Take your first step toward being a servant leader

I keep hearing the term "servant leadership" lately.  I think like many things, the concept of servant leadership is easy to talk about  - and hard to achieve.  

I wanted to start off with a "generally accepted definition" of servant leadership, so I Googled it.... and got 26,800,000 results.... YAY!

So what IS Servant Leadership

So I did a little research and found that the concept of servant leadership was introduced by a guy named Robert Greenleaf in 1970.  In his essay titled "The Servant Leader" he describes it like this (emphasis added by yours truly):

“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.”

In his article "The Art of Servant Leadership" written for the Society of Human Resource Management, Mark Tarallo say,

“[Servant] 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.” 

Servant leaders focus on upskilling and growing those that they lead, while creating an environment where their team can feel empowered.  They have come to understand that long term business and customer outcomes are not achieved by wielding authority and giving orders.  Instead, servant leaders

• craft a clear vision,
• build skilled and knowledgeable teams that are passionate about that vision,
• and then create an environment of empowerment for them to achieve that vision.

They are focused on creating an organization that can achieve the vision, rather than being focused on achieving the vision themselves. 

Ok... So What?

So now we have a general understanding about what servant leadership is, and I can imagine some of the commentary running through your minds....

"This is all well and good, Coach Dan, but what about achieving results?  What about managing risk?  What about getting stuff done?"

I'm glad you asked!

INC Magazine (yes, I know, but bear with me) published an article a few years back titled "10 Compelling Reasons Servant Leadership May Be the Best, Says Science".  This article outlines research and case studies detailing how building and nurturing a culture of servant leadership and trust directly lead to measurable improvements in customer and business results.  Very long story short... companies that truly embrace servant leadership at the core of their culture regularly outperform companies that don't.  They get better business results.  They have happier customers.  They have happier employees.

In case you don't want to read the whole article, here are the 10 compelling reasons...

1. 
   Organizational effectiveness is high.
2. Servant leadership pumps up the team with confidence, which leads to high-performance.
3.  Servant leadership leads to more helping and creative employees.
4. Cleveland Clinic study (Significantly increased employee engagement and overall customer satisfaction.)
5. Greater Job Satisfaction.
6. Jason's Deli Study (Measurable increases in key business metrics like job performance, customer service and employee retention.)
7. Because these successful organizations operate as servant leadership cultures.
8. The incredible turnaround of Popeye's Louisiana Kitchen (tremendous growth including profitability, expansion and customer satisfaction).
9. Datron World Communication (Growth from $10M to $200M in just 5 years.)
10. Servant leadership companies outperformed Good to Great companies!

Do you want to be a servant leader? 

Is that who you are?  Are you about achieving results, or are you about helping the team achieve results?  Are you about being the smartest person in the room, or are you about helping the others learn and grow?  Before you charge down the path, and do a bunch of stuff, you really need to decide. 

Being a servant leader is not a checklist or a process.  It's a deeply rooted belief that the way you bring value to your customer and your organization is by helping the people you are charged to lead to be the best they can be.  It's the belief that you are there to build a team that is just as good (preferably better) at delivering value to your customer and achieving business results as you are. 

If this is who you are, or who you aspire to be, then just follow this simple, 10-step checklist.... (JUST KIDDING!!!)

The Robert K Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership suggests 10 characteristics of servant
leaders.  These characteristics that are essential for leaders to develop if they truly want to shift away from autocratic, hierarchical leadership models.  Now let's be clear.  Being good at those 10 things does not equal being a servant leader.  Think of them as tools that servant leaders have in their tool box as they help their people and organizations grow and succeed.

To be fair, I don't have the energy to go into all 10 (and if I had to guess, you don't have the time...)  I will leave you with this though - 

A good friend recently pointed out - the best, true leaders exude trust and authenticity.  If you aspire to be a good servant leader, be authentic and build trust with your team members.  Get to know your team personally as well as professionally.  What stopping you from asking your team members... "How are you?"  "Are you happy?"  "How can I help you?"  Starting there can be a step on the path toward being a good servant leader.

I will commit to using this blog to talk about the 10 characteristics in the coming months.  I'm going to "pass the pen" around to some of my colleagues and together we can explore how to become better servant leaders with every interaction.  My next post will start to explore how we can improve the way we listen - in service to our teams and partners.

We all win together.