You're struggling to manage your team's performance. How can you turn things around?

Servant Leadership is the hierarchy flipped on its head. I work FOR my team not the other way around. My job is to stay out ahead of them and remove obstacles so that they can maintain their pace. It’s about setting the standard. Asking how I can help? And then rolling up the sleeves and getting in there to get it done.

Servant leadership isn’t about you. But, it starts with you! This means you must develop yourself with the intention of developing others. You must prepare yourself with the intention of preparing others. You can’t give what you don’t have. You can’t share what you don’t know. You can’t model what you don’t live. Servant leaders keep climbing, so they can more effectively help others climb. Keep climbing!

Servant leadership can help improve your team's performance. Showing your team that you care for them & want to grow them, asking them questions & listening fully to their answers, and of course leading by example will help.

With Gen Z now becoming the part of work force and technology playing a key role in each task with AI, people in leadership positions will have to follow Servant Leadership style. Although each leader has to follow different leadership styles over his/her career depending on situation & people but going forward Servant Leadership will be the key to the success for the leader himself & the team. Servant Leadership is about bolstering your team to grow in both professional and personal life. It is about using your experience and your team’s knowledge to help them grow first by putting aside your ego and power. I personally have been the following this since many years and it has given me unexpected results both for me and my team.

For me, servant leadership has been about building trust and empowerment in groups you have influence over. People need to know you are willing to roll up your sleeves and be on the ground with them and leading as a participant/contributor vs. sitting in the ivory tower telling people what to do. Meeting them where they are and building them up from there.

If your team see you leading from the front, tackling issues head on with them with engagement, trust and empowerment you will no doubt see an increase in positivity and continuous improvement that will be self sustained.

As a servant leader, I empower the team by letting them define their goals, fostering passion: ?? Motivation: Allowing employees to set targets fuels their drive and cultivates genuine passion. ?? Ownership: Self-defined goals promote accountability, making individuals committed to their objectives. ?? Flexibility: Active participation in goal-setting equips individuals to adapt to changing circumstances. ?? Confidence: Achieving self-defined goals boosts confidence and contributes to a positive workplace. ?? Engagement: Colleagues feel more engaged when empowered with trust and responsibilities like defining their goals.

Servant leadership is very effective as it priortises wellbeing and development of the team and fosters a collaborative environment where the team can trust each other and contribute to overall success of the project

Without servant leadership engagement levels stagnate. However with growing engagement levels talent churns reduces and delivery and team performance levels can soar.

An example of servant leadership is understanding that there is no I in team. Keeping that top of mind means getting the work done with the team. I think you are more respected by team members, as a leader, if you jump in with them to get the work accomplished.

Listen your team members intentionally. Full Attention: Give the speaker your undivided attention by minimizing distractions and focusing on what they are saying. Feedback: Provide feedback to confirm your understanding and to show that you are engaged in the conversation. This can involve nodding, paraphrasing, or asking clarifying questions. Empathy: Empathetic listening involves not only hearing the words but also recognizing and acknowledging the speaker's feelings. Avoid Assumptions: Set aside preconceived notions or judgments and approach the conversation with an open mind. Nonverbal Cues: Pay attention to the speaker's body language, tone of voice, and other nonverbal cues to gain a deeper understanding of their message.

I believe in leading with kindness, listening well, and rolling up my sleeves alongside my team. It's about mutual respect and shared goals.

In order to practise servant leadership, I have to change my mindset and attitude towards people and work so that the team is at the centre. It is important to communicate authentically so that your own expectations are understood by the employees. A servant leader should delegate tasks and responsibilities to employees that they can grow with and that match their personal skills. Regular feedback can help them to identify their own strengths and areas for development and thus plan targeted further training. A servant leader sets a good example, is a role model and exemplifies this in their daily interactions.

