Woods 1

Taylor Woods
Dr. Josh Armstrong
LDRS 450
31 October 2018
Servant Leadership in the Workplace: Vicki Hucke

As a student at a Jesuit university, I am challenged to ask questions about how I will

incorporate core Jesuits values in my current life and future endeavors. Of the main values, my

mind consistently stumbles upon how I will serve with and for others in my profession and

personal life. Through this, I have developed a growing passion for the theory of servant

leadership through intricate analysis and experiential learning. As I grow to understand the

complexities of leadership theories, I have chosen to interview an individual who worked in my

ideal profession to comprehend how she incorporated serving in her work and personal lives.

This paper will explore servant leadership through the lived experience of an interviewee,

discussion of the interviewee’s understanding of and interaction with the theory, and personal

analyses of servant leadership through experiential learning.

Coined as the father of servant leadership, Robert Greenleaf has insisted the theory of

servant leadership is embedded in the idea that the leader is a servant first. It is a philosophy that

enriches lives and organizations by creating a “more just and caring world” (Greenleaf). In his

paper, “The Servant as Leader,” Greenleaf describes a “test” that articulates the differences

between a leader-first and a servant-first. He explains that “the difference manifests itself in the

care taken by the servant-first to make sure that other people’s highest priority needs are being

served” (Greenleaf). I spent time discerning how I could connect this test to whom I would

interview; who could visibly show me the practices of servant leadership in his or her

profession? It became evident that my dream profession in the hotel industry coincided with the

theory in recognizing that hospitable employees serve first, always. Through speaking with
 Woods 2

faculty in Career & Professional Development on campus to receive a recommendation, I was

introduced to Vicki Hucke.

Vicki Hucke is the Manager of Employer Engagement in Career & Professional

Development at Gonzaga University. She works closely with students who are seeking help with

jobs post-graduation, and she has served as my guiding hand and mentor. She graduated from

Montana State University and has spent her entire career in positions that cater to the customer

first. Previously, Hucke worked in hospitality, serving as a sales director for a small resort in

Montana. After marrying her husband and having two children, she made the decision to step

away from the workplace but never stopped volunteering in her community. It was not until

recently that she recognized her passion for higher education and accepted a position in Career &

Professional Development at the university. Aligning with Greenleaf’s ideas of possessing a

natural desire to serve first and consciously choosing to lead in the workforce, Hucke stood out

as a servant leader.

Upon sitting down with Hucke and asking her to define leadership in her own terms, she

elaborated on the importance of acclimating to change and mobilizing your colleagues—similar

to that of adaptive leadership (Heifetz et al.). Hucke stated that everyone on a team is a leader,

not only for their teammates but also for themselves. She mentioned there are “different

opportunities to lead at different times” but you can be a leader every day. This connected with

my personal experience of leadership; although an extrovert, I would consider myself to be both

an assertive and a quiet leader. I am cognizant of when I feel called to lead yet aware when I

should allow other voices to be heard. While it is difficult to recognize what it is your team needs

at an exact moment, wanting to actualize the needs of your team is the essence of a servant
 Woods 3

leader. This is a concept I strive to incorporate into my own leadership style to better serve my

colleagues by identifying when and how I can lead a team.

While Hucke identifies leadership as more of an adaptive process, she also emphasizes

the importance of serving first as a way of achieving success. Hucke explained that she learned

how to lead in her first job in a formal leadership role. However, The family-owned company

was understaffed and overworked; the resort lacked the procedures needed for Hucke to be

successful in her sales position, so she created them herself. Although she described this process

as “trial by fire,” Hucke knew this was necessary to make the resort successful. She focused on

the “growth and well-being of people and the community” to which she belonged. Hucke

understood that she had to put “the needs of others first” to help employees develop and perform

as highly as possible (Greenleaf).

I resonate with her experience through my current job at the Admission Visit Office. As

the initial point of contact for prospective students, families, and visitors on campus, our team

consistently put the needs of others first despite work we have to complete. Regardless of our

tasks or projects, we must immediately attend to any visitor who walks in our door to ensure a

tailored, positive experience is provided. This is similar to my interest in hospitality: the industry

is based on customer service in which the customer is the utmost priority. Furthermore,

following Dugan’s illustration of the core tenets scholars and practitioners identify as distinctive

for servant leadership, the “motivation to lead is derived from a deeply personal desire to serve

others” (Dugan). I identify with this in my personal leadership as I have recognized my growing

passion for working with and serving others. This is an innate trait of servant leaders, and it is a

style of leadership I desire to possess. As I continue to acknowledge and pinpoint my strengths

through the Comprehensive Leadership Program, I have identified my ability to connect with
 Woods 4

others through my capability to listen and understand needs. Recognizing this as an inherent part

of who I am will allow me to better comprehend how to serve others as a servant leader.

Through the discernment I engaged in post-interview, I reflected on the differences in

leadership styles, processes, and strategies that Hucke has engaged in her work. An experienced

professional, Hucke has seen the advantages as well as the disadvantages of good leadership.

