Weak leadership is an aversion in the minds of employees and consumers—and it is the greatest gift we give our competitors!

Strong and weak leaders yield powerful though differing influence. Strong leaders create a culture of high performance, productivity, and profit. Weak leaders create a culture of complacency, fear, and turnover.

Out of a range of identified leadership types—transformational, laissez-faire, democratic, bureaucratic, situational, charismatic, transactional, and servant—the latter is my top pick. A servant leader focuses on empowering employees, deputizing others to take ownership while encouraging innovation. This is the environment in which I have flourished, and the management style I practice today.

Here are five critical measures that determine if you are on the servant-style leadership path.

› Do you favor positional power or personal power?

Positional power is fleeting. Personal power can be life-long! Personal influence is earned and can be a foundational part of one’s personality—especially when it is authentic. Don’t fall into the trap of borrowed power!

› Are you a master or a servant?

Being in the master position does not guarantee that a person will be either a positive or negative influencer. Masters are not automatically stronger leaders—although they perceive themselves as such. When leaders talk down to us, they are hard to look up to! Strong leaders don’t position themselves as supreme leaders.

› Do you behave selfishly or selflessly?

Servant leaders nourish to flourish. They sincerely desire others to succeed. Making head and heart choices breaks the ice of the impersonal, uncaring corporate culture. Servant leaders check their ego at the door! They know it is best to give in order to get. As the author and business consultant Ken Blanchard said, “When ego and pride become the driving force in your leadership decisions, they render you ineffective.”

› Are you complacent or a catalyst?

Servant leaders offer solutions over complaints. They choose not to be part of the problem, but instead to generate ideas that offer remedies. If you want to be a catalyst, remember to bring your brains to work!

› Do people fear you or trust you?

Servant leadership is built on trust. Since we can’t convince others to trust us through words alone, we demonstrate trustworthiness through our actions. Leaders who rely on fear to drive performance believe that intimidation is the secret to strong leadership. Servant leaders favor affirmation over intimidation and have more success through inspiring staff.

Greed is the servant leader’s biggest nemesis. Being authentically interested in helping others be their best at work, home, and in the community, is servant-style leadership at its best. Is servant leadership your path?