What do you do if you need guidance starting your career in Servant Leadership?

2 Learn from others

Gaining guidance as a servant leader requires learning from those with experience and expertise. You can find mentors, coaches, or role models who can offer feedback, advice, or inspiration. Additionally, joining networks, communities, or groups that share your interest in servant leadership can provide you with ideas, insights, or best practices. To further your knowledge of servant leadership, you can read books, articles, podcasts, or blogs that feature stories, models, or frameworks. For instance, The Servant as Leader by Robert K. Greenleaf is the founder of the modern servant leadership movement. Additionally, The Center for Servant Leadership is a nonprofit organization that provides training and consulting on servant leadership. Furthermore, The Servant Leadership Podcast is a series of interviews with servant leaders from different sectors and backgrounds. Lastly, Servant Leadership in Action is a collection of essays by leading experts and practitioners of servant leadership.

3 Practice your skills

Developing your servant leadership skills requires practice in real-life situations. You can look for chances to use servant leadership principles and behaviors in your current or future roles, projects, or tasks. Additionally, you can volunteer for causes or organizations that align with your purpose and values, and serve others with compassion, empathy, and generosity. As a servant leader, you should be actively listening to your followers and stakeholders, empowering and enabling them to grow, learning to build trust and rapport with them, fostering a culture of collaboration, diversity, and inclusion, being accountable for your actions and decisions, and seeking feedback to learn from mistakes.

4 Reflect on your progress

The final tip to get guidance as a servant leader is to reflect on your progress and growth. You can use tools such as journals, diaries, or portfolios to document your experiences, achievements, and challenges as a servant leader. You can also use self-assessment tools, such as surveys, quizzes, or tests, to measure your level of servant leadership competencies, such as emotional intelligence, ethical reasoning, or social responsibility. You can also ask for feedback from your followers, peers, or supervisors, and use it to improve your strengths and address your weaknesses. By reflecting on your progress, you can celebrate your successes, identify your areas of improvement, and set new goals for your continuous learning and development.