Who are you doing it for? Asked that question, many entrepreneurs would answer, "me." There's nothing wrong with that. Plenty of great companies were built by people for whom CEO is an imperfect acronym for "He who must be obeyed."
Servant leaders, by contrast, put their people and their organizations before themselves. They don't view employees as a means to an end; rather employees' happiness and satisfaction is the end. A former AT&T (NYSE:T) executive named Robert Greenleaf introduced the concept in 1970 (although the authors of the New Testament had laid the foundation a bit earlier). In the movement's argot, servant leaders "wash others' feet." Some of the most successful entrepreneurial companies--including Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) and Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) --are servant led, buoyed by the contributions of trusted, respected employees.
Servant leadership is enjoying renewed currency now--which makes sense, given the tight labor markets and widespread mistrust of chief executives. (CEOs like Home Depot's (NYSE:HD) Robert Nardelli and Morgan Stanley's (NYSE:MS) Philip Purcell weren't shown the door for excessive humility.) It is also the natural model for the growing number of companies that compete for human capital.
Still, adopting servant leadership is a tough psychological adjustment for many entrepreneurs. Just how tough depends, in part, on the entrepreneur's motivation. People who start companies out of passion for a product or the desire to create opportunities for others adapt well, says Mathew Hayward, a professor at the University of Colorado's Leeds School of Business and author of Ego Check: Why Executive Hubris Is Wrecking Companies and Careers and How to Avoid the Trap. But founders panting to run their own shops make poor foot-washers. In addition, untested leaders may worry about appearing anything other than alpha-ish. "Founders in the early days have a profound need to establish their credentials," says Hayward. "They may look on servant leadership as something to evolve into--later."
Ari Weinzweig and Paul Saginaw understand the challenges better than most. The co-founders of Zingerman's Community of Businesses have built their $30 million food, restaurant, and training company on servant leadership principles. In the process, they've wrestled with three paradoxes. First, the higher you rise, the harder you must work for others; no kicking back in the Barcalounger of success allowed. Second, although you hold formal authority over employees, you must treat them like customers and, when reasonable, do their bidding. Third, when your desires and the needs of your organization conflict, your desires draw the low card. "It's a big change from the way we're socialized to think about success," says Weinzweig. "When you've put so much energy into getting to a leadership position, this is hard."