To make servant leadership work, address the curves

I wrote earlier this year about what I felt were four "lead next" priorities for leaders to learn their way into (more). One of those, working with complexity, certainly requires a greater emphasis on things like adaptive (rather than technical) leadership . Both increasing complexity and another -- engaging in sustainability and ESG (environmental, social and governance) -- calls on adaptive and servant leadership.

Both models of leadership feel so incredibly relevant and important now. Both are philosophies and practices that most leaders could be doing so much better at.

One of the challenges with servant leadership is that there are so many different interpretations of it. (The other is that people -- in particular leaders -- need to get over the notion of being a 'servant'). The original work of Robert K. Greenleaf (the man who coined the term back in 1970) is absolutely worth re-referencing, and his "best test" of servant leadership:

• "Do those served grow as persons; do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants?"
• "And, what is the effect on the least privileged in society; will they benefit, or, at least, will they not be further deprived?"

Since Greenleaf kicked off this way of thinking about leadership, several models have emerged and one of the more useful ones I have seen is the model Peter Northouse frames up in the ninth and newest (2022) edition of his Leadership: Theory and Practice, which itself is an adaptation of Liden, Panaccio, Hu and Meuser's (2014) model.

In that model there are seven servant leader behaviours described (summarised here in brief):

1. Conceptualising: Servant leaders should be able to understand the complex issues and strategies of the organisation, while also considering the day-to-day operational aspects.
2. Emotional Healing: They should be sensitive to the emotional state of their followers, creating an environment conducive to emotional healing and well-being.
3. Putting Followers First: They prioritise the needs of their followers, ensuring their personal and professional welfare.
4. Helping Followers Grow and Succeed: They commit to the growth and success of their followers, providing resources and opportunities for development.
5. Behaving Ethically: They demonstrate high ethical standards and moral behaviour, leading by example.
6. Empowering: They empower their followers, providing them with the authority and autonomy to make decisions and develop their skills.
7. Creating Value for the Community: They recognise the organisation's role within the larger community and strive to make a positive societal impact.

These behaviours are great, and really needed in so many leadership contexts right now, but without two other important components of the overall model (what I call the 'curves' of servant leadership -- they curve into and out of the overall model the same way an S-curve forms up), I think they can be diluted or even imperilled in organisational settings.

The first of these components are the critically important antecedent conditions, described as being:

• Context and Culture: The environment, including the organisational culture, should be one that encourages and supports servant leadership. This includes values of empathy, collaboration, and service.
• Leader Attributes: The leader must have certain qualities such as a genuine desire to serve others, humility, and an altruistic mindset. These attributes allow the leader to put the needs of followers first and strive for their growth and success.
• Follower Receptivity: Followers should be open to the concept and practice of servant leadership. They should be prepared for empowerment and for personal and professional growth.

If you're hearing the term servant leadership being bandied around a bit, or even hearing about some or all of the servant leadership behaviours I listed above, but don't seem to be 'feeling' it, it's most likely due to one or more of the antecedent conditions here being missing or deficient.

If we're serious about servant leadership, as leaders we'll be starting here. Ensuring that we collectively get our values, culture and environment right for it, that we work actively on the necessary leadership attributes and that we engage with our followers to make sure they understand and genuinely embrace what's involved in this way of leading. Tip: empowerment, personal and professional growth aren't always all they're cracked up to be from a follower perspective.

Beyond the antecedent conditions and behaviours, the other component/curve is the outcomes we can expect to see:

• Follower Performance and Growth: Followers should experience improved performance along with personal and professional growth, leading to more competencies and fulfilment.
• Organisational Performance: The organisation as a whole should see improvements, whether that's in terms of productivity, profitability, employee satisfaction, or other relevant measures.
• Societal Impact: Effective servant leadership can have positive ripple effects on the larger society, promoting community development and social responsibility.

These outcomes really go to the 'why' and rationale of using this kind of leadership approach, seeing how it aligns with organisational and personal purpose, and how we might effectively measure its effectiveness. Servant leadership is a philosophy and model of leadership practice that, like all of the other models out there, we're entitled to expect to hold up under scrutiny and be effective in relation to its promised outcomes.

So by all means embrace the core servant leadership behaviours, but don't forget the important curves: appropriate ground in which servant leadership can grow and thrive and a clear sense of the expected fruits for people, organisations and society at large.

This is a?Leader TWIG ?- the concept of (a)?growing something new?(a new awareness, skill or 'branch' to what you currently already know) but also (b) becoming equipped to 'catch on', realising or suddenly understanding something that is in fact right in front of you in the performative leadership moment (from the Gaelic 'tuig').

'Twig Talks' are an engaging way for individuals and teams to visualise their current and future contexts, connect to leadership and management theory and apply creative and critical thinking to learn more about themselves and others - reach out directly to Jason to find out more .