“I???ve talked about the idea of servant leadership in the past. The notion, incidentally, stolen from a fellow by the name of Robert Greenleaf. But let???s get beyond the my-gosh-that-sounds-good servant leadership. Let???s get very, very practical about you. As a leader, what specifically???big word, ???specifically??????what specifically have you done in the last working day, the last 24 hours, to be directly of service to your employees?

Long ago, Peter Drucker said that something like 95 percent of what we call management consists of making it difficult for people to get things done. Ha-ha. But also true. I have my own term, and my own term is Boss-as-CHRO: Chief Hurdle Removal Officer. Nobody???s asking you to do the work … and you shouldn???t do the work. But as the boss there are some things you can do to grease the way with the finance people or the purchasing people or whatever it happens to be.

And so, to go back to that original question: What specifically have you done in the last 24 hours to serve people, perhaps by getting, not a hurdle out of the way, but by getting a specific hurdle out of the way, which contributed to that three-person team achieving a planned milestone 24 hours or 48 hours earlier than they otherwise might have?

I think you also ought to say, ???What have I done in the last week? What have I done in the last month???? and so on. But let???s cut the baloney about week, month, etc. What have you done in the last 24 hours specifically to be of service in the same way you???d be of service if you were a mechanic in a car dealer/shop.”