Servant Leaders

How should we think about leadership?

Social psychologist and leadership authority Martin Chemers calls leadership “a process of social influence in which a person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task.” 1 According to his definition, an effective leader is somebody who’s good at getting everybody to pitch in and work as a team toward shared goals.

Nothing important can come to fruition without the combined efforts of a team. “The vital functions of organizational life,” Chemers stresses, “are accomplished by women and men working together. Thus, when we speak about coordinating organizational activities, we really mean coordinating the efforts of people. Social groups have developed the role of ‘leader’ to accomplish this coordination function.” 2 That’s a pretty good summary.

Good leaders

Someone who inspires us to come together in action. Deep in our hearts, we all yearn for great leadership. We’re looking to fulfill the inborn archetypal image of a stalwart visionary and guide who will unite us in social action.

It’s easy to confuse leadership with management. But they aren’t the same thing. According to businessdictionary.com, “Leadership is setting the tone of an organization, the broad objectives and long term goals will come from the leader, and then managers need to execute on a plan to attain them. A good leader doesn’t necessarily get caught up in all the details. Rather, he or she sets the plan, and inspires the people who will handle the details.” 3

Good leaders set goals at a broad level, and point a direction for movement toward these goals. They empower and mentor the members of their team, communicating and demonstrating their principles through personal example. The nitty-gritty work is the job of the managers. The most important job of leaders is to motivate everyone to pull together.

Boss and servant

Some people think the words “boss” and “leader” mean pretty much same thing. The boss must be the leader, because the boss has the power. So you have to follow the boss. These followers hope the boss is a good person; they certainly hope the boss will do right by them. Good or bad, though, the boss is in control, and therefore the leader.

That’s not really leadership; that’s the authoritarian model. Thinking this way is a mistake. Power isn’t leadership. Being a king or queen doesn’t necessarily mean you are a good leader.

A much better model is what’s been called the Servant Leader. This idea was most clearly stated by businessman and seeker Robert K. Greenleaf. According to Greenleaf, the overarching goal of a good leader is to serve. A Servant Leader shares power, puts the needs of the team first, helps each team member develop personally, and supports each in performing at the highest level of which they are capable. 4

Servant Leadership flips the king/queen idea on its head. Instead of the people striving to serve the leader, the leader strives to serve the people. According to a study done by Sen Sendjaya and James C. Sarros, Servant Leadership is being practiced in some of the top-ranking companies today. They maintain that these companies are highly ranked because of the style of their leaders. 5

Gold in jail

It was my good fortune to encounter a true leader at the very beginning of my career. I had signed on to do a clinical internship in the psychiatric unit of a large metropolitan jail. I was dismayed to find that the place was an absolute snake pit. The unit had been deteriorating for years under poor or absent leadership. Mentally ill inmates were being sexually and physically abused by staff. Inmates’ psychiatric medications were being used to keep them knocked out, not to help them. The administrative staff were corrupt, accepting bribes from suppliers who delivered spoiled food and sub-par medical supplies. Half the staff were under the mistaken impression that they were there to help punish the inmates, not to benefit them in any way.

Fortunately, the agency running the place was aware that a cleanup was in order. They hired an experienced manager to straighten things out. To protect his identity I will call him Mr. Gold. Because I was by then aware what Gold was up against, I didn’t have much hope that things would get any better. The out-of-control staff had perfected a great method for getting rid of anyone who tried to interfere with the status quo. Their track record was perfect. Every time a new manager came on board they made it too dangerous and too unpleasant to keep working there.

But I had underestimated Gold. I soon learned he was no pushover. He understood his job, and intended to do it. He spent the first few weeks interacting with all the staff, finding out what was going on. He systematically evaluated everyone. He wrote new procedures and job descriptions for all the staff, and made it clear he expected everyone to follow them. Threatened, the bad guys ratcheted up their program, moving from resistance to outright intimidation. First, they cut the fuel line in Gold’s car, so that it caught fire on his way home, and burnt to a crisp. He got out in time. Shockingly, he showed up for work the next day. Then someone fired a shotgun blast through the windshield of his new car as he was leaving the parking lot. To the utter amazement of everyone there, myself included, he again showed up for work the next day.

