How can you ensure everyone's needs are met in Servant Leadership?

In my humble opinion, leadership, at its core, is not a complex concept. It's about understanding that people should always be y(our) first priority. As a servant leader, it’s about selflessness and empathy, understanding that by uplifting and supporting those you lead, you empower them to excel. In doing so, you create a harmonious environment where the collective success of the team becomes the true measure of leadership accomplishment. #FiredUp

Servant leadership requires leaders to truly know who they lead by understanding their needs and helping them fulfill their role successfully. Not everyone is motivated by the same things, so digging into what matters to each person and their "why" will set the leader and the TEAM up to WIN!

1. Absolutely, knowing a team starts with 1:1 sessions. My sessions are called “Share the Air,” a strategy I initiated in 2016. I noticed many viewed 1:1s as just update checks. By changing the name, I emphasized free & mutual dialogue. 2. However, a standardized approach isn’t always effective. New hires might need frequent check-ins initially. But with time, it’s key to let them set their own pace. It’s worth noting that these aren’t interruptions, but avenues to boost communication.

Knowing your team is essential and a 2 way street. Your team needs to know and trust you as well. Understanding they are safe and their best interests are safe with you is a must. Only through this you can expect people to do their best and not spend energy on "reading the room" and acting accordingly to that read instead of what they really have to contribute.

Als Servant Leader Teammitglieder f?rdern, auf sie und ihre Bedürfnisse eingehen f?ngt für mich auch damit an, sich selbst zu reflektieren: - wie gehe ich auf andere zu, wie begegne ich ihnen? - was sind meine St?rken und Schw?chen? - was brauche ich im Arbeitskontext? Im n?chsten Schritt kann ich in Kontakt mit Teammitgliedern gehen und erfahren, was sie brauchen - bzw. ein Sparring anbieten, damit sie sich ihren Bedürfnissen bewusst werden.

As a servant leader, you need to have an "open ear policy" ; 1. Listen to understand & learn rather than listen to respond 2. The more you listen to the team members, you'll be able to connect more and be able know what is not being said 3. Even if a team member makes a mistake - give them a chance to state their case, you might be surprised that there might be learnings from that experience for the whole team.

Listening actively is extremely important in Servant Leadership. It shows your team that you care by making sure they are heard and listened to when things come up. Listening actively also isn’t just the act of physically listening but paying attention to your team’s nonverbal queues such as facial expressions and body language. This allows you to stay in tune with them and work together to listen and move forward with both opportunities and wins. We have all had that boss that doesn’t listen and it can make you feel like your opinion isn’t valued or they maybe you don’t matter to them. Active listening pushes that mindset away and allows you to effectively work together.

In a team all team members are not equal. Some are extrovert and some are introvert. And right now as we are working on hybrid environment, people also changes their normal behavior while interacting virtually. As a leader I believe in 'listen to unsaid". Even over a virtual interaction, I try to observe the body language, any hesitation or any other expression, which the team member is not expressing openly. In some scenarios, I connect to other stake holders and peers to know more about the person. "I am there for you". That's one line I always say to my team members. The intent of this line to connect to the person with empathy and care. This eventually creates a bond. Next trust and empowerment rise from this point.

It’s not always easy, one has to develop these skills and slowly one could master these but try to be: Be curious, ask questions & genuinely Listen to participate in the dialogue !! While doing so practice #RadicalCandor- Care personally and Challenge directly!! Often, only passive listening doesn’t work!!

Try listening to someone who sees things differently than you while suspending judgment. To help you, whenever you drift to feelings or opinions about what the other person is saying, remind yourself that you are listening with only one goal: simply to hear their perspective, not to judge it. Ask questions like… what leads you to say that? What is that viewpoint based on? What makes this important to you? Thank them for their time. Reflect privately, what parts did you relate to? What was hard to understand or didn’t make as much sense to you? What leads you to either relating with or not relating with the person you were listening to? How could they be looking at the same thing you are from a different viewpoint?

I've been successful mixing both tools, Paretto and MoSCoW, along with generating enough awareness around that 45% of features NEVER USED (Chaos Report, 1994) if managed "the old way" ("I want it all and I want it now"). We can't simply accept that nowadays, among other reasons, because of the Cost of Delay we obtain by not being able to prioritize appropriately. Another tool that I use once this Awareness is in place is a simple "value-complexity" matrix, where we place features/initiatives or whatever needs to be prioritized, in a very basic analysis. Agile is "complication on demand" and usually our first "best guess" is enough to guide a first matrix that can help us guide the conversations around the prioritization.

You won’t always know which are less relevant or trivial until you determine which things are actually symptoms and which are causes. When it’s not clear or if you can’t tell, gather data. Develop theories and determine how you can invalidate them. Test a theory. Regroup. A successful prioritization is validated by things becoming easier for the people doing the work and friction to do the work is reduced. Try some things. Ask what’s getting in the way of the team meeting their goals again and again. Make what you are prioritizing clear to your team and why it’s ranked the way it’s ranked. Communicating priorities and why allows further understanding of needs so you’re more effective at getting obstacles out of the team’s way.

