From Authoritarian to Servant Leader: The Leadership Shift Everyone Wins From
There’s a moment in every leader’s life when they realize:
“I can’t keep leading like this and expect my team to thrive.”
For Kurt Uhler, that moment came after years of running billion-dollar companies like a drill sergeant.
His leadership style was direct, intense, and relentless. His personal metric for “pushing the team” was whether anyone was crying in the office.
If they were, he’d just dial it down from an 11 to an 8 and call it balance.
And it worked… for a while.
Projects got done. Revenue grew. The numbers looked great on paper.
But slowly, the cracks started showing.
The best people — the ones who brought creativity, ownership, and fresh thinking — left.
Innovation slowed. Morale sank.
And the people who stayed? Burnt out, cautious, and doing just enough to get by.
The Wake-Up Calls
The shift didn’t happen with one big “aha moment.” It was a series of small but painful realizations.
A mentor telling him, bluntly: “No one wants to spend time with you.”
Top performers walking away over issues that could have been fixed with a little flexibility — like a work-from-home day during a family medical crisis.
Looking in the mirror and realizing the problem wasn’t “lazy employees.” It was him.
It was the uncomfortable truth every great leader faces at some point:
People don’t just work for you. You work for them too.
The Shift to Servant Leadership
Kurt began stripping away the habits that kept him in control mode:
Replacing “hours in a chair” with clear, measurable outcomes.
Hiring people for their capability — and resisting the urge to second-guess every decision they made.
Creating space for healthy conflict instead of shutting it down.
Listening more than he spoke.
He learned to hire capable people, give them the tools and trust they needed, and then… get out of their way.
And the results spoke for themselves:
Faster project completion.
Higher retention rates.
A surge in innovation, because people felt safe to try (and sometimes fail) without fear of punishment.
Why Employers Win
Servant leadership isn’t just “being nice” — it’s strategic.
It creates the conditions for people to do their best work and stay engaged over the long haul.
When leaders make this shift:
Retention goes up because people feel valued.
Collaboration improves because ideas aren’t filtered through fear.
Top talent seeks you out because they’ve heard this is a place where good people can thrive.
Why Job Seekers Win
From the employee side, a servant leader changes everything. Instead of walking on eggshells, you feel trusted and supported.
You know you can speak up without it being career suicide. You’re encouraged to take risks, share ideas, and stretch your skills because your boss isn’t waiting for you to fail.
This is the environment where careers are built, not just jobs filled.
The Bottom Line
Servant leadership isn’t a soft skill. It’s a smart strategy.
It’s not about stepping back from performance. It’s about clearing the path so performance can flourish. And when leaders make that shift, everyone wins…
The company, the team, and the people who choose to stay and grow with you.
Want more of this story?
This article was inspired by my conversation with Kurt Uhler on Hiring Happy Humans, where we went deep on his transformation from authoritarian to servant leader — and the surprising data that proves why this leadership style works.
Listen to the full episode here: EP 24 - Data-Driven Authentic Leadership to Scale Your Business with Kurt Uhler