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Dilemma 6: Short Term Versus Long Term ■ 139

important fi nding. Investing in technologies that are essen-
tial for the future requires a lot of patience. Great leaders
stand at the helm for decades, charting a course on long-
term goals. As a manager, you can make an investment of
one million euros in a refi nery that will only be written off
in thirty years, while you might be in a different functional
position within three years (as was not uncommon at Shell).
However, this does not release you from your responsibili-
ties for the full thirty years of your decision! In order to
cultivate this sense of responsibility, Shell initiated a prac-
tice of letting people change jobs every three years, though
within the context of a lifelong career with the company.
Jaques could see the leadership potential in young people by
observing how far into the future they foresaw their plan-
ning and actions.
Another aspect of servant-leadership is related to the
question of how long people give others freedom to do their
work independently before there is a question of control.
Some control from up above is necessary, because leaders
are ultimately evaluated on the results. However, servant-
leaders distinguish themselves in this process by the large
amount of freedom and responsibility they give to their
workers. In dilemma terms, it is a simple contrast between
responsibility on the vertical axis and autonomy on the hor-
izontal axis, as depicted in Figure 10.3.
The amount of autonomy depends upon the distance
between the rotations of the spiral, since every time the spi-
ral soars up, the manager is “controlled.” Every time the
spiral swings to the right, another episode of “autonomy”
begins. Servant-leadership depends on how much auton-
omy is granted to those who report to the leaders. They are
“free” inside of their “time-spans of discretion.”