I just read a great little article by Brian Marick entitled: An unhappy trend: leadership

Talking about how people misunderstand Agile approaches to software development, Brian says this:

I view executive leadership in the same way. We know how to do software better. It’s the executive’s job to support us in doing that—to clear obstacles out of the way of our practice—and not to lead us. We already know where to go. We know how to do our job. We need to be assisted, not led.

I really like Brian’s description of what is a servant leader.

For a C-level executive, the idea here is pretty simple: If you want to leverage the wisdom of the crowd, if you want to tap into the creative genius of your entire organization, if you want to leverage the full capabilities of emergent intelligence, you have to trust your people and you have to get out of their way. As a C-level executive, your only job is to create an environment that fosters innovation and success.

This lesson is applicable across all lines of business, not just software development.

In the most powerfully capable environments, successful leaders are enablers. They empower people. They give junior people the tools and the freedom to succeed.

Too often, C-level executives turn into fiefdom builders who reflexively exercise their power by saying “no” and by trying to gain absolute control over events and initiatives.

In a globally competitive environment, companies that are controlled by these “no” leaders will inevitably fall victim to more nimble competitors; competitors who are capable of leveraging the energy, intelligence and creativity of every member of their team.

Think of it this way:

Team A: 5 “Great Leader” executives with a team of 10,000 drones and yes-men

Vs.

Team B: 5 “Servant Leader” executives with a team of 500 empowered innovation creators

Which team do you want to lead? Which team do you think will win?

When creativity counts, and rote execution gets off-shored, the answer is obvious.