Leading from behind

I was speaking with a fellow coach recently and she spoke of how she was uncomfortable with her wedding vows including the phrase “ A woman leads by walking ten paces behind her husband”.

A few years later as she was preparing for her start in an Alaskan dog race she noticed she took exactly ten steps from harnessing the lead dog to her place of command at the back of the sled.

She was in fact – Leading from behind.

This reminds me of the “servant leadership” concept.

“The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first, perhaps because of the need to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire material possessions…The leader-first and the servant-first are two extreme types. Between them there are shadings and blends that are part of the infinite variety of human nature.

“The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant-first to make sure that other people’s highest priority needs are being served. The best test, and difficult to administer, is: Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants? And, what is the effect on the least privileged in society? Will they benefit or at least not be further deprived?“

A servant-leader focuses primarily on the growth and well-being of people and the communities to which they belong. While traditional leadership generally involves the accumulation and exercise of power by one at the “top of the pyramid,” servant leadership is different. The servant-leader shares power, puts the needs of others first and helps people develop and perform as highly as possible.”

What type of leader are you?

Might you benefit from the concepts above as written by Robert K. Greenleaf

For more information about how coaching can support your leadership, email me [email protected]