It dawned on me that I was in a drama straight out of a western movie. There was a new sheriff in town, one with the guts to face down the bad guys. I was in the presence of a brave and true, honest-to-God leader.

Gold had a vision for what he wanted the place to become. Through his own example he inspired the good apples among his staff to follow him into that future. The bad apples jumped – or were pushed – out of the apple barrel one by one. Under Gold’s leadership, the snake pit gradually morphed into a real treatment facility.

Even as an intern I admired Mr. Gold, and knew I wanted to be like him. What I didn’t realize until years later was that this was my first encounter with a Servant Leader. He was working not just for himself, but for the benefit of everyone on his team, and of everyone served by his team. We all ended up better for the experience. Later I became a manager myself, and played sheriff in similar dramas. I found that his leadership style had seeped into my own. I now know that I owe Gold a debt I can never repay.

This star is almost unknown in the US because she is shining in a different universe. Helene Fischer is a German entertainer, and quite a successful one at that. Her genre is “schlager,” a kind of music with no direct counterpart in the US. If you can imagine a dance-friendly combination of pop, country, disco, and folk you will be in the ballpark. Helene has a huge following in Germany. When on tour she plays to audiences of 40,000 to 70,000. She has won dozens of awards. 6 Each of her eight studio albums has gone gold or platinum. Her 2013 album “Farbenspiel” (“Play of Colors”) went platinum in just five days, and then multi-platinum. And she has released several DVDs covering her tour performances.

One measure of an entertainer’s success is earnings. Forbes magazine recently ranked Ms. Fischer as the eighth highest paid female entertainer in the world, pulling in $32 million in 2018. The top three positions were filled by Katy Perry ($83 million), Taylor Swift ($80 million), and Beyoncé ($60 million). 7

A simple ranking by income is misleading, though. The top earners on the Forbes list are all based in the US, and play to that market. The US population is currently a little over 325 million. The population of Germany is about one fourth that, at 83 million. Further, the average disposable income in Germany is considerably less – about $34,000, compared to the United States average of about $44,000.

Though fans’ willingness to part with their money may not itself be love, it most certainly reflects an artist’s appeal. And the most direct reflection of appeal is how much the average citizen is willing to pay the artist. Ranking the Forbes list top earners this way, Helene comes out head and shoulders above anyone else. Her 2018 efforts attracted an average of 37 cents per German citizen. That’s 40 percent more than runner-up Katy Perry (at 26 cents per citizen). Taylor Swift comes in third (at 25 cents), then Beyoncé (18 cents), and then Pink (16 cents). Fischer’s lead is even more impressive given the average German’s smaller disposable income. By this measure Helene Fisher is the world’s most engaging entertainer.

What exactly accounts for her appeal? For starters, her voice is powerful, full-ranged, and exceptionally expressive. Her versatility is simply unbeatable. She is formally trained in voice, acting, and dance performance, a graduate of Frankfurt Stage and Musical School. She speaks three languages fluently (German, Russian, and English) and sings capably in others including Italian and Spanish. She sticks to a positive, value driven message in all of her songs.

Note: Although Helene’s English is perfect, she sings primarily in German. Her English performances are often in duet with English-speaking singers, for example James Blunt and child singer Celine Tam. At the end of this article are links to some of her English songs on YouTube.

It’s about leadership

More to the point, a vital part of her success as an entertainer is her exceptionally effective leadership style. Fischer’s tours typically include her own band, backup singers, fifteen or sixteen superb dancers, and an extensive stage crew. She has full-time musical and dance directors, a choreographer, and a slew of technical managers. She has shown over and over that she can bring together all members of a team, and instill in them a sense of partnership in their common goal. Like a general willing to fight alongside the troops, she models the attitude, commitment, and the values she represents. Helene never forgets that she is riding on the shoulders of her team and her fans. She repeatedly and gratefully acknowledges them both onstage and off.