Servant leadership is actually quite simple. If you find yourself thinking “what will I get out of this?” you’re not practicing it. Some are naturals at it while others have to be a little more thoughtful. Either way, everyone is capable of achieving this highly respected leadership style. It is a perfect balance between effectively accomplishing your objectives while keeping the team’s welfare as a priority. Additionally, seeing a healthy workforce as an ASSET to the company and objective.

One distinctive perspective lies in the idea that servant leadership is not about micromanagement but about trust. It's about empowering team members with autonomy and resources, believing in their capabilities, and allowing them the freedom to excel. This trust cultivates a sense of ownership and responsibility within the team.

Performance management software can be a powerful tool for a servant leader. Here's how: Goal Setting: Software can visualize individual and team goals, promoting transparency and fostering ownership. Regular Feedback: Encourage frequent two-way feedback through the software's feedback and check-in features. Data-Driven Decision Making: Utilize the software's data and analytics to identify areas of improvement at individual and team levels. Personalized Development Plans: The software can suggest relevant learning resources, track progress, and celebrate achievements for each team member. Continuous Improvement Culture: Utilize the software's performance metrics and feedback mechanisms to identify roadblocks and implement adjustments.

I've seen how tracking tools can quietly revolutionize the way we work together. By keeping an eye on progress, we can celebrate wins and tackle challenges promptly, ensuring we all move forward together. It's about staying connected and supportive, every step of the way.

Performance management software should not drive the work but rather serve as a last resort when things do not work. You should not document work before you tackle them but rather capture them as you do them and completes them. PM software allows transparency and collaboration but it should not be a measuring stick for success. At the end of the day, people do the work not PM software.

The most widely used PM software is JIRA and Confluence for scrum/kanban and knowledge management respectively. They are easy to use, easy to integrate with any work, and are widely implemented across different industries.

Regardless of the performance management software utilized, the most crucial aspect is how you use it. Of course, having features like analytics and an integrated learning development plan can be beneficial, but if the tool is not embraced and utilized, neither the leader nor the team will benefit. Sometimes, even a simple notepad can suffice!

I feel like Servant Leadership is both effective in your day to day but also building relationship with the folks that work for you. That relationship will help you everyday at work, but also throughout your career. Not everyone responds to this type of leadership, or are used to it. So hiring becomes super important for the right attitude, but also patience with folks learning that you aren't going to solve their problems for them.

Turning around team performance involves a thoughtful and collaborative approach. Foster open communication channels to understand individual concerns and challenges. Demonstrate empathy, actively listening to team members to address their needs. Collaboratively set clear and achievable goals, ensuring alignment with both individual and organizational objectives. Provide necessary resources and support for skill development. Encourage a culture of continuous improvement, valuing feedback and recognizing accomplishments. Lead by example, exhibiting the servant leadership qualities of humility and a genuine commitment to the team's well-being.

You can use the GWC framework to determine the root of your team's performance issue. It often comes down to one of three things: Do they get it? Do they want it? Do they have the capacity to do it? Each root requires unique steps to solve and help the team move forward.

after many years of being oin the "receiving end" of classic performance evaluations I am convinced that this is a dead horse. As a leader who wants a performant team, that is motivated to even go the extra mile if needed, I am betting more on servant or integrative leadership. Goals that are being owned by the team members, because they actively elaborated and aligned on them carry for me much more weight for every individual and result in much better outcomes. As a leader, I am accountable to manage the process of identifying those goals as well as serve as barrier in times of trouble and as a lift in times when needed (servant leadership principles).

If we are talking about transforming a team into being a high-performing team by increased autonomy I would say you shouldn't manage their performance at all but leading them to owning their work and their outcomes. Helping them, sure, but making sure they rely on as few people in as few situations as possible. Make the vision as clear as possible and communicate to the team and the people and teams they collaborate with the mandate they have to make their own decisions. Be there to support but actively try to limit when that support is needed where it doesn't make sense to keep the red tape. Incentivize fulfilling goals as a cohesive unit and delivering value in a way that they can maintain long-term.