LEADERSHIP, MOTIVATION, PEOPLE, SERVANTHOOD
Robert Townsend took over Avis Rent-a- Car in the 1960’s when it had not made a profit in thirteen years, and changed its course in six months. Townsend did not know any big secrets about how to rent cars. In fact, he insists in his influential books, Up the Organization and Further Up the Organization, that the material for a successful turnaround is in the people who are already with the company. Townsend made clear to the people at Avis his belief that a leader’s job is to give power and responsibility to others, not to hoard it. “A leader is not an administrator who loves to run others, but someone who carries water for his people so they can get on with their jobs.” From Peak Performers, by Charles Garfield, pp. 222,223
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