KINDLE Servant Leaders

Zanmi (sounds like “zombie” without the “b”) is my six month old Havanese puppy. “Zanmi” means “friend” in Creole–and it is the perfect name for him. I am learning a lot about leadership from trying to be a good master to Zanmi. Today’s leadership lesson from Zanmi is “All Leaders Are Not Alike”

When I imagined getting a puppy, I was sure I would have a crazy aggressive little pooch, until I trained him to be calm. I pictured walking him with my arm yanking out of the socket as he raced ahead of me. I thought I would need to be careful about him being aggressive with the many other other dogs around my condo complex.

How wrong I was! Turns out:

• Zanmi almost never runs ahead of me when we walk. He most often falls in step directly behind me, as though I am the Lead Dog and he’s just the first member of the pack.
• Zanmi is very cautious the first time we do anything. He needs encouragement and patience when we do anything the new. He doesn’t need to be held back or down…he needs to be praised and affirmed.
• When Zanmi meets another dog on our walks, he isn’t aggressive at all. He immediately wags his tail, walks quietly toward the other dog and filps on his back as if to say, “I am no threat to you.” Consequently, Zanmi is soon to be voted most popular pooch at Charter Oaks.

Here’s the leadership connection for me: every person we are called on to lead is not the same. Some need to be held back and some need to be shown the way. One might need a step-by-step encouragement, while another needs to be set free.  Part of our job as leader of leaders is to discern what each leader needs most in order to take his or her next step in servant leadership. Learning to be calm and reflective before we take action in equipping and empowering other leaders is a necessary skill in taking the most appropriate actions.

P.S. Hersey/Blanchard’s Situational Leadership Theory really speaks to this idea.