“It was like I’d died and gone to hell.”
That’s how James C. Hunter described his feelings when he accompanied his father to his place of employment at a Detroit auto plant. In a work culture founded by Henry Ford, who once mused, “Why is it that I always get the whole person when what I really want is a pair of hands?” Hunter didn’t see anything in the way of camaraderie, teamwork or vision – nothing that would inspire employees to work harder or smarter, let alone with purpose or joy.
That experience and others inspired Hunter to explore the concept of servant leadership. His work in turn has inspired President Chuck Seifert, who invited him to speak to the Siena community on Wednesday as part of the College’s inauguration celebrations. Hunter was awarded an honorary doctor of humane letters degree at Thursday’s ceremony.
A nationally recognized thought leader on servant leadership, Hunter shared his wisdom along with a Siena panel featuring family physician Nimmi Trapasso ’98 M.D.; trustee Burgundy-Leigh McCurty ’10; Br. Michael Perry, Franciscan scholar-in-residence; and Student Senate President Luke Keith ’24.
Hunter shared that the first lesson of servant leadership is: know who is serving whom. In his work consulting with companies across the country he noted that when an organization had problems with morale or poor workmanship, “the root of the problem was always in the front office.”
The second lesson: everyone is a leader.
“You don’t have to be the boss to lead,” he said. “Leadership means having influence, and each of us in some way can influence others or our organization. Think about where you are heading or what you are becoming. You’re either green and growing or ripe and rotting.”
Leadership, whether on a scale small or large, does not come easily, Hunter said. It’s something you have to practice every day, and it involves a multitude of choices about one’s character.
Each of the Siena panelists shared an example of when they used leadership skills in their personal or professional lives. Br. Michael encouraged the audience to “put people front and center and the rest will follow,” while McCurty shared how her outspokenness while growing up sometimes got her into (good) trouble.
“I have always been very sensitive about what I perceive as being fair or unfair,” she explained, “and I try to make connections among people to make sure everyone is heard.”
Hunter is the author of The Culture: Creating Excellence with Those You Lead; The Servant: A Simple Story About the True Essence of Leadership; and The World’s Most Powerful Leadership Principle: How to Become a Servant Leader. His books serve as texts in many colleges’ business curricula, and he has worked with a number of Fortune 500 companies and with the U.S. military to help build cultures of excellence.