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Exclusive Interview with Leadership Expert James M. Strock-
An exclusive
interview with author and leadership expert, James M. Strock by Daniel R.
Murphy-
Murphy: You have recently published your third book,
Serve to
Lead. As you know there are lots of books out there on leadership. How is
Serve to
Lead different from the rest? What can the reader expect from it that will not
be found in other books on the subject?
Strock:
Serve
to Lead is
built on two foundations. The first is that 21st-century leadership is indeed
something quite distinct from what's come before. This change includes many aspects, outlined in
the book. Perhaps the most important is that in today's new world, service is the basis of
effective leadership. In the past, "ethical leadership" or "servant leadership" was presented as
options--perhaps desirable, but options nonetheless. Today making service your ultimate concern
is mandatory. It's a competitive necessity for effective, sustainable service by an organization
or individual.
Second,
leadership skills can be cultivated systematically. That does not mean that everyone can attain
a high position or become a historically consequential leader-- any more than spectacular
basketball coaching can make anyone the next Michael Jordan. But systematic improvement can
raise your game to levels previously
unimaginable.
Murphy: How would you characterize the major difference in
leadership in the 21st Century as distinguished from the timeless qualities of
leadership from the past?
Strock:
In one sentence: Everyone
Can Serve--Because Everyone Can Lead.
What
is different today is that there are unprecedented opportunities for anyone to serve--and
lead--in any setting. The Information Revolution has given us all the potential to build
platforms for ideas and visions, remarkably free of the control of powerful
institutions. Serve
to Lead includes
many examples of this phenomenon--and, I hope there are many more are created by readers of the
book!
Murphy: In your book you teach us that everyone, no matter
what position they hold, should be a leader. Is this a new idea in the 21st
century?
Strock:
In one sense, the notion of leadership as separate from position is as old as history itself.
Many of the greatest leaders have not held high position. Thus we celebrate the leadership of
Jesus Christ, Buddha, Mohammed and other spiritual leaders, for example. So, too, leaders in our
era such as Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., did not hold high position. Many who
achieve high position in business, finance or politics are first recognized as leaders from
their endeavors outside of--or in challenge to--established organizations or institutions.
What
is qualitatively different today--and unprecedented--is the enhanced capacity of individuals to
serve in ways unbounded by institutional constraints. This is truly the era of the
"super-empowered individual." We often focus on the negative of that--terrorists, bank employees
who have disrupted markets, and so on--but the positives are at least as extraordinary.
Murphy: You write that your book is intended to be
transformational. How is it transformational for the reader and how should the reader obtain the
most transformational experience from it?
Strock:
Leadership is about crafting and communicating a vision that inspires others to decide to change
their thoughts and actions. Its impact is measured by results which would not otherwise have
occurred.
Transformation
is about one thing changing into something altogether different. Serving others effectively in
leadership necessarily transforms both the leader and those served.
A
reader who continually asks the book's Four Questions--
beginning
with the first, Who
Are You Serving?--can
rapidly transform their life experience. Serve
to Lead presents
the questions as a unified approach to the range of leadership situations--from customer service to
management to communications.
It's
been a delight to hear from a number of readers that the book has changed their lives. To be
sure, though, they're
changing
their lives. I'm honored that they find the Serve
to Lead approach
helps them identify and undertake their calling, their unique contribution.
Murphy: What did you learn, or what most importantly did
you learn in the process of writing this book?
Strock:
I learned many, many things! Perhaps most important is that service, in a very real, practical
sense, is the essence of leadership. Every
leadership
challenge can be analyzed and effectively resolved by focusing on whom and how one is serving.
Murphy: What were the most important experiences in your
career that taught you the lessons you write about in the book?
Strock:
I've been blessed to have experience working in various sectors. That includes entrepreneurial,
corporate, management consulting, law, government (federal and state, legislative, executive and
law enforcement), politics, not-for-profit, academic, and the military. This has reached across
various fields and disciplines, across the U.S. and abroad. I've served at every level, from
intern to entrepreneur to chief executive, from consultant to board member.
These
experiences made me aware of the increasing commonalities of leadership in our time. The golden
thread: one's greatest contribution arises from empowering others to make their own greatest
contribution.
