Page 90 - How to Drive the Bottom Line with People

Built to Serve

mentoring process is important. Great leaders under-
stand servanthood comes first, before mentoring and

friendship. In sustainable organizations, connecting
what people do on a daily basis with the higher pur-
pose is paramount.

The degree to which that connection resonates with
the workforce is directly proportional to the degree to
which the workforce feels a part of the community. The
word community implies a sense of sharing in com-
mon—a sense of family. Servanthood leadership estab-

lishes precisely the kind of community that embraces a
culture-driven, people-centered organization.
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= Sometimes leaders rush to judgment where their

people are concerned. They promote talented team
members too quickly and wonder why things do not
work out. This is an easy mistake to make because at
the heart of the matter is a desire to help someone
make the most of an opportunity.

We have made these kinds of mistakes at United.
For example, we employ exceptionally talented meat
cutters to work in our meat markets. They are mas-

ters at cutting the perfect rib-eye steak or trimming the
ideal brisket.
That can set the stage innocently for this scenario:
we need a market manager for a new store we are