Running head: SIENA HEIGHTS GRADUATE SCHOOL ESSAY

Siena Heights Graduate School Essay

Laurence Weinreich
Siena Heights University

November 11, 2015

Siena Heights Graduate School Essay
When I sat down to write this essay I needed a quote. My wife suggested Damn the
torpedoes, full speed ahead, by David Farragut (www.history.com, 2011) since I am retired U.S.
Navy. I usually listen to my wife because if I do not, I seem to find myself in trouble. However,
this time I struck out on my own and found a quote, which was given a blessing by my wife. This
quote fits with my style of leadership. The quote which caught my eye is from a very innovative
leader, Jim Goodnight. The quote reads as Treat employees like they make a difference and they
will. (Coordination Problem.org, 2010). I have been on both sides of this quote in management,
by that I mean that I have managed from both a servant leadership position, and from the
position of that of old school, treat everyone like an FTE. I am here today to tell you that a

servant leadership position works much better. While researching this a phrase in an article about
Jim Goodnight, another quote caught my eye Companies that remain as a disconnected group of
anonymous workers that are simply showing up for a paycheck and little else are beginning to
fail (Business Shacker, 2014). I have worked in that environment for many years. It simply does
not work. People are unhappy, and unhappy people leave for other jobs. The money you spend
on retraining, orientation, advertising, and recruiting alone should discourage the punch the
clock type of organizations from continuing to do business in this manner.
Jim Goodnight co-founded SAS, a business software company in 1976 (Forbes, 2015).
Mr. Goodnight has been the CEO of SAS since its founding, and to this day remains an
innovative leader. His quote Treat employees like they make a difference and they will is not
only a quote from Mr. Goodnight, but a corporate lifestyle that Mr. Goodnight practices on a
daily basis. SAS supports their employees by providing additional income that is not taxed to
employees, such as free coffee, snacks, etc. (Modern Servant Leader, 2015). Mr. Goodnight
feels that it is better to put the money back into the business and employees instead of sending it
to the IRS. This makes good business sense and takes care of his employees. SAS has also had a
35 hour work week since 1976, which permits its employees to spend valuable time with their
families.
The quote I chose is a leadership style referred to as Servant Leadership. This style was
first coined by Robert K. Greenleaf in his 1970 essay- The Servant as Leader (Greenleaf.Org,
n.d.). Mr. Greenleaf was in management at AT&T for over 30 years before he founded the
Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership after his retirement. A servant leader wants to serve
first, and lead second. The servant leadership style not only applies to people, but also to
organizations. The servant leader and organization makes an impact on both the person and the

SIENA HEIGHTS GRADUATE SCHOOL ESSAY

community. They share the power, and help to build both the person, and community so that they
in turn can help those around them.
I worked for a company which held weekly 7pm Friday meetings. This was a morale
buster which lasted for years until the hospital brought in a corporate motivation guru who put a
halt to those types of meetings. This hospital treated everyone as an FTE and not as a person. It
was very hard not to get caught up in that type of management when you are around it each day.
In this type of leadership style, you are quick to write someone up, and slow to find out why they
acted as they did and simply fix the issue. People are treated as disposable items which can be
easily replaced once their function is no longer useful. I left that institution to help open a new
hospital. It was at this new hospital where I went back to my leadership roots. I was able to treat
my employees as people and not FTEs. People, this is what this quote means to me; know your
people, like your people, care for your people. If you enjoy treating your people as FTEs and not
as friends, you are in the wrong business and need to move on to another profession. I had less
than 60 days to staff and open my new radiology department. I did not have the time to do it all
myself, so I gave my people my trust and blessing to help me build our radiology department. I
saw technologists who came from other healthcare systems where they were treated as FTEs,
band together and open a wonderful radiology department. I just simply let them fly as high as
they could and their work far surpassed my expectations.
Leadership is far more than just showing up to view expense reports and writing people
up for minor infractions. Leadership is taking care of your people, understanding that there is a
life outside of work, and allowing them to enjoy their time spent at work. Leadership happens
when your receptionist shows up late to work and you take the time to listen to that person, and
work with that person to resolve their issues instead of putting pen to paper. Leadership is

SIENA HEIGHTS GRADUATE SCHOOL ESSAY

helping your people to grow and not being afraid of their growth. We all grow and change,
hopefully as this occurs we will all make a difference in others lives.

SIENA HEIGHTS GRADUATE SCHOOL ESSAY

References
Business Shacker. (2014). http://businesshacker.co/how-to-lead-like-jim-goodnight-ceo-of-sas/
Coordination Problem.org. (2010). http://www.coordinationproblem.org/2010/02/treatemployees-like-they-make-a-difference-and-they-will.html
Forbes. (2015). http://www.forbes.com/profile/james-goodnight/
Greenleaf.Org. (n.d.). https://greenleaf.org/what-is-servant-leadership/
Modern Servant Leader. (2015). http://modernservantleader.com/servant-leadership/servantleadership-lesson-ed-bastian-jim-goodnight-at-leadercast/
www.history.com. (2011). http://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/david-farragut