Creating a Culture of Servant Leadership
The past two years have presented a fair amount of uncertainty about what the future holds. As a leader in a company that embraces evolution and change as part of our DNA, we’ve been on a journey to redefine our company going forward. What we’re doing in terms of our company’s structure and culture, to create a culture of servant leadership, can be applied to any industry.
Our industry – retail – was deeply impacted by the pandemic. Every retail organization was forced to make rapid adjustments and broad shifts in operations just to survive – and many did not. From lockdowns and closures to cash flow and supply chain issues, it’s been wearing. But the pandemic has also allowed us – as individuals and as organizations – to reevaluate our priorities.
And it was in evaluating our priorities, we decided to acquire another business that nearly doubled our size and incorporated an entirely new line of service. While many organizations were tightening budgets and focusing on making rapid changes to keep customers coming through the door, we were looking beyond the pandemic to where we wanted to be to better support our clients when consumers started coming back through their doors.
The acquisition of Chute Gerdeman by Asset Strategies Group (ASG) amid such unpredictability may have caused a few turned heads in the retail industry. But it was the right decision – one made by believing in and being passionate about the future of retail, by looking forward and considering where we would land at the “end” of the pandemic, and by having a team of enthusiastic, creative minds who were free to contribute to the future vision of our combined companies.
To align our newly combined company with our mission of servant leadership, we made the strategic decision to shift away from a top-down organizational structure.
Hierarchical structures serve a purpose in places like the military, but that type of structure can stymie creativity and innovation in industries that need to be more forward-thinking. Removing the top-down structure doesn’t mean abolishing leadership; it simply recognizes that the future needs diverse voices and perspectives to drive actual change. So, while we often talk about ASG being servant leaders to clients, that extends to our employees as well. Leadership becomes a collaboration. I serve in more of an advisory role rather than a dictatorial position delegating a list of to-dos. It is refreshing. We encourage learning and increasing autonomy and ownership not just at the top but for every single person who is part of our team.
There is magic in allowing employees a voice and giving them control over strategy. It breeds creativity and opens the doors to the kind of thinking required to push boundaries. It’s incredible to work with people with whom I am so confident. ASG sees the extraordinary value in what others can bring to the table as a collective whole, and we have learned that the massive change sometimes demanded of us can’t always be originated at the top. Instead, it is fostered and nurtured in every person who contributes to our success.
Interested in hearing Carrie Barclay speak more on culture and vision? Carrie is a breakout speaker at the 2022 COE Summit, where she'll join three other executives from different industries for a panel discussion on how a meaningful story of vision, purpose and beliefs helped them navigate constant change, grow their businesses and increase their impact over the last two years.
