Hunter at OC

A best-selling author told his audience at Odessa College that if they have a lousy boss, they have a lousy job.

James Hunter, the author of “The Servant: A Simple Story About the Essence of Leadership” and “The World’s Most Powerful Leadership Principal: How to Become a Servant Leader,” spoke at OC Wednesday morning to an audience of 100 continuing education students, businesspersons and nonprofit workers.

“All change is not progress, but there is no progress without change,” Hunter said.

Hunter grew up in Detroit where his father worked in one of Henry Ford’s automobile factories. Ford once said all he needed from his workers was a pair of hands. Hunter espouses that exact opposite in his leadership views.

The author advocates the power of servant leadership where the boss is the coach and the critic becomes the cheerleader. During his speech he talked about a workplace that works with the mind of the employee instead of just using the hands. The leadership style he promotes as principal consultant at the labor relations firm J.D. Hunter Associates is also espoused by many successful companies, including Southwest Airlines, Starbucks and Marriott.

Monica Lee Rodriguez, who holds an associate’s degree in criminal justice, attended the event because she wanted to learn more about this type of leadership. “If you’re going to be in law enforcement you need to know how to be a leader and a public servant at the same time,” Rodriguez said.

He noted that he has not come up with anything he speaks about or writes about; the ideas he advocates have been around for centuries. The proof was being projected on the wall behind him as quotations from the likes of Abraham Lincoln, Buddy Hackett, Victor Hugo and Zsa Zsa Gabor rolled by.

After hearing Hunter speak once, Laurie Johnson, associate director of the nonprofit management center, was so impressed that she got the nonprofit management center, OC’s continuing education center and the Odessa Chamber of Commerce together to sponsor so that the Odessa community would have the chance to hear about servant leadership.

“It’s about using influence instead of power to lead,” Johnson said. “The people attending this event are our future leaders.”