Servant Leadership
We had a great question texted in to us for the panel discussion on Thursday - one that we couldn't answer. Tracy from IBM talked about how their women's group had gone out to South Africa and built two houses for the local community. She emphasised how this had brought servant leadership to the fore in their interactions and how important this was for the team. So we asked what Servant leadership was.
Servant Leadership is a style of leadership and leadership development. The approach was defined by Robert Greenleaf who believed that a strong leader emphasised his role as the steward of the resources. This is all about a leader achieving his goals by serving his staff.
It seems to be a style adopted very successfully by a number of women and one in which the team feels that they are helping their leader achieve the team's goals and so feel high levels of loyalty. People who employ a Servant Leadership approach also appear to be inspiring, as they are skilled at drawing clear and exciting pictures of the vision which enables them and everyone to stay on track as they serve their team.
So here are the 10 principles:
1. Listening
Traditionally, leaders have been valued for their communication and decision making skills. Servant-leaders must reinforce these important skills by making a deep commitment to listening intently to others. Servant-leaders seek to identify and clarify the will of a group. They seek to listen receptively to what is being and said (and not said). Listening also encompasses getting in touch with one's inner voice, and seeking to understand what one's body, spirit, and mind are communicating.
2. Empathy
Servant-leaders strive to understand and empathize with others. People need to be accepted and recognized for their special and unique spirit. One must assume the good intentions of coworkers and not reject them as people, even when forced to reject their behaviour or performance.
3. Healing
Learning to heal is a powerful force for transformation and integration. One of the great strengths of servant-leadership is the potential for healing one's self and others. In "The Servant as Leader", Greenleaf writes, "There is something subtle communicated to one who is being served and led if, implicit in the compact between the servant-leader and led is the understanding that the search for wholeness is something that they have."
4. Awareness
General awareness, and especially self-awareness, strengthens the servant-leader. Making a commitment to foster awareness can be scary--one never knows that one may discover! As Greenleaf observed, "Awareness is not a giver of solace - it's just the opposite. It disturbed. They are not seekers of solace. They have their own inner security."
5. Persuasion
Servant-leaders rely on persuasion, rather than positional authority in making decisions. Servant-leaders seek to convince others, rather than coerce compliance. This particular element offers one of the clearest distinctions between the traditional authoritarian model and that of servant-leadership. The servant-leader is effective at building consensus within groups.
6. Conceptualization
Servant-leaders seek to nurture their abilities to "dream great dreams." The ability to look at a problem (or an organization) from a conceptualizing perspective means that one must think beyond day-to-day realities. Servant-leaders must seek a delicate balance between conceptualization and day-to-day focus.
7. Foresight
Foresight is a characteristic that enables servant-leaders to understand lessons from the past, the realities of the present, and the likely consequence of a decision in the future. It is deeply rooted in the intuitive mind.
8. Stewardship
Robert Greenleaf's view of all institutions was one in which CEO's, staff, directors, and trustees all play significance roles in holding their institutions in trust for the great good of society.
9. Commitment to the Growth of People
Servant-leaders believe that people have an intrinsic value beyond their tangible contributions as workers. As such, Servant-leaders are deeply committed to a personal, professional, and spiritual growth of each and every individual within the organization.
10. Building Community
Servant-leaders are aware that the shift from local communities to large institutions as the primary shaper of human lives has changed our perceptions and caused a send of loss. Servant-leaders seek to identify a means for building community among those who work within a given institution.
Hmm. Something for me to aspire to when I'm working with my team...
