The World’s Most Powerful Leadership Principle: How to Become a Servant Leader

Abstract

These are not the best of times for leaders in corporate America. I write this at a time when CEO has become a four-letter word in many circles. We are in the midst of corporate scandals involving the likes of Adelphia, Arthur Andersen, Enron, Global Crossing, Tyco, and WorldCom. Just today I read a USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll stating that seven in ten Americans say they distrust CEOs of large corporations. Fully eight in ten believe top executives of large companies will take “improper actions” to help themselves at the expense of their companies. Credibility for business leaders may well be at an all-time low. These corporate scandals leave me feeling ambivalent. On the one hand, I am pleased that corporate crooks are getting what they have coming and that the system is, at least in part, working. On the other hand, I feel sad for the many, many good, hardworking, and honest CEOs who are being painted with the same broad brush. Indeed, I have met far more honest CEOs than dishonest ones. As one pundit put it, saying all CEOs are crooks is like saying all priests are pedophiles.