How can personal growth enhance your ability to serve others effectively?

Servant leaders are like doctors, they care more for their patients than themselves and to be a good doctor you need to be an expert in your field, to sharpen your skills, to master yourself and that is not all! Understanding your weaknesses and turning them into strengths is necessary to recognize and understand others' needs. Remember, everything starts with you. Everything starts from within.

Servant Leadership in my opinion is about first understanding your own purpose and if it is to serve others (through leadership), or its to be an expert. As a servant, I am here to empower others to achieve their goals and, in that achievement, lies my satisfaction. Identifying staff with similar values makes serving enjoyable as there is fewer potential clashes in expectations and empowerment yields results quicker. However, having diversity in the group encourages growth of a servant leader, perhaps even more satisfying as we navigate our own biases, spend time on self-reflection and challenge ourselves to live our purpose. Servant Leadership is all about serving and empowering others and growing by learning how to serve better.

Every experience is unique and every perspective is valuable. In my journey and efforts to become a servant leader, i have learnt the basic truth of valuing people over processes. I have experienced the power of team unity in achieving the toughest and the most daunting goals with ease. Trust and empathy within a group can do wonders. A true leader should be an enabler who empowers and be the guiding light for others to achieve their true potential. So leaders, Be the change you want to see around you :)

Continual personal growth is vital for effective leadership. In my business, I specialize in empowering women leaders to strategically shift their mindset, conquer their fears, and discover their voices for positive change. Our mission is to guide them in realizing their full potential, living with confidence and purpose. Self-development is the key to individual growth, and I’m always seeking new knowledge to enhance my ability to serve others. I believe that by embracing change ourselves, we can inspire others to do the same.

Pour être une source d'inspiration pour les autres, pour impacter autour de soi, il faut absolument d'abord effectuer un voyage en soi-même, pour s'explorer, se découvrir et s'accepter. Cette rencontre avec soi-même permet de conna?tre ses qualités, ses atouts et même ses défauts. Car quoi qu'on pense, les rapports humains sont d'abord basés sur un échange, un ensemble d'interactions qui nous offrent l'occasion de nous offrir aux autres, de partager avec eux ce que nous avons de meilleur en nous. Ces rencontres permettent aussi de s'enrichir des qualités des autres, et même d'apprendre de leurs faiblesses. Se conna?tre soi-même est donc la base de tout leadership qui a vocation à impacter.

No one is perfect! To succeed in life, we need to understand our weaknesses and look at our mistakes through the lens of objectivity and it is not easy because humans are, by nature, subjective creatures. Constructive feedback is a gift of sight, it helps us to look at things from a different perspective. That is why it is important to ask intelligently for it. Active listening, humility and courage are the three keys to success. ?? Find the right person ?? Dare to ask ?? Reframe and improve ?? Do it again and again

It was only after a period of intense reflection and making several life changes that I was able to adopt an attitude of service and become far more useful to my team. This happened in the months leading up to the lockdowns of the pandemic, and it gave me the ability to be compassionate, to engage, and be there, be able to help my staff through a very difficult and challenging time for them - personally, and work-wise. Servant leadership has transformed my team and brought success to my company. We each have ownership of our space in the team and accountability to each other. It enables miracles to happen.

Feedback isn't just about assessing oneself; it's about gaining insights into how others view our contributions and understanding their expectations. Seeking feedback demands an open mind and an inquisitive nature. It's about welcoming perspectives from diverse sources. This practice isn't merely about receiving comments; it's about valuing them, learning from them, and using them to refine ourselves, aligning our actions with the genuine needs and aspirations of those we serve.

Never be afraid of criticism - even though the first reaction would be an emotional one, take a step back and look at it objectively to determine its value. If it is worthy, then take it upon yourself to use it to improve your work. If it is not, then let it go move forward with confidence.

Feedback is so important, I remember there was a time early in my public speaking career, I was giving a speech to a group of young adults and part of my speech I keep saying a common phrase wrong that I grew up hearing but because I hear it wrong I believed that it was so, only to find out that day that I was saying it so wrong and the person giving me the feedback brought evidence where the quote came from just to show that they knew what they were speaking about. We laughed and had it not been for the feedback I would have continued to be making my mistake over and over. If you want to be a successful entrepreneur/leader feedback is a major role.

I speak about significance. Significance is different from Success, in that Significance looks to add value to oneself, with the explicit purpose of adding value to others. Please note that the beginning is adding value to one self. As they say in the inflight announcements, you have to put on your own mask before you help others. You have to invest in yourselves, learn new skills, and then you will be able to invest in others and help them grow and succeed.

The world is big and there is not just one road into success. Every skill is a master key, it opens many doors. The more you learn, the more new opportunities will knock on your door. Remember, you are never too old to learn. Start today, start now.

