“We value humility and we serve freely. Servant leadership turns the power pyramid upside-down—instead of people working to serve the leader, the leader exists to serve the people.”
We believe that leaders work for the benefit of those that they lead. We try to place leaders in management positions, but we know that you don’t need a title to be a leader. Leadership is influence. The leaders at Red Door are the first ones to sacrifice for the team, the ones to make the hard decisions, and the ones to bear the weight of the consequences of their team for better or for worse. We value humility which means that we don’t reward pride or arrogance in our leadership—we are never too great to learn or make mistakes. We serve freely which means that we aren’t forcedto serve our team rather we serve gladly because that is our privilege as leaders.
In our everyday lives, it certainly seems like internal struggles with power and pride exist in every decision we make and every relationship we hold on to. Have you ever seen this diagram of the difference between a boss and a leader?
If your goal is honorable and effective leadership, take a page from the lower half of this image. Servant leadership recognizes the importance of the team and teamwork and leads by example. To demonstrate this quality, toss aside skewed notions of power and pride and embrace humility and a servant attitude.
At Red Door, we will never ask an employee to do what a manager is not willing to do first, whether it be scrubbing the floors or having a difficult conversation with a guest. The Bible tells the story of how Jesus washed his disciples’ feet. If Jesus, who sits on a throne at the right hand of God, humbled himself to wash our feet, then we can humble ourselves to (figuratively) wash the feet of others.
Resources: How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie
“Craig Groeschel Leadership Podcast”
Matthew 26:14, John 13:1-17, and Luke 22:24
