Servant Leadership is not at all a new concept. We have read numerous, remarkable stories in the scripture of many great characters who lived their lives to serve others. So, this noble idea was always there but the phrase ‘Servant Leadership’ came into existence in 1970 when Robert Greenleaf created it in his essay on the Servant as Leader.
What does Servant Leadership mean to you? Do you think of it as an indicator of an ideal and sensible leader? Do you consider servant leadership a sure path to holistic success? Do you want to be a leader first or a servant first?
I, personally, find myself immensely drawn to Servant Leadership. From my experiences, I have found serving others is most satisfying. I don’t feel like a person in bondage to others because I serve. I don’t feel any less of a person because I serve. To the contrary, I’m empowered when I can serve. Through the years, there has been no loss of my self-esteem or self-confidence while I continue to serve my people.
Though Servant Leadership might sound like a contradiction to many of you, it is a great approach that corporate leaders can consider and adapt to make their organizations not only a place to work but where people love to work! In this blog, we will discuss different, significant reasons why servant leadership proves to be such a powerful character trait. Why is it worth becoming a servant leader?
- Empowerment of the Team
Servant Leadership introduces the concept of “we” as a term rather than the leader seeing him/her as “I”. This style of leadership empowers the team as it puts people first. Servant Leaders always say “We shall succeed together” and that certainly plays an effective role in motivating people to work better, which ultimately leads to the overall success of any business. It is important to focus on creating such an environment in an organization where the team can feel truly empowered and responsible for the way they work, as well as the products and value they produce, even if the leader is the one who is ultimately responsible. Being a servant leader allows you to create the type of environment which is an encouraging place for your people to work.
- A Facilitative and Collaborative Culture
Servant Leadership encourages a facilitative and collaborative culture as opposed to an authoritarian “command and control” style. With this type of leadership, you can promote the use of effective, agile business behaviors in your organization, such as better collaboration and communication between teams, making teams self-organized to improve efficiency so they can promptly deal with issues, transparency and honesty among your people when they are working together, and establishing the right blend of communication through the use of various channels to improve productivity.
If you start following servant leadership in your organization, it will automatically change your behavioral style from being ‘managing coordination’ to ‘facilitating collaborative’. Ultimately, it will help your teams create great solutions for different projects.
- Removal of Blockers
Servant leaders can help teams expose different blockers, such as communication bottlenecks with other teams, excessive fault resolution timeline issues, excessive documentation requirements from other departments, and excessive processing time and requirements reducing the team efficiency. The excellent interpersonal and communication skills that servant leaders have help them liaise better with other departments to remove such external blockers. This doesn’t just keep the team efficient but also increases the respect the team has for their leader. Servant leadership is all about leaders making their people feel better about where they work and what they do, not just about bringing value to their positions.
Summing Up
If you choose servant leadership as a character trait, you are powerful. You are comfortable enough with yourself to not feel subservient. And, there is no reason to feel that way. It’s the greatest that chose to serve others. The humility and willingness of servant leaders to aid others is their strength. Some might have difficulty understanding this concept but you need not let the confusion of others stop you from traveling down the road of service.
Servant Leaders add true value to their people’s lives. At Etech, we have been practicing Servant Leadership for years and that is what has helped us make a remarkable difference in the lives of our people that we touch each day. Come and join us to be a part of our remarkable team and be a true servant leader!
