You're a small team leader in Servant Leadership. How can you manage your team more effectively?

Wenn man versuch Servant Leadership umzusetzen, muss sich voll und ganz auf seinen gegenüber einlassen. Echtes Interesse am Gegenüber ist dabei unabdingbar. Ich finde es gut, dass es hier explizit erw?hnt wird.

Here is the thing: We often call out servant leadership as a leadership style, but we need to understand what that means. The basics of servant leadership focus on essential concepts and beliefs that influence a servant leader’s conduct and activities. In my years of experience and research on leadership, self-awareness is one of the common foundations of being your best self and leader. The first essential step for servant leaders and their teams is self-awareness. To know your team, you first need to understand yourself. Knowing yourself allows you to approach your team with a blank slate. A blank slate allows you to truly know your team.

Start by getting close to your team. Learn what drives each person and what they struggle with. Chat often, seek their thoughts, listen with attention, and truly care. This way, you can offer the right kind of help and praise that fits each member, helping them grow and succeed.

Some considerations for managing a team effectively are as follows. Build Trust and Relationships: - Foster an environment of trust by being transparent, honest, and approachable. - Invest time in building personal relationships with team members to understand their strengths, challenges, and aspirations. Empower and Support: - Provide the tools, resources, and support necessary for team members to excel in their roles. - Encourage autonomy and empower team members to make decisions within their areas of responsibility. Lead by Example: - Demonstrate the values and work ethic you expect from your team. Model the behavior you want to see in your team members. - Show a commitment to continuous learning and improvement. - Collaboration

Simply lead by example. Don't be afraid to roll up your sleeves and get you finger nails dirty. Stop over thinking everything. Be an active listener. And for heaven's sake, remember "it" is nothing more than a framework ... meaning, make it your own (oops, I mean make it the team's own).

As a servant leader, your approach to sharing and creating a vision for your team should be rooted in empathy, collaboration, and a commitment to serving the needs of your team. First and foremost, you must understand your team. Understand their concerns, challenges, and what motivates the team. Do more than just cast your vision by telling your team the vision. Collaborate by involving your team in the vision creation process. Be an active listener, giving your team a platform to express their ideas, concerns, and suggestions. This will build trust and establish a more collaborative environment. The team will have ownership of the vision. Servant leadership is about creating environments where teams own the mission.

I think it's key to let your team in on your big picture. Talk about where you're all headed together and why it matters. Show them how their daily work fits into this bigger goal. When people see their part in the story, they're more likely to feel connected and put in their best.

Sharing it from a Product Manager's perspective: As a Product Manager leading a small team, sharing a common vision is paramount. It aligns efforts, motivates the team, and fosters a sense of purpose. This alignment ensures effective decision-making, encourages collaboration, and promotes a customer-centric focus. A shared vision also enhances adaptability to change, facilitates clear communication, and contributes to building a cohesive team culture. Ultimately, it serves as a guiding principle that unifies the team, driving them towards common goals and fostering a positive working environment.

Years ago I took over a team from an authoritarian, when I started to empower the team they resisted it, as they didn't yet trust me. They continued to call and ask for direction. I would simply ask them, "what do you think we need to do?". Once they answered I would add, "Then let's do that." Over time this helped build the trust between the team and myself. What really helps is a failure. Because once a failure occurs, and they see that you do not come down on them but rather help support them through it and the value the failure has to the team, you begin to build the trust needed in a servant leadership environment.

To grow as a servant leader, hand over tasks and trust your team. Guide them with clear goals and support. Cheer on their fresh ideas and let them make choices. This boosts their abilities and self-assurance, leading to better work.

Tools für die Kommunikation sind wichtig, aber aus meiner Erfahrung kann ich berichten, dass gerade für die Kickoffs eine offline Meeting, die beste M?glichkeit ist in eine erfolgreiche Zusammenarbeit zu starten. Durch die Interaktion vor Ort entsteht eine andere, produktivere und interaktivere Stimmung.

I've found that joining forces and absorbing new insights with your crew really strengthens our collective output. By leveraging tools, we stay in sync and push each other forward. It's about fostering an environment where we're all open to constructive feedback and eager to grow. Regular peer reviews and retrospectives keep us sharp and inventive.

Servant leaders need to be willing to self-sacrifice for their followers. Servant leaders demonstrate their commitment to assisting others and building relationships based on trust and mutual respect by setting aside their interests and objectives. This sacrifice will encourage and motivate their team to prioritize the needs of others as well, building a culture of service and selflessness. The self-sacrifice of servant leaders helps them develop the respect and devotion of their followers. When leaders make sacrifices for their teams, they demonstrate they are willing to forego their comfort or success for the group’s good.

To guide as a servant leader, focus on lifting your team. Listen to their needs, offer tools, and clear roadblocks. Solve disputes and cheer on their wins. Lead with kindness, respect, and honesty. This fosters a strong, committed team atmosphere.

Research shows that servant leadership significantly impacted the creation of a positive work environment during COVID-19, making teams more resilient. Servant leaders prioritize the well-being and growth of their team members. They enable their team to overcome obstacles and create resilience by giving support, direction, and resources. This leads to an environment where teams feel valued, heard, and supported, increasing their capacity to recover from setbacks. This instills a feeling of purpose and drive in their teams by linking them to a greater goal or cause. When team members understand the relevance of their efforts and how they contribute to the larger goals, they are more likely to remain resilient through difficult times.

I find it important to always evolve as a leader. Listen to your team, take their input to heart, and learn from every misstep. Seek out resources like books or online forums to sharpen your skills. This ongoing process helps you lead better and earn respect.

Offen für Feedback sein alleine reicht leider nicht aus. Gerade neue und unerfahrene Mitarbeiter neigen dazu, sich nicht zu trauen, ehrliches Feedback dem Vorgesetzten gegenüber anzubringen. Das Einsammeln des Feedbacks sollte auf Basis eines ausgearbeiteten Konzepts, angepasst auf die Position und das Aufgabenfeld erfolgen, um ein m?glichst umfassendes Bild zu gewinnen.