The Servant Leadership Test
Make leadership decisions for the people you serve, not for your status
- Difficulty
- Expert
- Time to result
- ~ongoing to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 96%
The Servant Leadership Test asks a leader to justify decisions through service rather than title or personal benefit. Begin by naming the people affected: employees, customers, authors, or the wider community. Then ask whether the choice primarily enables them and the mission, or merely protects the leader's comfort, image, or control. McCormick reinforces the mechanism through language—people work with him, not for him—and behavior, including performing ordinary tasks himself instead of treating them as beneath a CEO. Service does not mean giving everyone whatever they request. It means using authority to support the conditions in which people can do meaningful work and receive fair leadership. Repeating the test across decisions turns a personal belief into a visible culture norm.
Origin
While explaining Scribe Media's award-winning culture, McCormick defined servant leadership as the responsibility to serve the people with whom a leader works.
Core principles
- 01Leadership exists to serve
- 02People work with a leader rather than for one
- 03Titles do not make one person more important than another
- 04Leadership decisions should benefit the people and mission being served
- 05No necessary task is beneath a leader
How to run it
- 1
Name who is served
Identify every group materially affected by the decision and the legitimate needs at stake.
Pro tip Include people with little formal power, not only executives or shareholders.
- 2
Interrogate the motive
Separate mission and team needs from the leader's status, convenience, or desire for control.
Watch out Calling a preference service does not make it one.
- 3
Choose enabling action
Use authority to remove obstacles, provide clarity, and support the people responsible for the work.
Pro tip Ask what only the leader can do to improve the team's conditions.
Watch out Service must coexist with clear expectations and accountability.
- 4
Model equal dignity
Use respectful language and perform necessary ordinary work rather than reinforcing status boundaries.
Pro tip Visible willingness matters most when the task is inconvenient.
- 5
Check the effect
Seek feedback and operational evidence that the decision actually helps people perform and does not merely feel benevolent.
In the wild
McCormick says that when office trash overflows, he does not need to ask someone else to handle it; people may simply see him finding the bags and taking care of the task. He uses this behavior to show that no responsibility is beneath a leader.
→ The leader's conduct makes equal dignity and service visible rather than rhetorical.
Common mistakes
Using service as a slogan
The term loses meaning when decisions and behavior continue to prioritize the leader's status.
Confusing service with appeasement
Serving a team can require boundaries, accountability, and decisions that are difficult in the short term.
Is it for you?
Best for
Executives and managers who want to build trust and a service-oriented culture.
Not ideal for
Leaders who interpret service as avoiding accountability, standards, or difficult decisions.
From the transcript
“you are only a leader if you serve”
“I do not believe anyone works for me people work with me”
From the episode
JT McCormick: Rise Against All Odds
JT McCormick