What comes to mind when you hear the term ‘servant leader’? A pushover boss? Someone who can’t make the tough decisions? Well, think again. The Robert K. Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership, a nationally recognized non-profit leadership development organization, defines it as “a philosophy and set of practices that enriches the lives of individuals, builds better organizations, and ultimately creates a more just and caring world.” Greenleaf, who coined the term in his highly regarded 1970 essay entitled “The Servant Leader,” spent a lifetime exploring, defining and teaching the approach.
His key insights have been distilled down into this definition from Seven Pillars of Servant Leadership by James W. Sipe and Don M. Frick: A Servant-Leader is a person of character who puts people first. He or she is a skilled communicator, a compassionate collaborator who has foresight, is a systems thinker, and leads with moral authority.
In other words, far from being a pushover, servant leaders are both powerful and empowering. They embrace what Harmony Crew calls “quantum behavior” – basically combining their business smarts with a humble perspective, uplifting language and a systems approach to create a positive energy field for the culture. Creating such a context for organizations inspires purpose and innovation as well as productivity and profitability.
Studies and measures of organizational performance consistently find that those where executives follow the principles and pillars of servant leadership perform better financially and weather difficulties more successfully. Examples abound in Fortune magazine’s annual “Top Companies” list, national and local “Best Places to Work” lists, as well as leadership books like Good To Great, Firms of Endearment, Conscious Capitalism, and others.
A simple step to becoming a servant leader, and thereby creating a happier workplace, more committed employees and a stronger bottom line, is to ask your self each morning, “How can I better serve those who work for this organization?” As you learn and develop servant leadership practices, which entails a shift to more quantum-based motivations and behaviors, you’ll see improved performance with both individuals and groups begin to unfold and expand.
We will continue to explore servant leadership in future blogs. Be sure to subscribe to read the latest post.
