Servant Leadership

Hi Leaders

 I recently had an assessment with my boss for a possible promotion, and while we were discussing leadership, he made mention of "servant leadership". This totally resonated with me, as I have always believed that to be a leader, one must be a servant first to know how to lead. In becoming or being a servant, the most important step to this state of leadership is, becoming humble. Humility and ego do not see eye-to-eye and will definitely be at odds with one another.

 To give you a quick view of the difference between traditional leadership compared to servant leadership, here is a simple diagram:
As you can see, the roles of importance has flipped.

 So what is servant leadership exactly?

 While servant leadership is a timeless concept, the phrase “servant leadership” was coined by Robert K. Greenleaf in The Servant as Leader, an essay that he first published in 1970. In that essay, Greenleaf said:

 “The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first, perhaps because of the need to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire material possessions…The leader-first and the servant-first are two extreme types. Between them there are shadings and blends that are part of the infinite variety of human nature.

 “The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant-first to make sure that other people’s highest priority needs are being served. The best test, and difficult to administer, is: 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 not be further deprived?“

 A servant-leader focuses primarily on the growth and well-being of people and the communities to which they belong. While traditional leadership generally involves the accumulation and exercise of power by one at the “top of the pyramid,” servant leadership is different. The servant-leader shares power, puts the needs of others first and helps people develop and perform as highly as possible.

 With the above in mind, here are 9 behaviours of a servant leader, that you can put in practice in your own day-to-day leading of your people:

  1. Serve First
  2. Build Trust
  3. Live your Values
  4. Listen to Understand
  5. Think about your thinking
  6. Add value to others
  7. Demonstrate courage
  8. Increase your influence
  9. Live your transformation
Here is the link to Robert K. Greenleaf's The Servant as Leader: 

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