Service.
Leader’s Role #1
(And #2 & #3 & …)

I have a slide that I invariably use at the top of a presentation:

Organizations exist to serve.

Period.

Leaders exist to serve.

Period.

My abiding penchant for leadership-as-service was supported in Jim Strock‘s superb Serve to Lead. (He will soon be one of our “Cool Friends.”) Here are the bare-bones basics:

Ten Principles of Twenty-first Century Leadership

  1. Everyone can lead because everyone can serve.
  2. The most valuable resource of any enterprise is its people.
  3. We are in transition from a transaction-based world to a relationship-based world.
  4. Leadership is a relationship between empowered, consenting adults.
  5. Leadership is a dynamic relationship.
  6. There is no universal leadership style.
  7. Leadership roles are converging.
  8. A leader’s unique task is to imagine and advance a vision.
  9. Love is the highest level of leadership relationships.
  10. Character is a competitive advantage.

The Four Questions

  1. Who are you serving?
  2. How can you best serve?
  3. Are you making your unique contribution?
  4. Are you getting better every day?

Tom Peters posted this on June 3, 2010, in Service.