The courage to serve

1
The courage to serve

• Conserving a leaders energy
• Organizing a communication process
• Help the leader detect and correct communication
  deficiencies
• Acquiring access
• Add value, be prepared
• Empowerment requires internal confidence and
  external assumption of authority to support the
  common purpose

2

• Responsibilities of gatekeeping
• Power of proximity to power is intoxicating and
  can inflate egos
• Biased remarks by a gatekeeper are a form of
  pandering to a leaders perceived prejudices, or
  imposing ones own.
• Buffering a leader
• Just the facts
• Present options
• Defending the leader
• Encourage yourself and others to be constructive
• Focus on the leaders strengths

3

• Buffering others from a leader
• Understand the context of communications
• Focus on the purpose
• Acting in the leaders name
• Do not infer the leaders support on issues where
  you are acting in your own name
• Defending a leader publicly
• Dont expect perfection
• Expect leaders to live up to their publicly
  stated values

4

• Focusing the creative leader toward the purpose
• Presenting options
• Neither we nor our leaders should settle for good
  ideas on important issues until we have
  energetically searched for great ideas.
• Core problem rule of three whys
• Analysis paralysis
• Knowing when you dont know
• Dont overstate your case
• Practice reflective listening

5

• Avoiding insularity
• Lose perspective and fresh ideas
• Takes courage to welcome others, who may dilute
  our power, into the inner circle
• Diversity is a primary source of the balance
  needed to use power wisely.
• Encouraging peer relations
• Stay alert to the leaders well-being
• Managing crisis
• Recurring crises are a glaring sign of poor
  management, which must be analyzed and remedied.

6

• When the leader is ill.
• Conflict between leaders.
• Formal checkups
• Building relationships with leaders
• Relationships are born and grow through genuine
  concern for others and through cumulative
  experience that develops mutual appreciation and
  trust
• Service to a leader requires the intention to
  give service but intention alone is insufficient.