A critical element of Helene’s style is developing a relationship with each of her team members. This is evident in her documentary videos, in the comments of her team members, and in the remarks of her public. A fan who observed the taping of her most recent Christmas show was impressed that “Helene knew all the names of those who worked for her: the engineers, the band, the dancers, the light people, the sound people, even those who tore the stage down and put it up again – all 250 of them.” 8 This bond is evident in a video of her performance of “Nur mit Dir” (“Only With You”), an emotional tribute to the onstage and offstage members of her 2018 tour team.

Leadership lessons

Our parents or caretakers are our first leaders, and they quite naturally infuse us with their style. As a psychotherapist, I know how important this early exposure can be. It can leave a child with a mistrustful or resentful attitude toward authority, or it can prepare the child to work constructively with teams. It can bias that child to become a good or a bad social influence later in life.

Learning to tolerate crappy leadership growing up can be crippling, instilling permanently defective boundaries. The child can become a submissive sheep, unable to recognize or deal with bad or abusive authorities. Someone with boundaries damaged in this way can mistake a dictatorial boss for a good leader. Alternatively, the child can become an alienated rebel, refusing to accept any authority at all. Either way, the end product is a dysfunctional adult, unable to work constructively with groups.

Inevitably, those we view as leaders serve as models for our morality. This is a blessing when leaders are good. We absorb morality from them automatically, without even intending it. But the same thing happens with rotten leaders. Prolonged exposure is corrosive. Over time, and whether we intend it, exposure to models of bad values can degrade our own.

Trickle-down economics may not work, but trickle-down morality is real. Over time bad models produce lawlessness at all levels, from corporate irresponsibility to disregard for traffic laws. That’s reason enough to insist on great leadership.

Songs in English by Helene Fischer

The titles in this first section are at least partly in English (click to view):

• “Despacito” and “Échame La Culpa.” With Luis Fonsii. Live at Die Helene Fischer Show 2018. English and Spanish.
• “Hallelujah.” With full orchestra live at Hofburg in Vienna. English.
• “Shake it Off.” With Lena Meyer-Landrut. English with German intro.
• “The Power of Love.” With full orchestra. Live at Hofburg in Vienna.
• “I Will Always Love You.” English.
• “You Raise Me Up.” With child singer Celine Tam. English.
• “Just Pretend.” With ghost of Elvis. English with German intro.
• “Run.” With Leona Lewis. English with German intro.
• “Ghost Musical.” With Alexander Klaws.
• “Heart to Heart.” With James Blunt.
• “All I Want for Christmas is You.” With full orchestra. Live at Hofburg in Vienna.

To see Helene in superstar mode, try the following. In German.

• “Fehlerfrei” (“Perfect”), from Die Stadion-Tournee, 2015. German with some English.
• “Achterbahn” (“Rollercoaster”). From Die Arena Tournee, 2018.
• “Der Augenblick” (“The Moment”, German) and “Caruso” (Italian) from Farbenspiel Live, Die Tournee.
• “Maria durch ein’ Dornwald ging.” With full orchestra at Abbey Road Studios, London. Is that Robert Mueller conducting? German only.
• “Nur mit Dir” (“Only with You”). Helene Fischer’s emotional tribute to her team at the close of her 2018 tour. Live at Arnhem.

Notes and references

1. Chemers M. An integrative theory of leadership. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1997. Page 1.
2. Chemers M, 1997. Page 4.
3. http://www.businessdictionary.com/article/1024/leadership-vs-management-d1412/
4. Sendjaya S, Sarros JC. Servant Leadership: Its Origin, Development, and Application in Organizations. Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, 2002, 9, 2, 57–64.
5. Sendjaya S, 2002. Page 57.
6. Helene Fischer has received the following awards (number of occasions, name and type): 3 Bambi (excellence in international media and television); 16 Echo (outstanding achievement in the music industry); 7 Goldene Henne (the biggest audience award in Germany); 2 Goldene Kamera (international performers in film and television); 4 Krone der Volksmusik (achievement in folk music); 1 Romy (excellence in TV performance); 1 World Music (the world’s best-selling artists)
7. https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackomalleygreenburg/2018/11/19/highest-paid-women-in-music-2018-katy-perry-taylor-swift-beyonce/#6d213b9c6a24
8. Alex Moller Hansen. https://tyskschlager.dk/die-helene-fischer-show-d-78-december-2018-i-dusseldorf/