Marketed as a Servant Leader, Jim Fielding recounts his journey in a memoir, All Pride, No Ego: A Queer Executive’s Journey to Living and Leading Authentically. The content is 90% personal journey — interweaving how his queerness affected his leadership traits and behaviors — and 10% selected insights into his strategies.
His career offers good glimpses into when and how servant leadership can work, and when and where it can’t. Generally, it works in non-profits and artistic / creative endeavors. Fielding was successful at Disney when the focus was on creativity. When new leadership shifted the focus to metrics, he tried an unsuccessful end run which led to his resignation. His next career as a retail CEO was not highly successful, so he resigned and moved into consulting.
Fielding’s career started at a local department store job. He advanced to Gap, Inc. as a merchandiser, and was soon traveling around the world learning how to source and produce garments. He stayed in retail a decade, leading the move to licensing.
Showing his people orientation, he says of this period:
My network and chosen family really kicked into full gear…Erin, Elizabeth, John, Lisa, Sharon, Danny and more… people from all of my favorite teams were on this ride with me.
Moving up to run merchandising for the Disney catalog, he blossomed. Under the leadership, direction, and mentorship of Andrew Mooney, Fielding advanced to President of Disney Stores Worldwide where he was responsible for creative merchandising and “guest” purchasing.
Of Mooney, he says:
Andy was the perfect supervisor for me. He set ambitious goals, provided resources and support, and let me do my job. He always had my back… He believed in me, our team and our vision for the Disney Stores. He never meddled, but he was always available when I needed his advice, support, or insights.
When Mooney resigned, “the dismantling of the prior regime began”. In his one-on-one meeting with Bob, his new boss, Fielding found no common ground. The new direction was about metrics. He says he had no options and had to play the new game.
But he veered from the game in a fatal error: he made an end run around the new boss and asked another division head to move Disney Stores into that business unit. Of course, Bob learned of it immediately. Fielding says, I had confirmed Bob’s worst fears about me… I was not a team player and I was not on his program. I hope that young leaders understand this corporate politics example.
(Personally, I was amazed he didn’t understand this corporate taboo. In any bureaucratic business organization based on rank (following the military model), it is unacceptable to go outside the lines, and fatal to plan a reorganization behind your “superior’s” back.)
Fielding began job hunting and landed the CEO position at Claire’s Stores, Inc. But at Claire’s, Fielding was not leading creative functions and guest directions. He was reporting to a Board that represented the private equity firm that had done a leveraged buyout and only wanted ROI (return on investment). He endured the mis-match for two years before resigning. He says:
As CEO of a PE-backed firm, you are constantly managing your board, your investors, and your P&L (profit and loss) statements. In this case, I also needed to manage the leveraged debt and interest payments. I love working on products, store design, service and team development. None of those skills were recognized or rewarded in this CEO role.
Fielding gives numerous examples of his philosophy of leading.
* I never want anyone on our team to feel less than someone else
* I believe team engagement and involvement are the keys to successful team building and performance
* I realize I led more effectively once I fully embraced my authentic self and used every piece of me to its potential.
* I understand how important it is to set global vision and standards, but to allow for local implementation and execution
* It is about how you feel about where you work. How you are appreciated. The people you work with. Feeling like you are contributing to something that matters.
* * It’s about participating fully and authentically and being engaged
Like other recognized leaders, Fielding brought a sense of connection and appreciation by writing personal birthday and thank you cards. Ginny Rometti, IBM CEO, wrote personal letters to her new management team (over 100), welcoming them to her team. Indra Nooyi, Pepsi-Co CEO, sent personal report cards to the parents of her management team, praising their children’s accomplishments. But they are not categorized as Servant Leaders.
REFLECT:
Based on this information, would you consider Fielding
a Servant Leader?
a Visionary Leader?
a Transformational Leader?
a mixture?
something else?
Why?
Fielding ends his self portrait with a “call to action” for the reader.
* You are right where you are supposed to be and you are not done yet
* Please remember to help others live safe, productive and authentic lives
* You have a responsibility to give back and pay it forward
* Do not waste any more time seeking external validation or quick fixes
* Just live every day with simple gratitude and joy
* Love yourself and let’s take care of each other
APPLY:
Journal job / career hunting:
Describe the the job / culture / team / environment that fits you best. List your deal breakers (things you won’t accept).
Forego the “best jobs / careers” for the best fits.
All Pride, No Ego: A Queer Executive’s Journey to Living and Leading Authentically. Jim Fielding, Wiley, 2023.
