The Servant Leader by James A Autry

As I started reading this book I couldn’t help but feel a sense of déjà vu. Why were the thoughts and ideas being shared so familiar? Then I realized something, much like the author’s recollection of what his grandmother said. Many of these ideas were things that I had heard from my parents when I was growing up. I cannot count the number of times my father has encouraged me to be myself and true to myself and follow the right path regardless of the adversities that might come my way. Or the number of times my mother has asked me to see others as I would want them to see me and accept others for who they are. After all there is a reason why everyone isn’t alike, it would be real boring if you were to turn around and all you’d see were reflections of yourself.
Why is it then that I (we) needed a book to remind me (us) of things that could be just basic common sense? Unfortunately years and years of school and college followed up with years of working in a dog-eat-dog environment has conditioned to not think about these basic things. We are trained to run as fast as we can for if we slow down someone else might take our place, we concentrate so much on running that we forget to stop and slow down once in a while to notice the important things. This book serves to remind us of the basics, to show that it is not always about win-lose, it helps us take what is common sense and helps us make it common practice.
There were many things I learned from this book, but there are a few concepts that stand out. I quote the author “Leadership begins on the inside with self-awareness and self esteem and the process of leadership involves regular and intense reflection and introspection”. The order of responsibility for a servant leader should be; 1. the employee involved, 2. the affected employees and finally 3. the organization. I believe