When
I was starting out thirty years ago, the norm was to seek to have one's entire career with a
single institution or enterprise. My experience, moving across numerous areas, was somewhat
unusual. This equipped me to recognize and thrive in the emerging 21st-century world
in which we all must be extraordinarily adaptive.
Murphy: You used more quotations from leadership and
thought leaders then most books offer and they are so seamlessly integrated into your
discussions. How did you do that? Would it be accurate to say this offers a lifetime collection
of some of the best thinking on leadership?
Strock:
A key message of Serve
to Lead is
the convergence of leadership. When service is the ultimate concern, value is created in similar
ways even in very different circumstances. Thus, we're increasingly seeing people who add
tremendous value in one field, serve effectively in others. This is a notable change from the
20th century, when specialization was prized and people were often discouraged or
excluded from working in more than one sector or discipline.
The
diversity of quotations and references reflects that one can learn from many different
experiences, from other times, places and circumstances. I hope, too, that many readers will be
tempted to follow various quotations back to their sources or be inspired to seek additional
sources to help them identify and achieve their unique contribution. When one's ultimate concern
is service, the possibilities are endless.
Murphy: When someone reads a book like this it looks so
easy - it flows so naturally. How difficult was it to write and how long did it
take?
Strock:
I appreciate that question and compliment--all the more since you are such a fine writer!
The
book was written over the course of five years. The idea crystallized in January 2005 in
downtown Sydney. I examined and reflected on the historic statue commemorating the leadership of
Sir Richard Bourke, an early governor of New South Wales. The book was completed on the Martin
Luther King, Jr. holiday in 2010.
I
did labor over the writing quite intently. The book is intended to serve various types of
readers in various circumstances. Some will read it straight through. Others may choose to
search out specific items which are of use at a given moment, or to think through a pressing
issue in their work or personal life. Still others may want to dip into pages randomly, seeking
inspiration, information or provocation.
Murphy: You discuss in the book how best to use it, but in
a few words here what is your best advice on how someone should use this book to get the most
out of it?
Strock:
Whatever helps others find their way to service is the best approach. I urge people to do
whatever it takes to make them, in effect, coauthor. Mark it up, underline what you like, cross
out what you disagree with... but in any case make it your own.
By
design, Serve
to Lead is
not a book of "answers." It's a book of questions. Only you can answer the questions, only you
can create the "masterpiece of service" that represents your calling, your unique contribution.
Murphy: In your final chapter, Make Your Life a
Masterpiece of Service, you discuss how a leader's creative process throughout a
life time is very important and how you can improve upon prior works. Do you see your earlier
writing as leading up to this latest book? Is Serve to
Lead your magnum opus, a culmination of your prior work on a higher level?
Strock:
As Serve
to Lead suggests,
if one's goal is to serve, one aims to continually improve--hour by hour, day by day, year by
year. That is part of what makes leadership transformational all around.
The
book advocates that one seeks to make use of every aspect of one's life to achieve one's
greatest contribution. That is where leadership becomes performance art. One reason that the
quotations and references in Serve
to Lead come
from numerous sources is that they reflect learning and experiences from throughout my
life.
In
turn, my great hope is that others will be inspired and empowered to do the same
thing.
Murphy: Are you working on a new book, and if so what will
it address? When might we expect it out?
Strock:
Ronald Reagan's centennial is February 6, 2011. For that occasion, I will be publishing an
updated edition of my first book, Reagan
on Leadership: Executive Lessons from the Great Communicator.
It
will include some exciting new parts, to be announced later this year.
Overall,
I believe the way I can serve most effectively is to continue to speak and write about the
principles of Serve
to Lead. That
may result in future editions of the book, taking into account new ideas and experiences and
lessons learned.
I
would love to hear from anyone with ideas in that regard, including how they might get involved
to help get the message out. To learn more, or to get hold of me, please visit
www.jamesstrock.com.
Murphy: Thank you so much Mr. Strock for sharing your
thoughts on this subject and your book. I hope we will see more from you soon.
Strock:
You're most welcome and thank you Mr. Murphy for this opportunity to discuss
Serve
to Lead. I've
got a lot of respect for the important service you provide, and it's an honor to be included in
your publication.
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