Team members tend to overwhelm when there are a number of channels are open and they are not clear where to put their energy and time. This result in confusion, blame game, negative environment in a team. It is absolutely necessary to prioritize work orders. And this should be done far before the team is even get into the situation. This actually saves a lot of time. When everyone knows what to look after clearly, they became relax and try 100% concertation on one task. This is the best way to utilize everyone as per their strength. There are various tools available for calculating the priority of any task. I always find MoSCoW method very impactful. Knowing and starting from must-have actions also keeps team motivated and higher energy.

With so many competing priorities (work, kids, etc.) being able to identify what is most important, which can change over time, is critically important to ensure what you value most is not missed. Not only at the office, but also with vendors and outside collaborators it is important to be able to identify where the opportunity with each engagement lies (short, mid, long term) and how it lines up with what it the most optimal blend for the current state of business.

Effective Communication is key in a highly performed team. But early communication required in many cases. When team is being communicated about the goals, target dates, consequences etc. they possibility of responsibility increases. Example: A team is working on a finance project. Late delivery may result in monetary offences. If team is aware on this from the beginning, they remain sincere and responsible what they are delivering on time. Apart from this, timely clear and precise communication keeps team upto date and on the same page. This avoids misunderstanding and misconception. Providing feedback timely also reduces rework and saves a lot of time.

Clear and effective communication is one of the critical aspects of the Servant leadership. We act as a connection with stakeholders, dependent teams, and any other stakeholders, as required. Having a crisp, clear and straightforward communication helps to get the clarifications, issues and any other aspects resolved on timely basis.

According to me if team is being involved in all possible events, it is going to increase their productivity. They will feel valued, important. And trust and respect will build. When strategies is discussed among all teammates, and then decision is taken, then that idea is accepted by all. Everyone feels contributing to the same. And without any hesitation, teammates accept and work towards achieving it, having a sense of responsibility. Another aspect having teammates included in decision making, we will get a lot of contributions on ideas. And ideas will be from different perspective. That way we will never be out of ideas.

Organisations serve clients through employees. So the formula for client delight is rather simple. Serve your team’s needs and they in turn will delight the clients and that will fulfil the needs of the shareholders and other partners. “Profit is an applause you get for taking care of your employees”. This is not a mere slogan. This is true. When leaders put the needs of the team above their own needs, team members go beyond their job descriptions to make the team successful. Active listening, persuasion as against coercion, empathy, love, uplifting, appreciation, investment in their holistic development (as against only monetisable skills) etc are some of the ways in which Servant Leaders serve their team.

Serve in ways that engender trust in each other and respect for the organization. There will be decisions that are contentious and seemingly self-serving to the company. Being practical is not wrong, but it is never proper to accomplish this goal in ways that are unethical, underhanded, or violates professional business practices. Servant leaders always seek ways to honor the ideals of the individual and the team with the pragmatic goals of the company.

Servant Leadership contrasts with the familiar, heirarchy-based management model. The former encourages trust and participation. The latter promotes efficiency and structure. One fosters innovation; the other order. There will always be a place for either of these two styles of management depending on several factors. It is up to the company to define what works and reconcile their goals against their abilities. Successful leaders, teams, and companies will be the ones who finds and puts in place the style that best matches their needs for the right time and place.

Servant Leadership to me: The key part is to help people feel purposeful, motivated, and energized so they can bring their best selves to work. In doing so, one must have the humility, courage, and insight to admit that they can benefit from the expertise of others who have less power than them in the organization. Such leaders actively seek the ideas and unique contributions of their employees that they serve by asking the RIGHT Questions with a mindset to LISTEN and act accordingly. Empowerment at times mean that employees at different levels in the organizational chain could make the right decision at their level without any fear or worry. #leadershipbychoice #empowerment

I would say that creating a safe space for the team is another very important point to add. You cannot be a servant leader if you are not able to create a safe environment for your team. Some tips here could be, to be vulnerable, bring your personal experience, show that you care, show your empathy, let them see that you trust them so they could feel safe around you and trust you back

The beauty of real servant leadership is that, once you're living it, it already meets everyone's needs. This brings me to the difference between conceptual servant leadership and servant leadership in practice. It's about going beyond the valuable theories, such as the four principles of servant leadership from Robert K. Greenleaf. Those theories are invaluable to get introduced by this management style. But to bring it to life (and ensure everyone's needs), you need transformation. This may sound mysterious or complicated. It's not. It's just about finding out your true nature through proper self-inquiry. This leads to selflessness, which, in turn, naturally fosters the development of the beautiful qualities of true servant leadership.

I strive to be nothing but my true self, echoing the wisdom of Oscar Wilde: “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” My journey then leads me to the realm of deep listening. I draw inspiration from the profound insights of Steve Jobs, which resonate not only with customers but with every soul I serve: “You can’t just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they’ll want something new.” My philosophy is that servant leadership isn’t merely about tending to those I serve; it’s about kindling a spark of inspiration and collectively sculpting a new era of remarkable leaders. The quest is to shepherd them on their leadership journey.