By Ryan McGrath
As the CEO and president of Asset Living, the fifth-largest apartment manager in the United States, I often think about what my role actually means. Employing over 4,500 employees nationwide, I recognize that I’m quite literally in the business of people. Traditionally, we are taught that our direct reports and subordinates all work to ostensibly serve us, but this line of thinking is fundamentally flawed.My employees aren’t working for me; conversely, as a senior leader, I am actually working for them. Frankly, if it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t have a job. Robert K. Greenleaf first coined servant leadership back in the 1970s—since then, the concept has steadily gained traction among modern-day corporations.
