 |
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
President-elect Lee Myung-bak has called for ``servant leadership,'' which has been widely introduced in both local and global businesses, as his primary presidential leadership vision.
The presidential transition team highlighted the alternative leadership as a guiding light for the new government, which is manifested in the slogan of the team: “We will serve you.”
All eyes are on if Lee will be able to successfully transplant his winning corporate leadership experiences into the government.
Political observers said that Lee's negotiation and coordination skills in dealing with his watchdogs and opponents in parliament are highly likely to determine the effectiveness of this leadership during his presidential tenure.
Prof. Song Ho-keun of the Department of Sociology at Seoul National University (SNU) characterized the next President's leadership style, which was shown during his Seoul mayoralty, as result-driven and performance-based.
Prof. Song said that Lee is ``unrivaled when it comes to finding projects and making them work.''
However, the professor was reserved regarding whether Lee's managerial skills were strong enough to deal with the conflict of interests between the government and his partners in the legislative body, saying it remains to be seen whether or not Lee can successfully convince his opponents to look into joint gains.
Servant Leader
Robert K. Greenleaf coined the phrase servant-leader and servant leadership in his essay, ``The Servant as Leader,'' published in 1970.
Greenleaf had worked for AT&T for 38 years from 1926 to 1964 and served as director of management research toward the end of his career. He said that ``a servant leader has a natural desire to serve'' in the essay.
Asked if this alternative leadership would be a good model for a national leader, not a corporate leader, Kent M. Keith, chief executive officer of the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership headquartered in Indiana, said absolutely.
Greenleaf founded the international non-profit organization in 1964.
In an email interview with The Korea Times, Keith observed servant leadership is an excellent philosophy for a national leader, because servant leaders focus on helping people grow and fulfill their potential.
``Two key practices of servant leaders are to develop people, and unleash the energy and intelligence of people. Those are excellent goals for a national leader,'' he continued. ``When the people of a nation develop their talent and are encouraged to use it, the nation will be competitive on the world stage.''
Keith singled out good examples of servant leader in the public sector: the Roman Cincinnatus, American Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, and South American leader Jose de San Martin.
He compared what he called the power model with the service model of leadership.
``In the power model, leadership is about acquiring and wielding power, while servant leadership is about identifying and meeting the needs of others,'' Keith said.
``I often say that a power-oriented leader wants to make people do things. A servant leader wants to help people do things. That is why servant leaders are often facilitators, coordinators, healers, partners and coalition-builders,'' he said.
Keith said servant leaders get their organizations to ``look out'' for the customer or citizen, so that they will better understand the wants and needs of customers of citizens.
Lee's Version of Serving Leader
Lee, the first businessman-turned-President-elect in Korea, has expressed many times his determination to apply the best practices in leadership of the private sector with his government.
The incoming President said he would ``serve citizens with a humble attitude'' on Dec. 20, a day after he won a landslide victory in the presidential election.
In his campaign, he stated that the era of government-controlling the private sector was gone.
``The government should transform to be a coordinator and facilitator helping businesses, instead of imposing regulations and stumbling blocks to business growth,'' Lee stated.
Lee's version of servant leadership is also traced in his book of ``Having Hope Among Continued Frustration,'' published in 2002.
Lee observed that the government will not survive (in an era of globalization) as long as a national leader was not prepared to serve his citizens.
``Military leaders or professional politicians will be unable to manage the economy any longer mainly because they were born to wield power, instead of serving citizens,'' Lee continued.
``These leaders attempt to rule the country, while mangers serve their customers. As a result, the boss is destined to wane, while servant leaders achieve mutually beneficial goals for the community.''
Political scientists said Lee's servant leadership seems to stem from his personal background of Christian faith, his childhood years living under the poverty line and winning corporate leadership experiences with Hyundai Engineering and Construction as chief executive officer.
Political consultant Park Sung-min, chief executive officer of Minn Consulting in Seoul, told The Korea Times that a distinctive difference in leadership styles between the new President and his predecessors is that Lee considers citizens as his clients.
``The President-elect tends to see taxpayers as consumers. From Lee's point of view, these citizens need to be served. Therefore, he tends to set customer satisfaction as one of core goals to achieve through public services,'' Park said.
Lee's predecessors were military generals or professional politicians before they took office.
``Government bureaucrats and presidential staffs will be on the frontline of his customer-first principle in his management of the nation and they will be requested to work very hard to meet the expectation of these clients,'' Park said.
Keith of the Greenleaf Center said that once servant leaders understand their customers or citizens, they focus on getting them what they want and need.
``When they do, their organization are successful. They are delivering the programs, products or services that people want. Servant leaders stay close to their customers or citizens and they get positive bottom-line results from their organizations,'' he said.
Coordination in Conflict of Interests Needed
What is the prerequisite for the new President to see a successful transplant of his version of servant leadership into his government?
Political observers said that Lee needs to build working relations with the opposition parties, civic groups, labor unions and the press to make his servant leadership work.
Prof. Song Ho-keun of Seoul National University said Lee gained the image of a man of strong management skills through his project-based management style, which is identified in his Cheonggye Stream restoration project and putting the public transportation system in Seoul on the right track as mayor of the capital.
As mayor of Seoul, he had little chance to train his negotiation and coordination skills with watchdogs and political opponents, Song said.
Political scientists said that the criteria of successful leadership as national leader are very different from that of local government.
They said there is another core pillar of effective national leadership ― coordination, negotiation and consensus building skills ― along with Lee's proven get-it-done and can-do sprit.
``As a leader of a nation, Lee should work closely with opposition parties, watchdogs, and the press. He should have strong coordination, negotiation and consensus building skills to make things work,'' the professor said.
hkang@koreatimes.co.kr
