My Summer Reading:

“ The Servant, A Simple Story About the True Essence of Leadership”

By James C. Hunter

Prologue and Chapter One

This is the second book that we will study, following the “Good to Great” Collins’ study of business and then the social
services. Servant is story about a successful businessman (John Daily), who finds his life less than perfect and
unsatisfying.

In the Prologue, we find Daily increasingly being annoyed by everything around him – his business, partners, his
home-life. This leads to his wife, Rachel’s nagging about seeing their pastor. This leads us to the setting for the book:

“The pastor suggested I get away by myself for a few days and try to sort things out. He recommended attending a
retreat at a small relatively unknown Christian monastery called John of the Cross, which was located on Lake
Michigan near the town of Leeland…”. (p. 7).

Even though John feels like this is a futile effort, there is a monk there who was a former Fortune 500 executive that he
is quite impressed with, Leonard Hoffman. John had been plagued with dreams about finding “Simeon” as an antidote
for his malaise, and (divine intervention), after joining the monastery, Hoffman’s name was changed to Brother Simeon.
This, John accepted as a sign that he would learn something there.

Hunter starts each chapter with a quote. Chapter One is titled “The Definitions” and quotes Margaret Thatcher: “Being
in power is like being a lady. If you have to remind people that you are, you aren’t.”

Chapter One spends a great deal of time establishing the setting at the Monastery and introduces the main characters:
1. Lee, John’s roommate, a preacher;
2. Greg, cocky drill sergeant in the Army;
3. Theresa, a Hispanic public school principal;
4. Chris, black female woman’s basketball coach;
5. Kim, head nurse.

These people would be in his study group with Brother Simeon. The topic of the study is “…leadership principles that
have changed my life.” (p. 24).

Brother Simeon’ role throughout this book is to focus the study group on the definition of leadership and then develop
the group as leaders. On pages 26 and 27, the author writes, “Nobody forced you into any of these (leadership) roles
and you are free to leave at any time.” This is the idea I like about the role – nobody forced you and you are free to
leave the role. The second profundity was stated as, “There is a lot at stake and people are counting on you. The role
of the leader is a very high calling.” The corollary with “Good to Great” is the idea of, “Do you have the passion?” He
goes on to quote Brother Simeon as saying, “Building influence with others, true leadership, is available to everyone
but requires a tremendous extension of oneself. Sadly, most of those in leadership positions shy away from the great
effort required.” Again contrasting “Good to Great”, the five levels of leadership and the effort it takes to be a level 5
leader.

The first chapter discusses the definitions needed to research the leadership principles:
1. Leadership: The skill of influencing people to work enthusiastically toward goals identified as being for
the common good. (p.28).
2. Power: The ability to force or coerce someone to do your will, even if they choose not to, because of
your position or your might. (p.30).
3. Authority: The skill of getting people to willingly do your will because of your personal influence. (p.30).
The chapter goes on to discuss the character issues of people with authority that are good qualities, such as honesty,
trustworthiness, good role model, caring, committed, etc. (Pp. 37-38). “The key then to leadership is accomplishing
the tasks at hand while building relationships.” “Are relationships important where you lead? It took me nearly a
lifetime,” says Brother Simeon, “to learn the great truth that all of life is relational – with God, self, and others.” He adds,
“The truly great leaders are skilled at building healthy relationships.” (p.41).

This is your first installment of your summer reading from your principal! If you buy the book, it is published by Crown
Business, copyright 1998, First Edition.

Chapter Two
As you might recall, from the Prologue and Chapter One, our main character, John, had met his recurring dream’s
nemesis, Brother Simeon. In Chapter One, John and his fellow retreat partners discussed the definitions needed to
understand the true leadership design and function. In Chapter Two, entitled “The Old Paradigm”, John will learn some
good lessons. The sub-quote for the chapter is from an Ancient Chinese Proverb:
“If you do not change your direction, you will end up exactly where you are headed.” (p. 47).

