Five Ways To Practice Servant Leadership

Being a leader with heart and distinguishing that from the 20^th Century role of a manager is a topic that we tackled on a recent Emerging Leader Inner Circle call. 

It’s a subject that is getting more and more visibility in the business leadership community.  With books like Firms of Endearment, Everybody Matters and Conscious Capitalism, there is a movement to bring the human being to the center of the workplace. 

One of the things that has happened over the last twenty years or so is that our business environments have evolved from being an industrial age (that’s long gone) or an information-based economy (even that’s gone by the wayside) to a more knowledge work, human-centered one that requires what some people have labelled as “soft skills”.  Those skills involve working well with other humans and getting good at thinking for ourselves rather than being managed and told what to do, how to do it and when to do it. 

We’ve moved beyond that.  Our workplaces have evolved to places that need humans thinking and being creative.  Our workplaces need people fully engaged and connected to the mission.

That’s really where I believe that leadership is needed the most. 

Leadership requires the ability to be self-aware and tap into our own emotional intelligence so that we can be effective to the goal of influencing the people we lead. 

And at the core of leadership is simply influence.

What I believe is the foundation of good leadership is something that isn’t popular.  You may even think that it’s counter-intuitive but I guarantee you it’s the truth. 

That foundation is to focus on what your people need and want.

Great leaders are interested in their people as people. They aren’t focused on what can you do for me but rather what can I do for you. 

Zig Ziglar said it best. He said, “If you can help enough people get what they want, they will help you get what you want.” 

That is the foundation of servant leadership.

It turns management upside down. Instead of telling people what we need them to do for us, we are focusing on how we can help them get what they want.

We are helping them develop and grow. 

Servant leadership means that we are looking for ways to help them become better.  It’s not doing things for them but rather helping them see and do things for themselves that allow them to grow. 

Servant leaders are motivated by loving concern rather than personal glory.

If you look at the most successful leadership teams and companies around the world today, you will find loving concern within them.

When a company is full of fully empowered and turned-on human beings, there isn’t a problem or challenge that cannot be overcome.

So, how can you be a servant leader?  Here are five ways to consider:

1. Don’t rely on your position or title. When you work every day to earn respect by delivering on your commitments, you won’t need the position or title. Your position or title isn’t where leadership is found.  When I consistently honor my commitments, that grows influence and respect.
2. Make a choice to believe in people and their potential. Caring for people that are in your circle is the fastest way to become a servant leader. This can’t be faked. You have to truly care. People see right through phony caring. But when you come from a perspective that every person is valuable and they have so much potential within them, you will want to serve them and care for them.
3. Attempt to see things from other people’s perspectives. One of the ways to do this is to ask lots of questions. I can only know someone and their perspective if I get really curious and have a desire to understand them.
4. Create an environment of encouragement. When you’re on a team where people are truly “for” each other and have each other’s backs, there’s nothing better. Look for things your team are doing right and praise them for it.  Share with them the impact that it has either on you directly or the team as a whole. Encouragement is a resource that everyone can use in abundance!
5. Finally, measure your success by the value that you’re adding to others – either your teammates or the person you report to. Getting outside your own scorecard is what will give you and your team true success.

The impact on your company and team performance will be noticable.  When people know that you care - genuinely care for them, they will do everything in their power to overcome challenges.

What's one thing you can begin practicing that will take you in the direction of servant leadership?