As leaders, most of us, I would assume, have heard about and followed Peter Drucker’s writing and thinking on leadership and management. He was the guru for many leaders, both in the Christian community as well as in the business community. Dan Rockwell shares some thoughts from Peter Drucker that are pure gold for us as leaders.

Originally posted by Dan Rockwell

BEYOND PETER DRUCKER’S FIVE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTIONS

Peter Drucker believed the five most important questions you will ever ask about your organization are:

  1. What is our Mission?
  2. Who is our Customer?
  3. What does the Customer Value?
  4. What are our Results?
  5. What is our Plan?

The most important thing about you:

The most important thing about you, after Drucker’s five questions, is the way you treat each other while you fulfill your mission.

Getting things done is an immediate concern that often obscures long-term issues like building an organization where people love coming to work.

The long-term concerns of servant leaders go beyond getting things done.

Forgetfulness:

The trouble with long-term issues is neglecting them doesn’t hurt until tomorrow. 

Urgency has the power to elevate the trivial to important.

You aspire to build engaged teams that distribute responsibilities and share ownership. But short-term urgencies give you permission to bark orders, ignore feedback, and threaten anyone who doesn’t “get on board.”

The tyranny of the urgent becomes an excuse to prioritize short-term results over long-term issues and enduring value.

The altar of short-term success is a tempting place to sacrifice values and character.

Character:

Short-term urgencies obscure long-term realities.

Character is acting with long-term realities in mind, even when pressured by short-term urgencies.

Things like respect, connection, and timely feedback matter most when you’re tempted to ignore them.

Culture building:

You might be able to ignore culture building while you chase short-term urgencies. But you end up hating the organization you’re building and despising the role you play.

3 concerns beyond results:

  1. WHY you do what you do.
  2. The WAY things get done.
  3. The WAY we treat each other while we work.

Delivering results is a challenge. This is your opportunity to reflect on issues that go beyond results.

What are some long-term concerns of servant leadership?

How might leaders navigate issues that go beyond results?