Learning is such a gift. After attending an Prosci Change Management certification course, my interest in Change Management took me back to university to complete a post-graduate certificate. Having a wider understanding of the topic enabled me to move to Change Management leadership roles in Microsoft. As I learnt more about the beauty and complexity of people we worth with, I was inspired to complete my post-graduate diploma in Psychology, which sparked my interest in becoming a people manager. A good people @ Microsoft also needs a good understand of their business, and thus my Masters in Business Administration (with a specialization in Change Management). So, keep on learning and applying the learning in your everyday.

Being agile is "Responding to change over following a plan". Without a continuous growth mindset, you won't be able to know what is changing so you canno adapt. Keeping curious like a 4yr old is the best thing in the world.

For any leader to always be untop of his/her game and scaling, continuous capacity building is inevitable. It will help you stay updated the in the ecosystem of your industry and this will in turn impact positively on your team and the bottom line of the organization.

Life throws challenges and every challenge is a chance to be better than you are. Failure, mistakes and fears are part of the road called life. Embracing challenges means living your life to the fullest. Be like a lion, you can face anything if you trust your abilities and learn from the past.

Stepping out of our comfort zone into the growth zone epitomizes the essence of servant leadership. It’s a pivotal challenge every servant leader must embrace. Challenges drive us beyond the familiar, nudging us to explore uncharted territories, innovate, and evolve. This journey, marked by courage and persistence, unveils our true potential as leaders dedicated to serving others. The growth zone isn't just a destination; it's where servant leaders thrive, continually pushing boundaries to uplift and empower those they serve. It embodies the heart of servant leadership, an unwavering commitment to growth, for both oneself and the community.

We evolved to deal with stress. At some point in time we had to run from lions ... not sure if work ia more stressful than that. What worked for me is to have a couple of good mentors that can guide you. As long as the goal is clear and your pointing to the north star, you will be fine. The old navigators knew it well. Just inspect, adapt and keep true.

Adopting a mindset that welcomes challenges can foster personal growth and resilience. When you perceive challenges as chances to acquire knowledge, adapt, and evolve, you enhance your ability to surmount obstacles and reach your objectives. Challenges can serve as catalysts for success and individual advancement.

Facing life and work challenges is a given, often invoking stress and frustration. Yet, these moments also present openings for personal growth and servant leadership. Embracing challenges tests boundaries, conquers fears, and uncovers hidden potential. Failures become lessons, resilience strengthens, and individuals grow. To welcome challenges, one must embody courage, optimism, and persistence, addressing difficulties head-on, seeking support, and celebrating achievements. Challenges are not obstacles but stepping stones on the path to personal and leadership development.

Life is not a race. Take a break and recharge yourself. Past is past but it is important to learn from your past mistakes. Self-assessment will help you evaluate and organize your life to reach your goals. Don't be harsh on yourself, you can never change your past but your can change your future. So be like a mirror, without raising his voice, he shows you your scars to embrace them and learn from them.

In order to continue to grow everyone must re-invent themselves every 5-7 years. This evolution is fueled by reflection and subsequent renewal. To the degree that we can honestly and authentically reflect and recognize our need to change will govern our level of new growth and effectiveness. Our intentional focus on personal renewal is the key to improving the content of the gift we bring to the world, not just changing the wrapping paper.

Reflection is very important to understanding self growth. Modelling the behaviours of Servant leadership can sometimes be challenging as it is rarely the easiest option. It takes commitment to see the benefits, reflection is when we take time to see how far we have come. Caring for yourself helps ensure you can continue to hold your standards high, you will never have energy to help others if don’t take care of yourself

An area that is sadly often ignored. Reflection is the analysis part that truly delivers the learnings. That hold true with person to person events as well as logical and action events. Do it frequently and your learnings will grow handsomely.

The “Reflect & Review” process is necessary to disarm future thoughts/feelings of anxiety, depression, despair. Looking back and documenting to see where progress has been made and challenges have been overcome is ammunition against our darkest thoughts that try to keep us stuck.

In addition to the mentioned aspects, fostering empathy is a critical element in enhancing personal growth for effective service. Cultivating empathy involves actively listening, putting yourself in others' shoes, and appreciating diverse perspectives and experiences. Furthermore, embracing a growth mindset is crucial. A growth mindset cultivates the belief that abilities and intelligence can be developed through dedication and hard work. As a servant leader, having a growth mindset inspires others to adopt the same approach, creating a culture of perseverance and advancement.

One actionable piece of advice as a Servant leader thriving and striving for excellence and to enhance your ability to serve others effectively. You can embrace this wisdom attributed to Dale Carnegie "Develop success from failures. As a Servant leader you will develop both empathy, courage, kindness and humility. Because as Will Durant wisely said: "We are what we repeatedly do". Accepting and embracing failures as well as success as different outputs of personal growth both regarding yourself as well as others is from my point of view and personal experience one actionable way to serve others effectively and grow as a person.