Ken King is a servant leader

On Thursday I was very blessed to have the majority of the IT Matters management team out for a luncheon at the Calgary Chamber of Commerce.  I love the Chamber and everything that it’s CEO Heather Douglas has done to make it a wonderful place.  I actually spent the entire morning at the Chamber working away.  The great thing about it is that I met some great people there that I haven’t seen in a while.

The main reason I was there was for the Business in Calgary Leaders of Tomorrow awards for 2008.  I am very fortunate to have a wonderful team at IT Matters who really allow our firm to shine in the Calgary marketplace.  With this wonderful team at IT Matters and combined with a wonderful board at the IAMCPand Kidzinc that I am involved with plus the team at Tech Data Canada and also the Southern Alberta Microsoft User Community, and one more the Calgary IT Elite Group (website is being worked on by David West at eKzact Solutions).  I was awarded as one of the top 20 business leaders of tomorrow at the luncheon.  I was very fortunate to have my bride with me and the team at IT Matters. 

My good friend Ecky from CareFactor Computer Services was also awarded.  That makes two of us from the five partners in Calgary that are part of TechSelect.  Way to go Ecky!  It is great to be part of the Tech Data Canada family and have a great colleague like Ecky right here in Calgary.

Ken King, who is the President and CEO of the Calgary Flames was the keynote speaker at the luncheon.  I really enjoy hearing Ken speak at events, he is so down to earth and some what humble with the odd wise crack thrown in.  Ken spoke on the three levels of leadership, these are:

• The Warrior Leader – This was me in my military days.  Rank outranked and made the higher ranking person same smarter.  However the threat of jail time in Edmonton, usually made average leaders feel very powerful.   I was here for a very long time, stuck in this horrible rut.
• The Mentor Leader – Coaching and teaching.  This type of leader is very important in business, you need leaders to mentor your staff and your employees.  Without teachers people can’t learn.
• The Servant Leader – This is where I strive to be.  The servant leader is the leader who serves.  I always had this mentality with my clients, I was here to serve them, and I still get somewhat angry when people can’t follow this simple guideline.  However, it is important to serve the people you are teamed up with.  I can do this inside IT Matters, IAMCP, HTG, and all the other groups I work in.  I highly recommend reading the book “Lead Like Jesus“.

Thanks Ken for the great chat and the reminder of why it is important to be a SERVANT LEADER.  I sometimes forget about this key ingredient to success in the busyness of life.

It is important to have great mentors in your life and show gratitude to them every once in a while, keep this in mind as well.  I want to thank everyone who has touched my life in a positive way and also maybe in a not so positive way, no matter what you all have inspired me and taught me valuable life lessons.