Short spoken piece (YouTube video) by Chad Silverstein arguing that great leaders practice servant leadership: they serve others, give more than they take, and earn leadership by modeling behavior and going above and beyond regardless of formal rank. The talk emphasizes authenticity, consistent service, and earning advancement rather than expecting it by tenure or title.
Chapters
Servant leadership is one of my favorite ways to define a great leader. Because it's important that leaders understand that their role is to serve and to be able to do and give for the greater good. And I think one common mistake that a lot of people make is they don't feel like they've earned the right to lead because maybe they're new or because, you know, maybe of their position in the hierarchy of their company. But, but a lot of times the best leaders come from the lowest ranks because they model the way, because they do more than they're being asked to do, and they're not paid as much as the highly paid laborers that exist at the top of the hierarchy chart. But I think it's important for anyone who's striving to become built elite to understand that the way to get ahead, the way to win, the way to feel fulfilled, is to serve. It's to serve whoever it is that you're working with or for and be more of a giver than you are a taker. I mean, that concept is, you know, it gives people a lot of satisfaction to give. It's why parents love their kids a lot more than the kids love the parents, because the parents are constantly giving to these kids their whole life. And I think you have to know why you're giving. You don't want to make sure, you want to make sure you check yourself that you're not self serving yourself to make yourself feel good. When you truly have the team in mind, when you truly have your teammates back, best interests in mind, and they see that and they can feel that you literally, you can get people to run through walls for you. It's got to be genuine and authentic and they have to make sure that they see it from you consistently. But make no mistake about it, you can be a leader. If you're not the head of the system, you could be the best leader. And unfortunately, sometimes you're not going to be paid that way. But you know, I think for the sense of fulfilling your life with purpose, especially at work, I think to get the most and most fulfilling satisfaction from your job, to be a leader means to serve. And it means to go out of your way and go above and beyond. I've always said if you want to make more money, you got to do more than what you're paid to do. You can't expect your boss just to keep paying you more and more every year because you've been there a certain amount of years. If you own the company, you can't expect your clients to just keep giving you more money because you've been representing them for a certain amount of time, you have to earn it. And when you earn it and you're doing it the right way with the right motive, you know, I think that that is a surefire way to be able to be seen as a leader and to be thrusted into leadership opportunities and to make the most of your situation, no matter what role you're in. So producer led, the question is, are you one of them?
