Page 48 - Harnessing the Strengths

Core Qualities ■ 31

A servant-leader fi rst looks at someone’s potential and
then tries to match that potential within that person’s fi eld
of work. Development is not reserved only for management.
At every level, in every position, people have to take the
opportunity to bring the best out of themselves, because the
best for themselves is also the best for the company and, in
the broader perspective, for the world at large.

2 Better Rules Through Exceptions
Servant-leaders do not care for the choice between rules
and exceptions; they ask instead how each strengthens
the other, resulting in better rules. Good rules are strong
enough to allow exceptions. This insight deals with the
dilemma between a rule-based approach and a principle-
based approach. It is impossible to have totalitarian rules
in the world, as the rule-based point of view strives for.
The beautiful thing about a principle-based approach is
that rules are present in principles, while rules do not carry
principles within them.
The servant-leader is extremely good at building a bridge
between a rule-based (rule- and text-driven) approach and a
principle-based (exception- and context-driven) approach.
The power is in the combination, like mass-customization,
which is a result of Henry Ford’s mass production and the
Japanese-developed customization.
Henry Ford was a servant-leader because he asked the
question: “Do my clients want faster horses or an alterna-
tive form of transportation?” The question arose from the
desire to be of service, which resulted in a solution that was
better than anything they could think of themselves. Herein
lies the core and power of servant-leadership.