Book review: Servant Leadership Across Cultures

“Good managers” seek to help people win through teaching and coaching them to do their best. They listen to their people, praise them, support them, and redirect them when they deviate from their goals. They find out what their people need to be successful. Rather than focusing on self-interest, on what will please them, “good managers” are interested in making a difference in the lives of their people and, in the process, impacting the organisation for the better. Replace “good managers” with “servant-leaders” and you have a direct quote from Ken Blanchard on servant-leadership. So, what is servant-leadership and how might it differ from “good management”? I’ve read about servant-leadership for many years (the concept was first introduced by Bob Greanleaf in the 1960s) and have always found it hard to get a real handle on just what “servant-leadership” as a concept or model is. So, the chance to review “Servant-Leadership Across Cultures: Harnessing the strength of the world’s most powerful leadership philosophy” by Fons Trompenaars and Ed Voerman, was quite appealing.