The Essential Ken Blanchard Collection

Differences Between Self-Serving and Servant Leaders

K: Colleen, I really admire the way you collaborate with your People.

C: It just makes sense. I have always felt that Leadership is a high calling. It’s not about a position. In fact, to me any Leadership position I have had was on loan from all the stakeholders in the organization—our Employees, our Customers, our Business Partners, and our Shareholders.

K: You just identified a key difference between self-serving leaders and Servant Leaders. Self-serving leaders think they own their position. Most of their leadership time is spent protecting their position—what they think they own. They want to make sure everyone knows who’s the boss. They run bureaucracies and believe the sheep are there ...