In the first chapter, John had been thinking of something else while a person was talking and cut the discussion short
to make his point at the expense of Simeon’s. “When you cut people off in mid-sentence like that, John, it sends some
bad messages. Number one, by cutting me off you obviously have not been listening to me very well if you’ve already
formulated your response in your head; two, you do not value me or my opinion because you refuse to take the time to
hear me out, and finally, you must believe that what you’ve got to say is much more important than what I have to say.
John, these are disrespectful messages you just can’t afford to send as the leader.” (p. 49). Some tough lessons are
the ones others have to point out to us that we should have seen ourselves.

To discuss paradigms, we first need an understanding of what a paradigm is. According to the English Thesaurus, a
paradigm is a model that forms the basis of something, how ideas relate to one another, a conceptual framework.
“Clinging to outdated paradigms can cause us to become stuck while the world passes us by.” (p. 52). “It is therefore
important that we continually challenge our paradigms about ourselves, the world around us, our organizations, and
other people. Remember, the outside world enters our consciousness through the filters of our paradigms. And our
paradigms are not always accurate,” says Simeon. (p.53).

Continuing with the talk of change and changing paradigms, Simeon states, “Change takes us out of our comfort zone
and forces us to do things differently, and that’s hard. Challenges to our ideas force us to rethink our position, and
that’s always uncomfortable. Rather than working through things and tolerating hard work and discomfort, many are
content to stay forever stuck in their little ruts.” This discussion leads one of the members to state, “Continuous
improvement is crucial for people as well as organizations because nothing stays the same in life.” Simeon retorts, “…
it is impossible to improve unless we change.” (Author’s italics, p. 54.)

Simeon continues the discussion about change utilizing the military top-down model from generals to ‘grunts’. “Let’s
put the CEO in the general’s slot, the vice presidents with the colonels, the middle managers with the captains and
lieutenants, and the supervisors with the sergeants. Now guess who gets to be on the bottom in the typical
organization?” Of course they all reply, ‘the grunts.’ “And where is the customer in this model? Who is closer to the
customer, the CEO or the folks doing the work and adding value to the product? I hope the answer is obvious to you.”
(p. 57.)

This discussion leads to a very important point: “If I were to go into your organizations and ask your employees –
associates or whatever you call them – Who are you trying to please, or who is it that you serve, what do you think the
response of the vast majority of the people would be?” “I jumped on that one,” John replied, “I’d like to think they would
say ‘the customer’ but I’m afraid they would say ‘the boss’.” (p. 60.)

The new paradigm the discussion leads to starts with the ‘customer’ at the top, followed by the employees,
supervisors, middle managers, vice presidents, and ends at the bottom with the CEO. In your own minds, imagine who
it is at our school or district that fills those roles and imagine for a moment how it might improve the school and the
district if we saw the student as the top of the pyramid, in an inverse form. “Let’s just imagine an organization where
the focus was serving the customer on top. Imagine, as the upside-down pyramid depicts, an organization where the
front-line employees are truly serving the customers and ensuring that their legitimate needs are being met.” Simeon
continues, “That would require each manager to take on a new mind-set, a new paradigm, and recognize that the role
of the leader is not to rule and lord it over the next layer down. Rather the role of the leader is to serve.” (p. 62).
“Perhaps we lead best by serving.” (p. 63.)

Simeon sums it up again by saying, “…a leader is someone who identifies and meets the legitimate needs of their
people, removes all the barriers, so they can serve the customer. Again, to lead, you must serve.” (p. 64). To be a
servant as a leader is unclear to the army member of the group, so Simeon clarifies with, “I said that leaders should
identify and meet the needs of their people, serve them. I did not say that they should identify and meet the wants of
their people, be slaves to them. Slaves do what others want, servants do what others need. There is a world of
difference between meeting wants and meeting needs.” (p. 65) He continues, “We don’t do anybody any favors by
running undisciplined homes or departments. The leader should never settle for mediocrity or second best – people
have a need to be pushed to be the best they can be. It may not be what the want, but the leader should always be
more concerned with needs than wants.” (p. 66.) He continues the definition with, “A want…is simply a wish or desire
without any regard for the physical or psychological consequences. A need, on the other hand, is a legitimate physical
or psychological requirement for the well-being of a human being.” (p. 67.)

