Stewardship Chapter 1
Replacing Leadership with Stewardship

The changes we witness are an outgrowth of several fundamental crises facing our organizations.

Money is a symptom, not the real issue.

An economic crisis means the organization is failing in the marketplace.

Purpose, power, and wealth are the chief concerns of the system and process traditionally called management.

Stewardship is the set of principles and practices which have the potential to make dramatic changes in our governance system.

Patriarchy-  the belief that those at the top are responsible for the success of the organization.

Autocratic governance withers the spirit.

Partnership carries the intention to balance power between ourselves and those around us.

Dependency rests on the belief that there are people in power who know what is best for others.

Empowerment-  the belief that the answer to the latest crisis lies within each of us.

The choice we make is between service and self-interest.

The antidote to self-interest is to commit and find cause.

Partnership and participation are the management strategies that create high-performance workplaces

The strength in the concept of leadership is that it connotes initiative and responsibility.

Focusing power and purpose at one point in an organization has over time the impact of destroying the culture.

Change is a process and not a program and requires commitment, not coercion.

Leaders bring spirit and integrity into play.

We pay a price for attributing the ability to transform institutions to those in power:

• The leaders we are looking for have more effect in the news than in our lives.
• Great leaders reinforce the idea that accomplishment comes from individual acts.
• Our attention becomes fixated on those at the top.
• Successful people in power begin to believe their own press.

The concept of leadership does not leave much room for the concept of partnership.

The alternative to leadership is stewardship.

Stewardship asks us to be deeply accountable for the outcomes of the institution, without acting to define purpose for others, control others, or take care of others.

Stewardship questions the belief that accountability and control go hand in hand.

Stewardship is a means to impact the degree of ownership and responsibility which have to be felt strongly at every level.

Three challenges of governance:

1. Doing more with less
2. Learning to adapt to customers and our marketplace
3. Creating passion and commitment in employees

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Block P.  Stewardship:  Choosing service over self interest.