Servant Leadership

About 4 years back, I didn’t know this term existed. It is an intriguing term as Leadership is generally associated with a superior position and a larger-than-the-team role.

When I donned the Program Manager role managing multiple teams and serving several customers, I realized that my role in ensuring organizational success would be relatively indirect compared to that of the engineers who worked in my programs. So rather than monitoring their work, I focused on whether they are enabled sufficiently.

And then, a colleague mentioned this concept of “Servant Leadership”, and it struck a chord.

Yes, the term sounds not-too-pleasant. But then as Subhashpeare said, “What’s in a name? What you call a PM by any other name would do just the same job”. ??. (For those who don’t know – the original is by Shakespeare - “What’s in a name. That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”)

Formally, servant leadership can be defined as “A leadership philosophy in which the goal of the leader is to serve.” In our context, it translates to enabling our teams. Assuming that we have the right skilled engineers to carry out the job, the leader’s role changes from directing to facilitating which can include the below aspects:

The concept isn't entirely new. A Google search reveals that famous personalities like Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr, Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela were exemplary servant leaders. In the business context corporates like Marriott International and Starbucks have adopted servant leadership (more here).

My key realization while adopting this method for my role of PM is that a Program Manager exists only when there is a team. By himself / herself, a PM has no existence. It’s the team first, PM next. An engineering team may still function without a PM (though they are much better off WITH one ??). But the role of a PM comes up because there is a team to execute and needs help improving their efficiency and methodologies.

Another way to look at it is that the engineering team is a PM’s customer. In this situation, the PM is obliged to serve the customer. Servant leadership is an obvious choice.

With this motivation to adopt servant leadership in my work, I found success in several areas:

Practiced well, team members don’t see the servant leader as a threat but as a friend. The practice of servant leadership as a PM also reflects in improvements in the below areas of the PM’s role:

The challenge about servant leadership is the relinquishment of the personal ego and false pride. One who adopts this style has a LOT of personal change coming up. This is both a professional and a personal journey – leading to fulfillment in both aspects. It is definitely a challenge in a professional environment, especially striking the right balance between personal ambition and team’s victories.?

But rest assured, the rewards of adopting servant leadership and proven and worth the effort. It has helped teams and organizations win and craft their success stories. Teams recognize and value servant leaders much more than authoritative ones – Hitler is rarely remembered for the right reasons ?? but those I referred to earlier are still revered.

Here are links to some interesting content on LinkedIn Learning.

Ken Blanchard on Servant Leadership – This is really powerful and strongly motivational.

Key Mental Shifts for Servant Leadership – This is an eye-opener, not just on the subject of Servant Leadership but on the attitude to having a balanced and happy professional life.

As with any management method, this is not a one-shoe-fits-all leadership method. Servant leadership is effective in building up a team and sustaining it. But a good PM must be able to change as per the project’s situation demands. A key aspect is being able to still be assertive when the demand arises to rally the team for a sprint to the goal where other methods may be more effective.

PS: Please don’t mind the cartoons. For sure, don’t try to make sense of them in relation to the context. ??