This chapter hits the changing paradigm image with great lucidity. In Good to Great, we saw that change is required to
propel the organization in a positive direction. Are you ready for change?

Do you have the passion?

Do you have the will and the desire?

Are you ready for change?

Chapter Three
Chapter Three is entitled “The Model” with a sub-quote from Jesus Christ, “Anyone wanting to be the leader must first
be the servant. If you want to lead, you must serve.” Keeping in mind that our main character, John, is in a religious
retreat setting, Brother Simeon asks, “So tell me, John, what have you been learning?” John replies, “I don’t know,
Simeon…”.

Simeon goes on to explain that as a successful businessman, he often had conflict with those around him. “…I pulled
(his boss) aside and said, “Why don’t you just fire those two idiots so that we can start having some civil and upbeat
meetings?” His boss replied, “…that firing them would be the worst thing we could ever do to the company…because…
those guys help you keep your balance…”. (Pp. 73-74.) Who do we have here at Santa Teresa filling the role of
balance in your department? Is there a character who appears to conflict with your ideals, yet provides a counter to
some area of perceived roadblock to success?

Brother Simeon goes on, during class, to remind the students of the definition of a leader, “We agreed that leadership
was the skill of influencing people to work enthusiastically toward goals identified as being for the common good. Is
that correct?” (Pp. 76-77.) He describes his reasons for Jesus Christ as his role model for the perfect leader in the
history of the world. The preacher in the group responds, “I just had a little revelation here…Jesus didn’t use a power
style because He had no power. King Herod, Pontius Pilot, the Romans – those folks had all the power. But Jesus had
a great deal of influence…He never used power, never forced or coerced people into following Him.” (Pp. 77-78.)
Brother Simeon described his own leadership model within the framework of the inverted pyramid discussed in the last
chapter.

Leadership forms the base of the triangle, followed by authority. Simeon states, “Now leadership that is going to go the
distance, stand the test of time must be built upon authority.” (p. 79.)
He continues, “You can get a few seasons out of power but over time relationships will deteriorate and so will your
influence.” He notes that authority was defined as, “… the skill of getting people to willingly do your will because of
your personal influence.” He adds, “Authority is always built on service and sacrifice.” (p. 79.) Service and sacrifice fill
in the third level of the inverted triangle. “Love,” used as a verb fills in the next level of the triangle, followed by “Will,” at
the top of the inversion. “Love is as love does,” Simeon states, and, “Love is always built on the will. In fact, I can
define this word will for you in a formula…INTENTIONS – ACTIONS = SQUAT…all the good intentions in the world
don’t mean a thing if they don’t line up with our actions.” (Pp. 87-88.) He continues, “INTENTIONS + ACTIONS =
WILL…It is only when our actions are aligned with our intentions that we become congruent people and congruent
leaders.” (p. 89.)

Have you identified your needs and how to get them met?

Do you have the will and the desire?

Do you have what it takes to be a leader?

Chapter Four
Chapter Four is entitled “The Verb” with the sub-quote from Vince Lombardi, “I don’t necessarily have to like my
players and associates but as the leader I must love them. Love is loyalty, love is teamwork, love respects the dignity
of the individual. This is the strength of any organization.”

Our main character, John, is still battling himself as we enter Chapter Four, “But what was I supposed to learn from
Simeon? My recurring dream continued to nag at me, ‘”Find Simeon and listen to him!”’ Was their some greater reason
or purpose for my being here…If so, what was that reason?” (p. 92.)

Simeon, in class, had to develop the word ‘love’ to develop his point that love is a verb, “Another Greek word for love
was philos, or brotherly, reciprocal love…Finally, the Greeks used the noun agape and the corresponding verb agapao
to describe a more unconditional love rooted in behavior toward others without regard to their due. It is the love of
deliberate choice. When Jesus speaks of love in the New Testament the word apape is used, of behavior and choice,
not a love of feeling.” (p. 97). After some discussion, he adds, “I cannot always control how I feel about other people.
Feelings can come and go depending upon what you ate for dinner last night! My neighbor may be difficult and I may
not like him very much, but I can still behave lovingly. I can be patient with him, honest and respectful, even though he
chooses to behave poorly.” (p. 98.)

