Lou Cartier (Courtesy/Lou Cartier)

Approaching the end of another semester in harness, my instinct is to capture lessons learned to freshen my Aims classes in business fundamentals and behavioral ethics for Spring 2024.

What new insights can I prompt on the “future of work,” transformative technologies, positive corporate cultures, and traits that distinguish successful business owners and leaders?

Thanks to Becky Safarik, tireless community development guru in city government under both Roy Otto and Raymond Lee, this link from the Harvard Business Review (2018) is worth sharing with students and readers: (https://hbr.org/2018/04/how-humble-leadership-really-works?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=hbr&utm_source=LinkedIn&tpcc=orgsocial_edit)

The article, by an organizational behavior researcher at the London Business School, reminds me of my first “span of authority” job at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.  Newly turned 40, this hot shot “advancement” specialist from The University of Michigan (Go Blue!) brought a naïve tendency to micromanage the capable staff inherited.

Was it a fixation with control or reluctance to credit the very same approach to talent development that had enabled me to compete successfully for a leadership position in my field of expertise?  No matter.  I was a “stress carrier,” radiating negative energy that foolishly blocked good people — including their new boss — from bringing our best selves to work.

Fast forward 25 years to the start of my “fifth career” — a teacher — when I began to distill the meaning of “youthful” and prideful mistakes, of humble witness confused with weakness. As a novice part time (adjunct) business instructor fortunate to work for one, I came to see the term “servant leader” as applicable to the secular work week as to a Sunday sermon.

“To put it bluntly,” writes our HBR correspondent, “servant-leaders have the humility, courage, and insight to admit that they can benefit from the expertise of others with less power than them.” By actively seeking the unique contributions of those they serve, such leaders “create an atmosphere that encourages followers to become the very best they can.”

In my classes, students discover servant leadership in text or video profiles that amplify a dry text. This semester, they have written enthusiastically of compelling business leaders such as Indra Nooyi of PepsiCo, Jack Bogle of the Vanguard Group, Mary Barra of General Motors, and Don Bane, Trader Joes.

For wonderful examples from previous columns, some may remember the “practical wisdom” of Akio Toyoda (https://www.inc.com/peter-cohan/7-pearls-of-wisdom-for-leaders-from-president-of-toyota.html), persuasive defense of introverts by TED favorite Susan Cain (https://www.ted.com/talks/susan_cain_the_power_of_introverts?language=en), or the affecting love of students and colleagues modeled by Clay Christensen of Harvard’s Business School (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvos4nORf_Y)

In the HBR piece that Becky resurfaced on Linked In, we find no such celebrities — at least not yet.  For those without convenient internet access to this article, here are the two expressed keys to humble (servant) leadership:

Ask how you can help employees do their own jobs better — then listen

Instead of nit picking (micromanaging) the performance of their employees as means to an end, managers of a European food delivery service chose to see their drivers in a new light.  They asked the folks who bring bread and milk to millions of customers each, “how can I help you deliver excellent service?”

You will enjoy their suggestions, many of them adopted.  Slight changes yet creating a “virtuous cycle.”  For this British company, “mistakes” began to look like innovation.

Create low-risk spaces for employees to think of innovative ideas

Can and should leaders encourage their people to follow their instincts, to push the boundaries of what they already know?  Turns out, that a Chinese bank executive felt obliged to deemphasize his “formal power” with subordinates.  He changed the tone and substance of internal reviews through unannounced “huddles” with managers of 80 branches in 25 cities.

The result was a 50% jump in customer satisfaction, 30% decline in customer complaints, punctuated by an unanticipated weekend work experiment that yielded huge returns.

The researcher closes his article, “Leaders often do not see the true value of their charges, especially ‘lower level’ workers. But when leaders are humble, show respect, and ask how they can serve employees as they improve the organization, the outcomes can be outstanding.

“And perhaps even more important than better company results, servant leaders get to act like better human beings.”

Back at the ranch, this “better human” thing appears to resonate  with my online student’s current reflection on the “dignity of work.”  They love to see celebrities, executives (and college professors) brought down to earth — even better, when of our own choosing.

— Lou Cartier teaches at Aims Community College, focusing on legal and ethical challenges facing business leaders and practical “soft skills” that underlie their people’s success.  A member of the Adjunct Faculty Committee, he contributes to college-wide organizational development.  Views and opinions here are solely the author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of Aims.