What do leaders like George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Martin Luther King Jr. have in common? It’s not one thing, but rather a commitment to the key values that constitute being not just an effective leader — but a servant leader committed to helping others and transforming the world for the better.
The results of servant leadership are exponential: by leading as a servant, you multiply success and satisfaction — personal and professional, for you and your colleagues — above and beyond the limits of traditional leadership outcomes. There are 7 key principles of Servant Leadership:
1. Honour Others
2. Inspire Vision
3. Choose Ethics
4. Empower Others
5. Prioritise People
6. Balance Focus With Flexibility
7. Serve With Humility
Source: https://chiefexecutive.net
1. Honour Others (Before Yourself)
Albert Einstein once said, “I speak to everyone the same way, whether he is a garbage man or the president of the university.” This simple statement perfectly encapsulates the concept of purposefully honouring others before yourself. By speaking to everyone as if they are genuinely important, no matter their position in life, Einstein is demonstrating genuine respect for all people. Respect defines the underlying attitude of a servant leader.
How to Honour Others
• Affirm dignity by recognizing and responding to the needs of your team
• Actively resolve issues; never wait for things to just get better
• Respect people of all positions through word and behaviour
2. Inspire Vision (Before Setting The Course)
In a humbling moment that will forever be preserved, Helen Keller wrote, “The only thing worse than being blind is having sight with no vision.”
Daily, leaders around the world are going 100 miles per hour in no specific direction and getting nowhere. But great leaders work to establish a vision that goes far beyond what they can see — and full buy-in from their team. Vision from leadership and buy-in from teams produce an inspiring atmosphere where nearly any goal becomes possible.
How to Inspire Vision
• Model the way for your team
• Help your team realize how each person’s role contributes to a larger picture
• Be sure to share not only the “what” and “how” of your vision, but also the “why”
3. Choose Ethics (Before Profit)
“A good name is to be chosen over great riches,” according to the book of Proverbs. Over the last 2,000+ years, millions of successful leaders have learned the practical truth of this proverb.
There is no price you can pay for integrity, but a lack of integrity can be costly. While Christian teachings emphasize this virtue, almost every other major religion also has a proverb or parable promoting this concept. This leads us to the conclusion that integrity counts.
So, what are the major and minor non-negotiables that you can hold onto as you lead your organization?
How to Make Ethical Choices
• Be clear on non-negotiables that define your integrity (especially with yourself)
• Identify how integrity will increase your long-term profitability or success
• Remember ethical business practices reduce long-term risk
4. Empower Others (Before Personal Gain)
“It’s amazing what you can achieve if you don’t care who gets the credit.” This quote by former President Harry S. Truman exemplifies how leaders achieve their greatest success — through the empowerment of the staff surrounding them.
Leaders who care about leveraging and empowering their teams create a safe environment that encourages confident decisions. This type of safety gives a team permission to take smart risks (with your guidance) and, more often than not, achieve greater outcomes.
Lincoln recognized the waste in having a team of “yes men,” instead choosing strong and insightful men who felt respected and safe to raise unpopular concerns. Because of this, he was able to form a powerful team that never got out of control, with strong and growing leaders in every department of his administration.
How to Empower Others
• Create a safe environment for employees to grow
• Allow for risks to be taken with growth and development of team members in mind
• Uncover and cultivate shared goals that inspire ownership of work responsibilities
5. Prioritise People (Before Tasks)
Simon Sinek, a visionary in the field of living out purpose, said, “When people are financially invested, they want a return. When people are emotionally invested, they want to contribute.”
There is no greater value than a team that desires to carry out their responsibilities with passion. Such a team originates with leadership that understands and expresses the individual and collective value of their teams.
How to Put People First
• Show tangible appreciation for your team — through both word and deed
• Put people first (over money and time)
• Be proactively kind to your team, routinely finding ways to encourage them and support them
6. Balance Focus With Flexibility
In business, the expression “out with the old, in with the new” has become a cliché. But how often do we use that phrase to justify the implementation of new programs that are already out of date or misaligned to the new organizational or industry reality? Leaders too often self-destruct when they are unwilling or unable to innovate and adapt to meet new circumstances. It is too easy for an organization to find itself “out with the old” because of a stubborn and inflexible attachment to “the old way.”
Very often, the education sector slides into this category when funding falls. Becoming technologically behind through inertia, a school’s students end up learning on outdated software or business models that can hold them back as they try to break into a high-tech workplace.
How to Keep a Flexible Focus
• Be willing to abandon a path when it proves futile (recognize when decisions are being shaped by path dependency)
• Maintain the essential “10,000-foot view,” but keep track of the “on-the-ground” work
• Pay attention to market trends and proactively respond before you are forced to react
7. Serve With Humility (Before All Else)
“Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.” Pastor and author Rick Warren articulates a valuable lesson for influential leadership. Pride becomes a poison to a team and a repellent to those you would seek to influence. Humility is not mere self-deprecation or a focus on shortcomings, but rather purposeful care and concern for the world around you.
How to Serve with Humility
• Recognize that every leader has room for improvement, including yourself
• Always ask others how you are doing and never stop re-evaluating your performance
• Look for boring tasks you can do and opportunities to connect with others that demonstrate you are truly approachable
The above 7 traits for leadership is the route to success. There are others and perhaps you know them from your own experience or observance of others. When a nation or company does well it has got its “true north” right.
The world will suggest greed, self-importance and profit before other things. It is the conscious effort of a leader not to fall into this trap that differentiates a good leader from a poor one. So transform daily by the renewing of your mind!
Reference:
7 Values of Servant Leadership, Point Loma Nazarene University
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