The class develops the defining words separating Authority and Leadership from Agape Love, using honest and
trustworthy as authority and leadership versus ‘patience’ for agape (forgiving the lack of the little thingy over the ‘e’).

Their assignment was to define the following words (Pp. 100-124.)

Patience – Showing self-control
Kindness – Giving attention, appreciation, and encouragement
Humility – Being authentic and without pretense or arrogance
Respectfulness – Treating others as important people
Selflessness – Meeting the needs of others
Forgiveness – Giving up resentment when wronged
Honesty – Being free from deception
Commitment – Sticking to your choices
Results: Service and Sacrifice – Setting aside your own wants and needs; seeking the greatest good for others.

The chapter discusses the words that accompany the above, like ‘discipline’ and ‘emotion.’ He states that you can
have honest discussions about whether or not an employee belongs in the organization without emotion – being
honest about that person’s abilities or lack thereof. These are the ‘brutal facts’ that Collins talks about in our last book,
Good to Great. The class is examining their own traits as far as their involvement goes in their jobs and lives; have
you? None of us is perfect, none without claim to mistake, but…
Have you got the passion?

Have you got the will and desire?

Will you be a part of our success?

Chapter Five
“The Environment” is the title for Chapter Five and the sub-quote is from Bill Hewlett, Founder, Hewlett-Packard: “Men
and women want to do a good job. If they are provided the proper environment, they will do so.”

“What have you been learning, John?” asked Brother Simeon. (p. 129).

“Let’s switch gears a bit today and talk about the importance of creating a healthy environment for people to grow and
thrive.” (…) Simeon pressed further, asking, ‘When the fruit comes, would it be accurate to say that I caused the
growth to occur?’ ‘Sure,’ she answered quickly. Then she paused and reconsidered for a moment before adding, ‘Well,
you didn’t exactly cause the growth to occur, but you helped it along.’ ‘Exactly,’ the teacher affirmed. (p. 130.) Simeon
goes on to state that, “…the best we can do is create the proper conditions for growth to occur.” (p. 132.)

The principal adds, “I’ve been working in the public school system for many years and you can pretty well pick out the
kids who come from a lousy home environment. Our prisons are filled with people who grew up in sick environments.
I’m convinced that proper parenting and creating a healthy home environment are essential to a healthy society. I am
convinced that the answer to crime has very little to do with what happens in the electric chair and much more with
what happens in the high chair.” (Pp 132, 133.)The class discussion goes on with dialogue about the importance of the
creation of healthy environments, much the same as Collins supports the rewarding of good employees in Good to
Great.

Simeon sums it up with, “…remember with whatever group that has been entrusted to my care…I think of my area of
influence as a garden that needs tending.” “And how long does it take before you see the fruit?” the coach asked.

“Unfortunately, Chris, I’ve known many a leader who has become impatient and given up the effort before the fruit had
a chance to grow. (…) The Law of the Harvest teaches that the fruit will grow, but we do not always know when the
growth will occur.” (Author’s note – no comparison to me there…God grant me patience, and grant it right now…).
The discussion leads to Covey’s The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People and relational bank accounts, “The
relational account metaphor teaches us the importance of keeping healthy relationship balances with the significant
people in our lives, including those we lead. Simply put, when we meet a person for the first time, we basically have a
neutral relationship account balance…As the relationship matures, …we make deposits and withdrawals…by giving
people appreciation…(etc.)” (p. 135.) The discussion leads to public praise, as opposed to public humiliation, healthy
accounts leading to healthy fruits, and development of the office and the home relationships, and how people really are
as compared to how they see themselves.

