Successful leadership is this generation’s Holy Grail. Wherever we turn, there are leadership courses, coaching, and success stories all describing a strong and charismatic manager or leader who calls the shots and propels a company into the stratosphere. But is that image of leadership missing something? According to a recent Gallup study, the answer is yes. Gallup found that only one in four employees “strongly agree” that they are provided with meaningful feedback, and only 21% of employees “strongly agree” they are managed in a way that “motivates them to do outstanding work”. Part 1 The idea of servant leadership is ancient. Philosophers such as Lao Tzu, Chanakya, Cicero, Plutarch and Xenophon reference and explore it in their writings. It surfaces in many religious texts, such as the Bible. But it was Robert K. Greenleaf in 1970 who coined the term in his essay “The Servant as Leader”: A servant-leader focuses primarily on the growth and well-being of people and the communities to which they belong. While traditional leadership generally involves the accumulation and exercise of power by one at the “top of the pyramid,” servant leadership is different. The servant-leader shares power, puts the needs of others first and helps people develop and perform as highly as possible. In short, servant leadership principles emphasize facilitation and helping employees grow and harness their maximum potential, empowering both individual team members and the company to be successful. Part 2 From forty years of researched management, education, and development Greenleaf wrote “The Servant and the Leader”. During this time, he became concerned that the traditional authoritarian and autocratic model of corporate leadership wasn’t actually working. Instead, he thought the most successful leaders focused on serving their team and bringing out the best in them. Greenleaf and Spears are not alone in challenging commonly accepted views of what makes a great leader.
ProsperForms — receive reports from your team members on autopilot. 100+ forms available: reports, logbooks, requests, etc. or build your own. View and manage data on Timeline and Dashboard screens, generate consolidated PDF reports. Get Started After researching the history of 15 outstanding companies and comparing them to their peers, Jim Collins concluded in his book Good to Great that the best leaders were modest and self-effacing, rather than the stereotypical ‘charismatic’ and autocratic CEO. . However, servant leadership has its pitfalls:. While it encourages shared responsibility between the everyone, it may be difficult in times of crisis or tight deadlines to consult with everyone or rely on group consensus. Cultivating servant leadership in your company will also often require a huge shift in individual employees’ attitudes and the overall company culture. It takes time, dedicated resources, and support from people at every level of a company to actively work toward promoting servant leaders and a servant leadership model. Part 3 As mentioned above, the main servant leadership traits are:
ProsperForms — receive reports from your team members on autopilot. 100+ forms available: reports, logbooks, requests, etc. or build your own. View and manage data on Timeline and Dashboard screens, generate consolidated PDF reports. Get Started – empathy, healing – commitment to the growth and development of people, foresight, stewardship – listening, persuasion – building community – conceptualization, awareness The five must-have servant leadership principles are:
ProsperForms — receive reports from your team members on autopilot. 100+ forms available: reports, logbooks, requests, etc. or build your own. View and manage data on Timeline and Dashboard screens, generate consolidated PDF reports. Get Started
One way to do this is to implement a private daily or weekly report so that you can both keep track of what’s been done, and the team member has a private space in which they can ask you questions. Don’t forget to also celebrate achievements! It can be difficult to step back and let others learn and fail and perhaps do things in a different way to how you might have done them. This is particularly the case if you’ve always been a perfectionist. But part of being a servant leader is letting go of an autocratic approach. Instead, try to embrace servant leadership activities and actions such as seeking the opinions of your team members on big decisions, particularly where those decisions involve their own work, and consider any relevant feedback. Learn to set aside your beliefs and preconceptions and listen to their suggestions. When you do make decisions, take the time to explain the reasoning behind it to your team. While this may be difficult and time-consuming in the short-term, in the long run, it will create a transparent and respectful environment that builds trust. Share your company’s goals and mission and how everyone’s efforts contribute to the bigger picture. Try to find a balance between focusing on the team’s short-term KPIs or daily accomplishments and the company’s overall longer-term goals. To do this, you’ll have to keep on top of everything that’s going on in the company, so having your team leads provide you with a weekly or monthly report may help. When everyone understands how their current work is contributing toward the company’s mission, it can be incredibly motivating. As part of this, encourage your team members and employees to help each other reach their individual and team goals. This not only encourages responsibility, it also helps the team and your company to grow together. You can support this by encouraging both team and interdepartmental communication. Take time to regularly learn from past experiences, both as a team and individually. At a team level, it’s a good idea to reflect at the end of every project or regularly throughout the year on what went well and what could have gone better so the team can improve and grow. At an individual level, you should also regularly reflect on your own strengths, weaknesses, values and leadership skills. This includes asking for direct feedback from your team members and learning from them, and in general building a culture of two-way communication where constructive criticism is freely given and received. Sponsored:
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