The Servant Leader Quotes

“As a leader, there is no way to escape the responsibility for walking that delicate line and making those delicate judgments between the rights of the group versus the rights of the individual.”
― James A. Autry, The Servant Leader: How to Build a Creative Team, Develop Great Morale, and Improve Bottom-Line Performance

“The point is not to treat all employees equally but to give all employees fair and equitable treatment. People have different needs and even different work styles.”
― James A. Autry, The Servant Leader: How to Build a Creative Team, Develop Great Morale, and Improve Bottom-Line Performance

“Can you remember a time when you were elevated to the heights of good morale or plunged to the depths by a casual comment your boss made? Everyone answers yes to this question. Let this be a cautionary guide about how you use language with the people in your care.”
― James A. Autry, The Servant Leader: How to Build a Creative Team, Develop Great Morale, and Improve Bottom-Line Performance

“I believe that the use of such words as multitask, access, interface, download, and others to describe human activity versus machine activity is one of the subtle ancillary aspects of the high-tech workplace that contributes to the further dehumanization of that workplace.”
― James A. Autry, The Servant Leader: How to Build a Creative Team, Develop Great Morale, and Improve Bottom-Line Performance

“And finally, there is almost no opportunity for us in management to evaluate the employee’s attributes on anything except technical competence and accomplishment; there’s no chance to observe people skills or to determine potential for leadership.”
― James A. Autry, The Servant Leader: How to Build a Creative Team, Develop Great Morale, and Improve Bottom-Line Performance

“All these computer guys are in this together,” I thought. “They think our people are here to serve the system and not the other way around.”
― James A. Autry, The Servant Leader: How to Build a Creative Team, Develop Great Morale, and Improve Bottom-Line Performance

“The servant leader must create an ethic that honors work well done, not just a lot of work done.”
― James A. Autry, The Servant Leader: How to Build a Creative Team, Develop Great Morale, and Improve Bottom-Line Performance

“Substandard work done efficiently or committed to a slick PowerPoint presentation, illustrated by colorful graphs, photographs, and even video patches, is still substandard work.”
― James A. Autry, The Servant Leader: How to Build a Creative Team, Develop Great Morale, and Improve Bottom-Line Performance

“I realize that I’m committing heresy against the orthodoxy brought to us by the prophets of technology, but let’s not forget that the prophets of technology are the ones most likely to profit from it.”
― James A. Autry, The Servant Leader: How to Build a Creative Team, Develop Great Morale, and Improve Bottom-Line Performance

“When you are tempted to tell someone what to do, instead ask the question, “What do you think you should do now?” Or in an organizational setting, “What do you think we should do?” This is the only quick tip I have, but believe me, it can work magic. Remember, when tempted to tell, ask instead.”
― James A. Autry, The Servant Leader: How to Build a Creative Team, Develop Great Morale, and Improve Bottom-Line Performance

“You can’t separate the way you behave when you’re communicating with your spouse from the way you communicate with your co-workers or boss. It’s important to be the same person all day, every day.”
― James A. Autry, The Servant Leader: How to Build a Creative Team, Develop Great Morale, and Improve Bottom-Line Performance