In my last blog, I highlighted
Simon Sinek’s work on how toxic and negative workplaces are taking a significant
emotional and physical toll on employees all over the world. The solution I
stated, was a new and better kind of leadership. That kind of leadership is Servant Leadership. The idea of Servant
Leadership has been around in one form or another for millennia but its lack of
adoption has me thinking out loud about why so few leaders, managers, CEOs,
owners, and supervisors are willing to adopt this incredibly powerful and empowering
approach. The reason, I believe, is that too many people do not know what
Servant Leadership really is and that ignorance perpetuates unhealthy
leadership and organizational cultures.
Originated in the 1970s by
corporate icon and later college professor, Robert Greenleaf, Servant Leadership
is still today, a radical but desperately
needed alternative to traditional top-down leadership methods. I will take us
on a deeper dive into Servant Leadership in later blogs but essentially Servant
Leadership flips the traditional organizational pyramid from where the leader has
historically been on top with managers, staff members, then clients/customers
on the bottom to where the leader is on the bottom elevating team members
and the eventual end-user to paramount importance. Sounds pretty good,
huh? The problem is that when most people think about Servant Leadership, they
have the wrong idea about what it really means and is intended to do. Below I
have outlined some of myths of Servant Leadership and the reality this
life-changing leadership paradigm presents us all.
Myth
#1 – Servant Leadership Means Subservience – even according to Robert
Greenleaf himself, this is NOT the case. Servant Leaders still have to lead in
powerful and decisive ways, the difference is they lead by putting the needs of
others before their own. I think leadership guru John Maxwell says it best when
often shares that high performing leaders do not think less of themselves, they
just think of themselves less!
Myth
#2 – Servant Leadership Lacks Expectations and Results - Sinek
describes in the
culture of the United States Marine corps where the most
junior enlisted eat first at meals and the most senior, general officers eat last.
These high-ranking officers still lead and expect results at incredibly high
levels, they just know that in order to complete their mission the team members
in their charge must be taken
care of first, even if that
means they must go hungry, lose sleep, etc. in order for that to happen.
Myth
#3 – Servant Leadership is an Abdication of Responsibility –
nothing can be further from the truth. In fact, Greenleaf stated that one of
the most telling metric of whether or not someone is a powerful Servant Leader
is if the team members in their care are better, wiser, happier, and better equipped
to use their talents and skills to their maximum ability. In addition, one of the
most important roles of a Servant Leader is to cast a powerful and compelling
vision for a better future. That kind of leadership takes an incredible amount
of ownership and responsibility. Simply put, Servant Leaders know they are responsible for the people
and situations they lead, NOT the other way around.
Myth
#4 – Servant Leadership is Differential to the Group – Servant
Leaders intentionally discover and know the strengths and abilities of
those they lead and put them in roles where their talents can be leveraged to
meet or exceed the vision for their enterprise. I cannot tell you how many
horror stories I have heard in my practice and networking conversations about horrible
bosses who guard their positions tightly and intentionally limit the potential contributions
of their team members so that they will not be eclipsed. Servant Leaders on the
other hand, are incredibly mature and emotionally secure individuals. They recognize
the skills of their teams and set them loose! This is not easy to do in current
organizational climates but those that are fearless
enough to lead in such innovative ways experience tangible and hard-dollar
results such as increased productivity, lower staff turnover, increased client/customer
satisfaction, and greater market share. Servant Leaders do not differ to
the group, they empower the group!
Myth
#5 – Servant Leadership is Morally Relative – once you start to
read Robert Greenleaf’s book, Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature
of Legitimate Power and Greatness, you quickly learn that this approach
to leadership requires certain moral imperatives. Servant Leaders carry the
values of the organization and make sure they are embedded in EVERYTHING it
does. Again, this requires Servant Leaders to exhibit moral courage as much as
competence, business acumen, risk taking, etc. Servant Leaders must be willing to hold
themselves accountable along with everyone else associated with the enterprise whether
it be a business, hospital, school, college, non-profit, or government agency.
Here’s the thing. Except in
some of the most disturbed and insecure individuals, most managers and leaders
do not consciously decide that he or she will be a bad boss that day. Trust me,
there have been a number of times in my career where I exhibited selfish
leadership and it was not until after some intentional soul searching and
reflection that I discovered how poor it was. I did not intend to be a bad manager,
it was just they way I thought one did things or what the culture of the
organization demanded.
But here’s the other thing,
just like the mantra of my company, we can and have to Get Better and Be Ready!
Once I finally gained insight into my negative leadership behaviors, I make the
personal investments and changes necessary to get better and do a better
job next time. This required me to take a good hard look at my leadership and
decide I wanted to be ready to lead better regardless of the prevailing culture
of the organization. This does not mean I get it right all the time, it just
means I know there is a better way of doing things and treating those in my
care and that I constantly work to improve as a Servant Leader.
As I mentioned, we will talk
more about Servant Leadership in next few blogs but when we avoid adopting the
powerful approach of Servant Leadership because we lack a clear understanding
of what it is and is not, that presents a problem. It causes a problem in our
relationship with bosses, colleagues, and our own teams. It causes a problem in
obtaining the results we are after because we are too busy cleaning up after our
mistakes. It causes a problem for those we lead because they have to bear the
burden of poor leadership. This eventually leads to the entire enterprise being
hampered because we are so busy dealing with internally issues that we are not
focusing on growing our enterprise. This is what Stephen M. Covey calls the “Trust
Tax” on our efforts in that when leadership is ineffective, it creates additional
costs to our organizations in terms of staff turnover, low employee engagement,
etc.
The bottom line is this.
Servant Leadership is not for the faint of heart. It requires a whole new level
of emotional, physical, spiritual, and cognitive energy that we have never had
to expend before. Are the results worth it? Yes, they are. Who does not want a
more energized workforce or better served customers, patients, citizens, and
students? Who does not want to part of an organization that is truly of value
and that it is valued by everyone attached to it? I hope you will follow along
with me for the next few weeks where I will share more about Servant Leadership
and how some of the best leadership thinkers and doers are getting
incredible results.
As always if I can help you and
the people you associate with Get Better, Be Ready and LEAD OUT LOUD, I would
invite you to email me or to visit my website below and see if any of the
training or coaching experiences I offer can provide an impact. I am also
pleased to announce the launch of my first book, Leading Out Loud: Strategies for
Raising Your Leadership Voice! available on Amazon.com. Also, as a
bonus, if you go to my Out Loud Strategies website (www.outloudinc.com) and
enter your contact information, I will send you a FREE guide to establishing a
mentoring initiative program in your organization! Such an initiative would be
critical to add value to your organization!
Yours in Leadership,
Bill Faulkner
Principal Consultant – Out
Loud Strategies
Independent Coach, Speaker,
and Trainer with the John Maxwell Team TM
Email
= bill@outloudinc.com
For more information on the
John Maxwell Team, please visit
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