Interestingly enough, Hucke shared that her husband has had the same role for over twenty years.

In his time, he has seen a number of different managers all with contrasting managing styles. The

insight he has on his role, as well as the internal affairs of the company, has allowed him to

recognize what it takes to be a successful manager, and what styles will not be effective. Hucke

said, “you begin to recognize what style pushes and motivates people. It is the leaders who serve

their teams that succeed.”

Additionally, Hucke admits that her family completely changed her beliefs about

leadership. Entering into a marriage as well as having two children was not easy at first, she

admitted. Not only was she challenged with tackling how to be a new kind of leader—a mother—

her family also shaped the way in which she engaged with her children. Her life was formed around

her husband and her children; thus, her leadership style adapted. Moreover, she has learned to

grow in her spiritual and emotional leadership for her children, which has taught her to develop

open and trusting relationships within her family. She shared that her children know they can rely

on her to have their backs. “As a leader,” said Hucke, “you support your people no matter what

role you play.”

To challenge the theory of servant leadership, one cannot serve others if one does not serve

his or herself first. For example, Hucke reflected that the manager of the resort may have focused

too primarily on the concerns of the customer and not enough on internal affairs, resulting in a
 Woods 5

poor structuring of the company which eventually went under. In this respect, care cannot be

provided to the customer if no care has been given to the employees themselves. The company and

its employees will crumble if the attention is not directed internally before it is directed externally.

I have experienced this in my leadership role as the president of the Kennel Club at the university.

Recently, our team faced a set of communication issues that negatively affected the operations of

our team, despite our external achievements. When choosing to tackle the situation, first and

foremost, I knew these issues were adaptive challenges, and I could not resolve the situation with

a technical response. Secondly, it was important to me as an executive leader to handle the situation

head-on and to do so promptly. I spent days sitting down with each board member, listening to

their input and being attentive to their needs. I sought to accomplish what I knew as the “textbook

definition” of servant leadership to lead my team out of conflict by adhering to their priority needs.

This truly allowed my teammates to feel that their voices were being heard and their opinions

mattered; it allowed for communication to thrive. As Hucke said, “you must serve first. It is the

only way to be successful, to serve the people on your staff first.”

In Larry C. Spears’ “Tracing the Growing Impact of Servant-Leadership,” he identifies a

set of ten characteristics that he views as being of critical importance to the servant leader. He

explains that the list is “by no means exhaustive” but “the ones listed serve to communicate the

power and promise that this concept offers to those who are open to its invitation and challenge”

(Spears). Of the ten, I see a great ability in Hucke to listen, heal, and show a commitment to the

growth of people. Hucke showed a “deep commitment to listen intently to others” and sought to

“identify the will of a group and help clarify that will” (Spears). She is a healer in her power to

transform and integrate; she helps to “make whole” those she speaks and connects within her job.

Lastly, Hucke has a commitment to the growth of people because she recognizes “the
 Woods 6

tremendous responsibility to do everything within her power to nurture the personal, professional

and spiritual growth of employees” as well as students at the university (Spears). Coincidingly,

in regard to the best test to make sure other people’s highest priority needs are being served, the

individuals Hucke has served have grown as persons. I can personally attest to the individualized

attention and time she dedicates to you; she has helped me to feel more confident, prepared and

ready to enter the workforce after graduation. Hucke has developed me as an individual and seen

my personal growth and confidence mature. Further, it is evident to see that her children have

become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous and likely to become servant leaders

themselves. She has led her children by her example of what it means to be a servant leader and

the lives you can impact through this leadership style. Lastly, Hucke consistently completes

service projects and volunteers in her community, connecting her servant leadership to social

justice and her servitude on the least privileged in society. She excels as a servant leader and

takes care to meet the needs of all she encounters.

In reflecting on her leadership roles and what advice she could offer to me, Hucke admits

she wishes she knew it was alright to believe in herself and her leadership from an early age. She

advised me to continue on even when I make mistakes. What is important, however, is to fix

your mistake, learn from it, and move forward knowing what was done to improve the situation.

Most importantly, she stressed to always have confidence with humility. Interviewing Hucke

allowed me to recognize servant leadership is not just a conceptual theory I have studied and

analyzed for three years. It is deeply ingrained in the personal and professional lives of many

individuals because of its effectiveness in team environments, businesses, and relationships. It is

a leadership style I can work to adopt myself through modeling acts of service innate to a servant

leader.
 Woods 7

Works Cited

Dugan, John P. Leadership Theory Cultivating Critical Perspectives. John Wiley & Sons,
Incorporated, 2017.

Greenleaf, Robert K. The Servant as Leader. The Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership, 2008.

Heifetz, Ronald, et al. The Practice of Adaptive Leadership: Tools and Tactics for Changing
Your Organization and the World. Harvard Business Press, 2009.

Spears, Larry C. Insights on Leadership: Service, Stewardship, Spirit and Servant-Leadership.

John Wiley & Sons, 1998.