-pressed to find those that
genuinely practice it.
It's primarily lip service, andso is DEI, by the way,
unfortunately, but that's anepisode for another day.
So when the rubber meets theroad, the leader though they may
(03:53):
claim to be a servant leader isalways most concerned about his
or her well-being first andforemost.
Some may schedule situationswhere they appear to be serving,
like spending a day in thecorporate cafeteria doing meal
prep or delivering plates offood to the common worker, but
these are often just photo opsand do little to consistently
(04:13):
elevate others' needs over theirown.
But for the vast majority ofleaders, and therefore companies
, we don't see an upside-downtriangle that servant leadership
would suggest.
The broad base of the triangleis the hourly workers and the
triangle narrows and comes to apoint at the top with the CEO.
(04:33):
This is the most typical orgchart and this is the way
leadership works in thatorganization Heck.
With most companies, even theexecutive suite is located on
the highest floor of thebuilding, symbolizing this
entire masquerade called servantleadership.
The problem, however, isn't thephilosophy.
(04:53):
It's brilliant.
The problem, as is always thecase, is people.
We aren't wired to serve, toput others first.
Do you expect me to believethat the CEO served his or her
way to the top?
A highly competitive world doesnot work that way.
Or the hard-driving, maybe evencutthroat, executive suddenly
(05:13):
buys into and becomes a servantleader once they have achieved
such a lofty position Ridiculous, you say.
Well, what about the executivesand managers underneath that
leader?
Ridiculous, you say.
Well, what about the executivesand managers underneath that
leader?
Forgive me if I don't believethat a company exists where the
management team is full of trueservant leaders, when the person
at the top is not one.
(05:34):
So I've created and seek topractice my own leadership
philosophy.
The guiding principle isstewardship.
I call it steward leadershipShocking right and it speaks
directly to a leader'sresponsibility for resource
development and results.
Leadership, in my humble butaccurate opinion, must also be
measured by what the teamaccomplishes with what the
(05:56):
leader has to work with.
Don't get me wrong greatresults don't always indicate
great leadership.
Great results don't alwaysindicate great leadership.
We have too many examples inhistory of people that
accomplished what seemed to begreat results, but they were
terrible people and terribleleaders.
And great leaders don't alwayshave great results.
In a sense, that could be saidof Jesus and many of the
(06:19):
prophets, at least from aworldly perspective.
But a great leader must alwaysbe focused on the responsibility
of resources, and resources ofcourse, include people as well
as results.
More on this in a later episode.
But here is my definition of asteward leader.
As a steward leader, I practicea philosophy that realizes the
(06:41):
human, monetary and materialpossessions in my care are a
sacred trust.
I seek to lead with integrity,wisdom and diligence to nurture
and develop these resources toaccomplish the goals and
objectives of superiors andstakeholders.
Those are my thoughts on thesubject.
(07:01):
You probably won't agree agree,most people in the business
world would not agree, but I'vesaid it and you can do what you
want with it.
I would be curious what youthink is the best leadership
style, or the leadership stylethat you would employ, or the
leadership style you would mostthrive under.
(07:21):
These are questions not justfor the business world, but
other organizations likechurches, and teams and families
and everywhere we go, there isa leader and there are followers
, even if it is not by design.
Thanks for listening.
This is Lyndon Wolfe and youhave visited my audio memoir and
(07:46):
some opinions today called herefor the Memories.
Come back and visit often.
I hope you got something out ofthe discussion today and it
prompted you to think about yourleadership and the leadership
of others.
I look forward to seeing you inthe very near future.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Hello friends, If you appreciate the content and what
it takes to create and deliverit, please consider a small
contribution.
Just go to buymeacoffeecomslash here for the memories.
That's buymeacoffeecom slashhere for the memories Much
appreciated.
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