By Dr. Tonya Merrigan
The term Servant Leadership has been around for centuries but is this approach to leadership really something that works outside of faith-based organizations? Can a leader really be a servant to those they lead and make progress on the goals of the organization? In one word—ABSOLUTELY!
What exactly is servant leadership?
Although the term has been around for centuries, Robert Greenleaf coined the term in his 1970 essay, “The Servant as a Leader,” and it gained traction and attention as a viable leadership philosophy. Servant leadership in its simplest form means you as the leader focus on the needs of others before those of your own. The leader strives to ensure everyone on the team has what they need to be successful, works to build a sense of community on the team and involves the team whenever possible to make decisions.
If you do a quick Google search on the characteristics of servant leadership, you will see a number of articles that all have the following outlined as critical for true servant leaders:
Listening
Empathy
Healing
Awareness
Persuasion
Conceptualization
Foresight
Stewardship
Commitment to the growth of people
Building community
Some of the characteristics may come naturally to us as a leader but often times we need to work at developing these areas of leadership. The following are practical ideas a leader could implement immediately.
Support your team by asking them what they need to be successful. Work toward providing them what they need if it's not readily available.
Grow the people within the organization. Commit to growing all of the employees by investing in them and looking for opportunities for them to grow and advance. Ask employees what they need and provide specific feedback on how they can grow.
Listen to your team members. A servant leader is quiet and asks the opinion of all on the team rather than autocratically making decisions. They aren’t afraid to get many differing opinions because involving everyone on the team allows for multiple approaches and oftentimes a creative solution.
Build a sense of community by helping all to see how their work benefits the overall mission of the group and encouraging the team to support each other.
Continually reflect and be a learner at both the team and individual level. Model for the team the importance and benefits of taking time to reflect, adjust and move forward. Teams who prioritize reflection and learning and spend time doing it are more productive.
Servant leadership is not something that will happen without time and attention from all members of the team. The leader will have to make sure those they lead know the importance of putting the team first. If coming from a more traditional organization, this could catch employees off guard and they may be reluctant to participate fully. Everyone participating on the team is critical for servant leadership to truly make a difference and ensure that the organization continues to move forward and fully advance the mission. Servant leadership, if done well, gives everyone ownership and commitment and leads to enhanced professional satisfaction and improved capacity to achieve the goals of the organization!
