Working with... In Their Best Interest

Servant-Leadership is a way of looking at leadership that is both simple in theory and difficult in practice - the difficulties being the emphasis on our own advancement and a focus on the leader as a hero issuing commands and accomplishing the impossible.

Luckily many people have seen the poverty of this mindset and the harm it does to individuals, including leaders themselves and to those they are leading. Through the writings of leadership theorists much has been developed since Robert Greenleaf first put forward his ideas on Servant-Leadership in the 1960's, but there still remains a gap in terms of practical day-to-day applications and what we need to do to be Servant-Leaders.

Fortunately Charlie Foote is a true Servant-Leader who has developed and run organisations with a Servant-Leadership focus. His book offers us a very clear and heart-felt approach to Servant-Leadership through looking after each others' best interests. As Robert Greenleaf puts it "our highest priority needs". (Note it's about our needs not our wants).

Charlie takes us through some very practical steps and attitudes to help us to orientate ourselves to service, as a choice of course not as a must. He looks at the skills we need to develop, paying attention, listening, asking, observing and acting out of care and generosity towards others and towards ourselves. He further demonstrates the benefits that this brings both to individuals and to organisations.