A couple of months ago, I wrote a post that served as an introduction to the concept of servant leadership and I used my first job as a supervisor to highlight some lessons I’d learned about what being a servant leader was all about. I noted at the time that there was more I wanted to discuss on the topic and so, today, I’m finally fulfilling the promise of continuing the discussion. (If you want to read part 1, it’s available here.)
Let’s start with a visual how a servant leader views the organization. It means flipping your perspective about what the reporting relationships are like in your company. Rather than seeing things as a pyramid – where a broader team reports to their managers who then support a smaller group of executives who, in turn, support the president/CEO – servant leadership turns that concept upside down… literally.
A company following a servant leadership model will have the president/CEO at the bottom, doing everything they can to support the people that report to them. They, in turn, do all that they can to support those under them and so on until you get to the top of the pyramid where most of your employees sit. You can even take it a step further and place your customers at the very top. With this inverted pyramid structure, the higher your title, the more responsibility you ultimately have to support those in your organization.
Personally, I’ve always believed that we’re on this planet for a purpose and that part of that purpose is to lift others up. As I have gotten older, that feeling has intensified as I start to think about things like legacy and what will remain of myself after I am gone. Becoming a servant leader, however, gifts you the ability to see some of that impact much sooner because, as you lift others up and help them become better versions of themselves, you can watch the ripple effect of those actions as it takes root in them and they do the same for others.
This can also be an important litmus test of how successful you are being as a servant leader – to see how those you are supporting embrace and carry what they’ve experienced forward to others. A goal of a servant leader should be to create more servant leaders in their organizations. If you can do that, then you will be able to see today that you are having an ever-widening impact… that those you lead – and serve – and doing the same with their people who, in turn, can pass it on to others.
Another important aspect of servant leadership is truly seeing others as your equals. The moment you think of yourself as better than the people around you, you have taken a huge step away from the concept of servant leadership. With that kind of mindset, leading is more important than serving.
Robert Greenleaf, who first put forward the idea of “The Servant as Leader” in his 1970 essay, suggests that the most important aspect of being a true servant leader is to put the priority on “I serve” over “I lead.” Putting that another way, it comes down to a question of our motivations.
If you are motivated by feelings of altruism and wanting to do the best for others, and that’s what causes you to become a leader, then your heart and mind are in the right place. For some, becoming a leader is a goal to be achieved. But if you instead view leadership as a way to fulfill your duty to others, that completely shifts how you will approach every aspect of your life. You will lead because you have the necessary abilities but also because it is your best way to serve those around you.
I really like what Joe Iarocci details in “Servant Leadership in the Workplace” where he identifies three key priorities, principles and practices that he sees in servant leaders:
Priorities
- developing people
- building a trusting team
- achieving results
Principles
- serve first
- persuasion
- empowerment
Practices
- listening
- delegating
- connecting followers to mission
How many of these do you see in yourself and in those whom you might follow? And, more importantly, how do you think you can begin to incorporate them into what you do, regardless of your position in your organization? (After all, leaders are not just those with titles. We all are leaders even if we don’t always see it.)
Like my earlier post, this last section alone is probably worth a Part 3 to this series to really dive into it. But I’ll leave that up to you. If you’d like to see a further discussion into this rich topic of servant leadership, leave a comment or drop me a note.
And, as always, know that I’m pulling for you!.
What If... 