After much discussion, John says, “How on earth do I get everyone to buy in, Simeon?” (p.141). “You legislate their
behavior,” came the teacher’s quick reply. “As leader, John, you are responsible for the environment that exists in your
area of influence and you have been given power to carry out your responsibilities. Therefore, you are empowered to
legislate their behavior.” (p. 142.) John thinks, “If a customer service employee started behaving badly with a
customer, their job would be at risk. If employees didn’t follow our rules, they quickly become ex-employees. We are
constantly legislating behavior as a condition of employment.”

The sergeant adds, “But, Simeon, as leaders we can motivate people to change, can’t we?” to which Simeon replies,
“My definition of motivation is any communication that influences choice. As leaders we can provide the necessary
friction but people must make their own choice to change.” (p. 144). Simeon concludes with a quote from the famous
Notre Dame football coach, Lou Holtz, “Anyway, the story goes that he was once asked by a reporter, ‘How are you
able to get everyone to be so enthusiastic on your team?’ Lou Holtz replied, ‘It’s really quite simple. I eliminate the ones
who aren’t.’” (p. 146).
What a way to sum up a chapter about environment! The key story here is about creating the garden, creating the right
atmosphere, doing what’s right, but the choice to grow and change still resides within the individual. The same thing
we have been saying all along:

Do you have the passion?

Do you have the will and the desire?

Will you be a part of change?

Chapter Six
John Ruskin’s quote begins Chapter Six, entitled “The Choice.” “What we think or what we believe is, in the end, of
little consequence. The only thing of consequence is what we do.”

“When I was in business, John, I never allowed my personnel people to have extensive employee manuals filled with
policies and procedures attempting to legislate the behavior of the masses. I was always much more concerned with
the behavior of the leadership team and legislating their behavior. If the leadership team is on the right page, the rest
will follow naturally.” (p. 147.) As the leader of the school, department, classroom, or home – where does this relate to
our situation? This discussion leads to a definition of ‘praxis’ – positive feelings coming from positive behaviors.

“Traditional thinking,” says Simeon, “…teaches us that our thoughts, feelings, beliefs – our paradigms – do in fact
greatly influence our behavior. Praxis teaches that the opposite is also true.” He continues, “When we as human
beings make a commitment to focus attention, time, effort and other resources on someone or something, over time,
we begin to develop feelings for the object of our attention or, in other words, we become ‘hooked on’ or ‘attached’ to
it.” (p. 149.) He adds, “Praxis also teaches if we dislike someone and treat them badly, we will come to hate them even
more.” (p. 150.)

This chapter deals with the class of leaders on the last day of their learning experience with Brother Simeon. On this
day, the discussion is about responsibility and choices. “As we discussed…I believe leadership begins with a choice.
Some of those choices include facing up to the awesome responsibilities that we volunteered for and aligning our
actions with our good intentions. But many people do not want to assume appropriate responsibility in their lives and
prefer to lay that responsibility elsewhere.” (p. 152.)
This discussion includes two familiar words – responsibility and choice. We have talked in both books ( Good to Great
and Servant Leadership) about facing the brutal fact that we are volunteers in the business of public schools and have
responsibilities involved with the learning of the student – it is our choice to continue in the business and accept the
awesome responsibilities involved in this choice.

The discussion continues into the thought the Sigmund Freud’s theory of Determinism was much to blame for society’
ills – that all results can be predicted from the ‘cause and effect’, or ‘nature versus nurture’ philosophies. Simeon
quotes from the poem ‘Determinism Revisited,’

“I went to my psychiatrist – to be psychoanalyzed

Hoping he could tell me why I blackened both my lover’s eyes.
He laid me on his downy couch to see what he could find
And this is what he dredged up from my subconscious mind.
When I was one my mummy locked my dolly in a trunk
And so it follows naturally that I am always drunk.
When I was two I saw my daddy kiss the maid one day
And that is why I suffer now from klep-toe-mane-eye-ay.
When I was three I suffered from ambivalence towards my
brothers
Ant that is just exactly why I beat up all my lovers!
Now I’m so glad that I have learned these lessons I’ve been
taught
That everything I do that’s wrong is someone else’s fault!
Hey libido, bats in the belfry, jolly Old Sigmund Freud!”(p. 157.)

