“The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first.” -Robert K. Greenleaf
The phrase “servant leadership” was coined by Robert K. Greenleaf in The Servant as Leader, an essay that he first published in 1970.
As the name suggests, Servant leadership is all about service to others.
According to Brian Scudamore, strong leaders don't fight to have the first and last word. Instead, they listen to their teams, ask the right questions, and give everyone the chance to contribute.
Leadership is a tremendous responsibility and a privilege because you can positively influence the trajectory of someone's personal and professional life. That's the essence of leadership; enabling your people to reach their optimum potential, helping your team master their expertise, and helping people to become the best version of themselves.
The servant leadership style focuses less on individual power and more on community support or employee engagement in workplaces. A servant-leader concentrates primarily on the growth and well-being of people and the communities to which they belong.
Servant leader and diversity of thoughts
To be an ideal server leader, you must seek opportunities to enhance and expand your perspectives with an open mind. Gathering feedback and asking the right questions open up the possibilities for new knowledge. Growing a personal and professional network and working closely with organizations help you grow in your servant leadership role.
a culture of Trust
Once broken Trust is tough to regain. A culture of trust includes following through with commitments, communicating appropriately, and being respectful. A servant leader makes trust possible in his team by inducing discipline and transparency.
If broken, to rebuild trust, one must acknowledge what happened, take small steps to rectify the mistakes, and be patient. Servant leader helps establish trust as a process in the team.
It's not about you
If you are not serving, you are not leading. Unselfishness is a state of mind that a servant leader should champion. The team's success is the leader's success, and the team's failure is the leader's failure. A true servant leader's acts are in the positive direction to make the team successful. A true servant leader leads with others in mind but is willing to make decisions when the time is right.
Foster leadership in others
As a leader of the team, you must invest in them. Don't expect the team to thrive without your investment of time and energy. You must build a positive environment where the team's accomplishments are recognized, and consistent constructive feedback is offered. The team should be mentored to thrive by helping individuals enhance their skills as needed. We need more leaders in the team to make success a continuous culture. Ask the right questions at the right times to help the team’s leadership skills prosper.
Supported teams are successful teams, and leaders are only as successful as their teams.
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