Has anyone else noticed that at at least half of the people who work for Nike have their Linked-in headlines starting with “servant leader”? What’s with that? Most of these people wouldn’t know a servant leader if one hit them in the face
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Servant: Do whatever it takes at the expense of everyone else to please the clown you work for
Seems legit
As a former trainer for FSNP / 4 stages of team development and servant leadership and former 27 yr Nike FTE / contractor employee, THIS IS 100% SPOT ON.
Do we still do sustainability…?
@previous poster - you had me until this part: Don’t do what everyone else is doing. No one remembers another face in the crowd. People remember those who did something different to stand out.
….. did you forget where you worked halfway through this post? The consistent theme throughout this thread (and website in general) is that people in leadership at Nike only reward those who do the exact same thing as them: take credit for other people’s work, talk nonsense about being a servant leader with a passion for product and digital, pontificate to your hire ups about your “data driven strategy” to build the future of sport (preferably with a brand deck someone else made for you) and extra points if you played football at Oregon, have a VP friend or family member, drive an Audi or Tesla, and have a second home in Sun River
To repeat what a bunch have already said…
- “servant leadership” has been a trendy buzzword for awhile now and as another poster hinted it started being heavily taught in Christian graduate schools in the late 1990’s. The rest of corporate America quickly adopted it because it sounds all warm and fuzzy.
- An actual “servant leader” will never tell anyone they’re a servant leader. That’s sort of like telling someone “I’m a really deep person”. If you have to tell someone you’re these things…you probably aren’t.
- In another 5 years LinkedIn will be sort of like Facebook is today. You’ll be on it…but you’ll be embarrassed to tell people you’re on it.
“But it’s such a good networking and job resource”. Lolz! No it isn’t. Wanna know what ARE good networking and job resources?? I’ll tell you:
- Be the best at what you do. Trust me, people will figure out you’re the best when you really are.
- Don’t do what everyone else is doing. No one remembers another face in the crowd. People remember those who did something different to stand out.
- Disavow social media in general. It has probably done more damage to society in the last 15 years than any other force. If you’re on it, you’re part of the problem.
- Be someone people genuinely like. Seriously. That goes a really long way. Especially when so many other people are unlikeable.
I haven’t been on social media since Tom was on MySpace. No problem finding jobs. On the contrary I don’t even look for jobs. Jobs look for ME.
like others said this is what jd kept saying when he joined and brings up so people mimick him. most "leaders" at nike are shallow just like linkedin where its a virtue signal chamber of nothingness, people who liked some made up instagram quote about treating employees well are the same who are terrible bosses
What value do you teach a person who is not grown with values. Leaders are meant to exemplify values.
Most managers that tell you that they are a "servant leader" do not know what it means. Furthermore, if you have to make a point to tell people that is your leadership style then you probably aren't a true servant leader either. Servant leaders manage by example, value their teams above themselves, and do more listening than talking. In my MBA program years ago, we actually had to study different leadership styles. From what I learned, the concept of servant leadership has roots in Christianity, with Jesus being the example of a leader that worked amongst the masses and was literally willing to give his life for others. JD and many of the other senior management clowns that claim to be servant leaders are definitely not Jesus.
BTW, when I was taking graduate classes, I had to honestly look at my own leadership style. There are many forms of leadership, and I know that servant leadership does not fit how I personally manage or view leadership. For example, there are times when authoratative leadership works best, even if people view it as rough (like in a military setting or when the company needs firm direction). The thing that bothers me most about JD and people like him is that they aren't geniune and honest about who they are. I'd prefer they skip the BS and just say "this company needs a dictator at the top if we are going to crush our competition in this economy, so we're going to do things my way" instead of "I'm a servant leader and love you and your marvelous work" while they stab most of us in the back.
As one of the Nike co-founders, Bill Bowerman was an authoratative dictator of a leader, but people respected him because he wasn't fake, didn't suffer fools, and demanded hard work, while also instilling in people that they had limitless potential to unlock if they did what he told them to do. I think Bowerman would view JD and other so-called "servant leaders" here at Nike today as total frauds.
Ha this made me laugh out loud, so true! A few years back when this term got really buzzy I had a new leader give us their “this is my journey and style” speech at an offsite and immediately after calling stating they were a “servant leader” proceeded to ignore literally everyone’s feedback throughout the offsite around the direction the department needed to take. Almost everyone started applying for new jobs after that - so much for “listening” being a tenant of “servant leadership”. This person was a real sycophant to higher levels though so maybe if you ignore the “leader” piece the “servant” stays relevant
If you recall, JD talked a ton about servant leadership when he started in 2020 (before the layoffs).
He collected his $40M signing bonus and then started laying off a ton of people early in the pandemic. "This is what you told me you wanted!" ----> amazing servant leadership.
Nike being the place it is...it's full of drones who repeat each other. That's why everyone from Nike is now a "servant leader". Thanks JD! Cool!
Linkedin spiraled into imaginary instagram world….
Took 30minute AWS essentials class
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION LEADER
Took 30 minute online class in delegating effectively
EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP PRESENCE.
Put up a lemonade stand = founder and ceo Aid and Lemon associates
Also plenty of visionary leaders. Lemmings.
LinkedIn is a personal marketing tool, and there’s nothing forcing anybody to be honest. Pair that with a woeful deficit of self-awareness, and that’s where you wind up. ;)
They actually mean that they are leaders who have servants.
Especially in Supply Chain....