The Determinism discussion leads Simeon to a story, a revelation, that occurred when he was in school and his
teacher said, “’I cannot compel you to do your homework!” The teacher continued, “There are only two things in this life
that you have to do. You have to die and you to – ‘” “’Pay taxes!’ the sergeant chimed in.” (p. 161.) He continues, “But
you know, Mr. Caimi didn’t tell the truth that day. There are people who choose not to pay taxes. (…) Folks, there are
only two things in life you to do. You have to die and you have to make choices. From these you cannot escape.” (p.
161.)

At the end of the chapter, the principal concluded, saying, “…but there’s an old line about cause and effect that I’m sure
the determinists would love, and it seems appropriate here: ‘Thoughts become actions, actions become habits, habits
become character, and our character becomes our destiny.” (p. 167.)

Do you have the ‘action’ thoughts?

Are your habits ‘action’ habits?

Is your character a reflection of your ‘action’ habits?

Is your destiny a reflection of your character?

Chapter Seven
“Ahh, finally, Chapter Seven! Didn’t he say that was the last chapter?” I sense some of you might be saying this to
yourselves. If so, this has been a successful summer reading assignment – you stuck with me and finished at least a
short summary of Servant Leadership. The objective was to have you, and me, think about your (our) role in the
leadership structure of your/our classroom, your department, your goal team, your school and your district. The key
word here being ‘your’.

Chapter Seven’s title is ‘The Payoff’ and the sub-quote is from Jim Rohn, “For every disciplined effort, there is a
multiple reward.” The setting is the retreat’s last morning and John’s last meeting with Brother Simeon. Simeon greats
him with, “What is the single most important thing you have learned this week, John?” “I’m not sure, but I think ‘love,’
the verb has something to do with it,” he replied. (p. 169.)

John comes to conclusion in this chapter, “Maybe I need to begin looking at things a little differently.” Simeon replies,
“Remember the power of selective perception, John. We see and find the things we are looking for.” (p. 171.) The key
to this message is obvious in its simplicity – we see and find the things we looking for.

As the class convenes for the last time, John notes, “It seems like so much work…The effort required to build
influence, the work of paying attention, loving, extending oneself for others, and the discipline required to learn new
skills and behaviors leaves me with the nagging question…Is it really worth the effort?” The coach said, “One of the
things we tell our athletes is that discipline requires dedication and hard work, but the good news is that there are
always rewards.” (p. 172.)

The sergeant adds, “The mission of building authority by serving those for whom the leader is responsible could give
that leader a real vision of where he – or she—is headed. And with that vision comes purpose and meaning.” Simeon
states, “…a disciplined life of leading with authority amounts to a personal mission statement…But think about how
important it is to have a personal mission statement of what we are about and what we stand for. Someone once said
that if we don’t stand for something, we will fall for anything.” (p. 174.)

The principal adds, “Our students are searching, sometimes desperately, for purpose and meaning, and if that need is
not met, the students turn to gangs, drugs, violence and a host of other evils to fill the void.” She continues, “I once
read about a sociological study done on a hundred people over the age of ninety…’If you were to live your life all over
again…’ The three top answers were that they would risk more, they would reflect more, and they would do more that
would live on after they were gone.” (p. 175.)

Brother Simeon concludes with, “The point, Greg, is that there is great joy in leading with authority, which is serving
others by meeting their legitimate needs. And it is this very joy that will sustain us on our journey through this spiritual
boot camp we call planet Earth. I am convinced our purpose here is not necessarily to be happy or even personally
fulfilled. Our purpose here as human beings is to grow toward psychological and spiritual maturity…Loving others
pushes us forward out of our terrible twos. Loving others forces us to grow up.”

“And it starts with a choice…” the sergeant says. (p. 182.)

It starts with a choice.

Have you made the choice?

Will you be a part of the change?

Do you have the will and the desire?