I recently attended the 8th annual Chicagoland Learning Leaders Conference on October 30th, St. Charles, Illinois.

A highlight of the day long conference was the keynote, Creating a Culture of Servant Leadership, presented by Tom Griffin, Vice President of Organizational Learning and Chief Teaching Officer, U.S. Cellular.

Tom Griffin talked about U.S. Cellular’s servant-leader strategy, an ideology that encourages leaders and associates to move beyond self-interest toward authentic servant leadership.

Griffin realized that “what separates the good from the great” is character. “Character is everything,” said Griffin.

U.S. Cellular’s Leadership Model:
– Leader as self
– Leader as teacher
– Leader as relationship builder
– Leader as strategist
– Leader as results driver

Three Human Yearnings:
– Voice (to have our voices heard)
– Greatness (to clearly be a part of something greater than ourselves)
– Significance (to be part of something significant)

U.S. Cellular’s Learning Philosophy:
“First of all, people’s voices need to be heard. You have to create the conditions that allow people to engage in very substantive conversations. In my view, it’s hard to learn leadership in short bursts. As leaders engage in very productive and powerful conversations, that’s when the lightbulb goes on.”