Bob Dylan sings "You gotta serve somebody." A very spiritual concept, one worth living by. But can it be that a management guru actually preached a similar concept in the boardrooms of America? Yes, it can, and Robert Greenleaf attracted numerous heavyweight converts to his cause.

Here's the essence of the gospel of Greenleaf: First and foremost, truly great managers want to serve the people they lead. They do this by supporting them rather than dictating to them, and by assigning top priority to employee well-being. Deceptively simple and deeply profound.

The granddaddy of holistic management, Greenleaf created the concept of servant leadership after reading Herman Hesse's Journey to the East, in which the servant to an expedition is discovered to be the leader of the mystic order the party seeks. The lesson that Greenleaf learned was that service to others, and to society, is the key to happiness, fulfillment and success.

In his seminal essay, The Servant as Leader, Greenleaf helps the reader understand his noble vision by citing examples from American history. Despite harsh criticism, Thomas Jefferson refused to fight in the Revolutionary War. Why? Because he knew he could serve his country better by working, instead, to create laws for the new nation. He led through service and courageously followed his own vision.

Another excellent example is John Woolman, who spent decades convincing his fellow Quakers to reject slave ownership. Thanks to his efforts, no Quaker owned slaves -- one hundred years before the Civil War. Woolman served his religious community by backing up his beliefs with tightly focused action.

Greenleaf also showed that his ideas are equally valid in today's setting, and he didn't limit his challenge to individuals alone. Preaching that profit and heart can coexist in our world, he also dared our largest institutions in business, education, religion, and government to practice servant-leadership in their area of concern -- be it local, national, or global. He argued that by adopting his principles they'd not only improve their bottom line (rather than harming it), they'd also improve society as a whole.

That's still not enough according to Greenleaf. He wrote that followers, too, must be servants. Those who follow must use special care when choosing whom to follow. They should seek out the kind of leaders who prefer giving service to others over their own selfish interests.

I first learned of Greenleaf about ten years ago, at Men's Wearhouse, an incubator of servant-leadership and a consistent member of Fortune Magazine's "100 Best Companies" list. Founder and CEO George Zimmer is a Greenleaf disciple who often credits servant-leadership as the foundation of his billion-dollar company's success.

Zimmer had a vision, but knew he would never make it a reality unless he served his employees. Training for the company included constant one-on-one mentoring and personal guidance. Team building was considered a manager's most important job. Managers were graded on how well they trained, and by how well their employees performed, not only in sales, but also in all the other duties required to run a store. The company grew quickly, until economic disaster struck.

In the 1980's, the Texas economy disintegrated, bringing the young company to its knees. Zimmer drastically cut expenses, but the company kept losing money. Gathering his store and regional managers, he explained that the only way for the company to survive was to ask everyone to take voluntary pay cuts. He promised that, if the company survived, everyone who helped would be rewarded. George took the first cut himself, working for minimum wage until the crisis had passed.

I spoke with many who survived that storm. Managers rented rooms in boarding houses, or slept in their stores. They lived on Ramen noodles and soup. Not only did the company survive, it thrived. And when Men's Wearhouse went public, every one of those people received stock. Today, those who helped George realize his vision are very well-off. Many of them are millionaires.

Last Fall, with the national economy in a shambles, Men's Wearhouse was again forced to cut expenses. But it didn't cancel the thirty-eight holiday parties, because George knew they were crucial to morale. In addition, he offered free tuxedo rental to all employees, as well as the husbands and boyfriends of female employees.

Men's Wearhouse will survive the current economic downturn, due in large part to Zimmer's commitment to servant-leadership. To him, it is not enough that he continue to make money. He knows his employees need to keep bringing home a good paycheck. They still need a healthy, supportive work environment. George knows that, if he continues to look out for the best interests of his employees, they will in turn look for his, and the company's.

With the economy crashing around us, we need servant-leaders like George Zimmer more than ever before. By acting as servants to our community, putting the interests of the whole in front of our own, we help create the more just, more loving society Greenleaf championed. By helping others succeed, or to weather the storms of life, we ensure that our community thrives.

We need our politicians to set aside partisan bickering and work together. Our business leaders must focus on the success of their employees. But we need more than that. We all need to join hands in true community to make sure all of us make it through these tough times. We need to be servant-leaders.

I am proud to call myself a servant-leader. My motto, built upon Greenleaf's philosophy is: "servant first - servant always." I invite you to join me. Servant-Leadership defines an attitude and behavior that can support what's right and change what's wrong. Greenleaf tells us that by trading our cynicism for optimism centered on service, and our apathy for a willingness to become servant-leaders, we can help create the better society we all hope for -- one that is "more just and more loving."

In other words, you gotta serve somebody. Can I get an amen?

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