Anyone aspiring to a leadership role needs to practice servant leadership.
Servant leaders are respected, listened to and valued, even though
they may not “manage” others. They exhibit personal and professional
discipline and are inner-directed.
Servant leadership requires that the leader build a shared vision
with the team; practice effective self-management; encourage interdependence,
creativity and the questioning of old paradigms and assumptions; promote positive
learning from mistakes (failing forward) and shared trust; and embrace humility.
Servant Leader Skill Set
Servant leaders have five traits:
- Listening. Leaders are valued for their communication and decision-making
skills. Servant leaders must reinforce these skills by listening intently to others,
viewing them as the person they are, not as an object that can deliver a result.
They seek to listen receptively to what is being and said and to what is not being
said.
- Empathy. Servant Leaders strive to understand and empathize with others. People need to be accepted and recognized for their special and unique spirit. A true
leader must assume the good intentions of their people and not reject them as
people—even when forced to reject their behavior or performance.
- Awareness. General awareness, and self-awareness strengthen the servant leader. Fostering awareness can be scary! As Robert Greenleaf said, “Awareness is
not a giver of solace—it disturbs. Servant leaders are not seekers of solace.
They have inner security.”
- Commitment to the growth and development of others. Servant leaders believe that people have an intrinsic value beyond their tangible contributions as workers.
As such, servant leaders are deeply committed to the personal, professional, and
spiritual growth of each individual.
- Interest-based, not position-based. Servant leaders have interests that work to further the team, whereas traditional leaders tend to take positions.
What Servant Leadership Is Not
Servant leader, Mahatma Gandhi, built a life on the premise of service.
Gandhi said: “Voluntary service of others demands the best of which one
is capable, and must take precedence over service of self. Men’s triumph
will consist in substituting the struggle for existence by the struggle for mutual
service. The platform of service is as big as the world. It is never overcrowded.”
We can all strive to be leaders, at least in our homes and communities. PE
