THE SERVANT AS LEADER

"Servant leadership is a philosophy and set of practices that enrich the lives of individuals, builds better organizations and ultimately creates a more just and caring world".

What is servant leadership?

Servant leadership traces its origins to Robert Greenleaf. In his 1970 essay “The Servant as a Leader,” he described servant leadership like this: 

“The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first.”

Servant leadership flips the typical leadership script by putting people ahead of power. A servant leader prioritizes the team’s growth and well-being, letting their own needs and ambition take a backseat.

Servant leaders are a revolutionary bunch—they take the traditional power leadership model and turn it completely upside down. This new hierarchy puts the people—or employees, in a business context—at the very top and the leader at the bottom, charged with serving the employees above them. And that's just the way servant leaders like it.

That's because these leaders possess a serve-first mindset, and they are focused on empowering and uplifting those who work for them. They are serving instead of commanding, showing humility instead of brandishing authority, and always looking to enhance the development of their staff members in ways that unlock potential, creativity and sense of purpose. 

The servant-leader moves beyond the transactional aspects of management, and instead actively seeks to develop and align an employee's sense of purpose with the company mission.

The fruits of these labours are bountiful, as empowered staff will perform at a high, innovative level. Employees feel more engaged and purpose-driven, which in turn increases the organization's retention and lowers turnover costs. Well-trained and trusted staffers continue to develop as future leaders, thus helping to ensure the long-term viability of the organization. 

The principles of servant leadership

1. Be a good listener 

Leaders need to be good communicators and have decision-making skills, but a servant leader also places a high priority on listening to others. You must be able to listen to individuals as well as the group and try to determine what their will or desire is. Additionally, you must be able to “listen” to yourself and know what is motivating you.   listening is an art - Listening should not be done only with your ears but also with your heart. Slowing down to feel what they are saying and intuit the meaning between the words. If you are forming your response while listening, then you are not truly present with them.

2. Empathy

Empathy is a key practice for the servant leader – and also a responsibility. It entails truly feeling the emotions of the other person and doing so without judgment and criticism. In the business book, Seven Pillars of Servant Leadership, authors James Sipe and Don Frick state that the servant leader “puts people first.” A core competency of this is displaying a servant’s heart. Empathy is just that! It is true communion that brings two people onto common ground. When someone is sharing their thoughts or emotions they are clearly aware if they are receiving empathy. They can feel it. They know if it’s safe to open up more. To get to the core of an organization in order to better guide the business, a leader must practise listening with empathy.

According to studies, the benefits of empathy in the workplace are many. It improves emotional well being, deepens relationships and may provide insight into poor job performance or issues with co-workers. It can lead to further awakening during an interaction. It gives the leader a deeper understanding and insight into the organization as a whole. It is true servant leadership.

3. Healing

  Healing brings about transformation and integration. From time to time, you will come across members of your team who have, broken spirits and have suffered from a variety of emotional hurts. Although this is part of being human, servant-leaders recognise that they have the opportunity to help make whole those with whom they come in contact. This ‘helping to make people whole’ is the terms ‘healing’ and servant leader must take responsibility for the welfare of the team, as broken-spirited or emotionally hurt team members can, and usually do, perform less well than their colleagues. "Healing" -this characteristic relates to the emotional health and "wholeness" of people, this involves supporting them both physically and mentally.

4. Awareness

“Awareness” is a critical element of successful servant leadership. Awareness is not a giver of solace—it is just the opposite. It is a disturber and an awakener. Able leaders are usually sharply awake and reasonably disturbed. They are not seekers after solace. They have their own inner serenity. Awareness of others is not a one-dimensional sense. When we become aware of a problem, issue, bottleneck, etc., we don’t sit on it. Instead, we actively engage those we lead and apply the scope of servant leader characteristics as a means of holistic development.

5. Persuasion

How can we forget Steve Jobs while talking about persuasion? He is regarded as a master of persuasion because of his ability to persuade his employees to meet seemingly impossible deadline goals. Rather than intimidating employees to follow orders, a good servant leader persuades and motivates them to accomplish the task.

In fact, skill at persuasion is one of the differentiating factors between a traditional authoritarian management structure and the service-driven approach. Persuasion involves one important component that orders don't: dialogue. When you engage with your employees on why something is a good idea for the team, and work with them to see how it benefits everyone, employees are more likely to develop the internal motivation required to complete the task effectively.

 6. Conceptualization

Servant-leading entrepreneurs focus on the big picture and don't get overly distracted by daily operations and short-term goal. You need to pay attention to every detail in the early, survival mode stage of your business, later you should delegate and focus on the big picture.

Servant leaders empower their staffs to handle quotidian matters, freeing themselves to dream a better future for the team and the company. This doesn't make the servant leader an impractical daydreamer -- just the opposite. An effective servant leader will have a deep understanding of every aspect of the business, but won't allow himself or herself to be distracted from long-term goals. Feeling this freedom is also a good sign that you have competent employees whom you can trust.

7. Stewardship

Stewardship is derived from the word “steward,” a term used to describe someone who cares for or manages people, processes, events, things, etc. Stewardship is defined as “holding something in trust for another.”

Servant Leaders must be great stewards if they are to successfully lead.

In essence…

"Servant leaders care more and control less.

Servant-leadership, like stewardship, assumes first and foremost a commitment to serving the needs of others. It also emphasizes the use of openness and persuasion rather than control.

 Growth

Servant leaders care passionately about the personal and professional growth of each member of their team. A servant leader is someone who doesn't think he or she is better than the people lower on the ladder or that unless employees are carefully watched, they won't work hard. Servant leaders believe that if you create the right values and culture, normal people will do extraordinary things.

Facebook was crowned best company to work for in 2017 by Glassdoor. Free food and 18 weeks' paid leave for new parents (male and female) are among the many benefits that the CEO  Zuckerberg offers employees.

Final Thought

Though servant leadership may appear at first to be an oxymoron, it is a leadership strategy that's been embraced by some of the world's most successful companies.

Servant leadership is not just a buzzword or a leadership method that can be implemented overnight. It is a practice that takes plenty of conscious thought and commitment to serve selflessly while controlling the impulse to lead by force. 

Remember the words of John Quincy Adams, the sixth President of the United States, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.