PRACTICING SERVANT LEADERSHIP SUCCEEDING THROUGH TRUST, BRAVERY AND FORGIVENESS BY LARRY C. SPEARS AND MICHELE LAWRENCE

 

PRACTICING SERVANT LEADERSHIP SUCCEDING THROUGH TRUST, BRAVERY AND FORGIVENESS by Larry C. Spears and Michele Lawrence.

 

The idea of the servant leader came out from the reading of “Hermann Hesse’s Journey to the East”. In the story, we saw a band of men in a mythical journey. Leo who accompanies the party as the servant who does their menial chores, and also sustains them with his spirit and his song. He was a person of extra ordinary presence. All went well until Leo disappears, then the group falls into disarray and the journey was abandoned. They could not make it without the servant Leo. After some years of wandering one of the party finds Leo and was taken to the sponsor of the journey, there it was discovered that Leo, whom he had known first as a servant was infact the titular head of the “Order” – a great and noble leader . No wonder his presence motivated, encouraged and challenged them all though a servant. St. Francis of Assisi – Grant that I may not seek first to be understood, but to understand.

 

Who is the servant Leader?

The servant leader is a servant first – as Leo was portrayed. Becoming a servant leader begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve – to serve first, this conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead.

That person is sharply different from one who is a leader first, perhaps because of the need to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire material possessions. For such people, it will be a later choice to serve – after leadership is established. The leader-first and the servant-first are two extreme types. “The mightiest of rivers are first fed by many small trickles of water”.

Characteristics of the Servant – Leader

1. Listening: the servant leader seeks to identify the will of a group and helps clarify that will. That means listening receptively to what is being said (and not said). When we listen, not just to what others are saying but also to our own internal voice, we create a mindset that fosters empathy, awareness, foresight, and commitment to others.

Consider the sign that hangs in the office of a professor at a large university that states: “MAKE ME UNDERSTAND”. This sign is his commitment to listening to whoever walks through his door. Those three little words tell people “I am here to listen, I will try to understand your situation.” We should all pause and ask, “What kind of message do I send to people who communicate with me on a daily basis? Do I send the message that I am too busy to talk to them or that I have all the answers? Do I send the message that I am genuinely interested in others and want to hear their views? Listening is a forgotten skill yet 45% of organizational energy is dissipated

because of misunderstanding, and that two out of every three mistakes occur because of miscommunication.

One way in which we can develop our listening skills is to practice reflective listening. Reflective listening is a skill that enables the listener to understand the content of the message as well as the feelings of the person who is speaking.

2. EMPATHY- When we go beyond listening, empathy comes in. it’s the capacity for participation in another’s feelings or ideas. People need to be accepted and recognized for their special and unique spirits. One assumes the good intentions of co-workers and does not reject them as a people, even while refusing to accept their behavior or performance. Servant leaders must not only empathize with their staffs, but must help their staffs to empathize with their customers.

 

3. PERSUASION – Servant Leaders rely on persuasion rather than positional authority in making decisions within an organization. The servant leader seeks to convince others rather than coerce compliance. This offers a clear distinction between the traditional authoritarian model and the servant leader model.

 

4. CONCEPTUALIZATION – Servant leaders seek to nurture the abilities to “dream great dreams”. The ability to look at a problem (or an organization) from a conceptualizing perspective means that one must think beyond day to day realities. Managers who wish to practice servant leadership must stretch their thinking to encompass broader-based conceptual thinking.

 

5. FORESIGHT – The ability to foresee the likely outcome of a situation is hard to define but easy to identify. One knows it when one sees it. Foresight is a characteristic that enables the servant leader to understand the lessons from the past, the realities of the present; and the likely consequences of a decision for the future. It’s inborn unlike the other characteristics but can be developed with servant leader model.

 

6. STEWARDSHIP – holding something in trust for another

 

7. COMMITMENT TO THE GROWTH OF PEOPLE: A Servant leader believes that people have an intrinsic value beyond their tangible contributions as workers. As a result, the servant leader is deeply committed to the growth of each and every individual within the institutions. The servant leader recognizes the tremendous responsibility to do everything possible to nurture the personal, professional and spiritual growth of employees.

 

A servant leader includes takes personal interest in ideas and suggestions from everyone, encouraging workers involvement in decision making and actively helping laid-off workers find other employment.

LOVE AND WORK

In the US Airforce the best leaders, the ones who seemed to achieve the best results, weren’t the ramrod-straight “kick em in the rear” sort, but the ones willing to get out among the people to identify with them. The best squadron commanders were the ones who regularly flew, who didn’t just sit behind a desk, who mingled with the pilots and had a more personal relationship with them. The CEO of Meredith Corporation in 1968 made a speech and he said “the most important thing is love”. That was the first time ever the word love was used in the context of corporate life – love of what we do together, love of ourselves, love of our customers, love of our products and love of our organization. The real work is not making profits; making profits is the result of the real work. The commitment to act out beyond ego, to correct our mistakes and to learn from others regardless of ego is love at work.

COLLABORATION AT WORK

Leadership is co-created as individuals relate as partners and develop a shared vision, set a direction, solve problems and make meaning of their work. Collaboration is a holistic approach to work, promoting a sense of community and the sharing of power in decision making. Collaboration focuses on

i. Building relationship at every opportunity. It could result in important collaborations later.

ii. Allow time for good ideas to emerge

iii. Collaboration need not wait on a problem. Do it just because it’s the right thing to do.

iv. Meaningful communication is critical. No amount of e-mail, memo, and phone calls can equal the value of frequent face to face meeting.

v. Differences are as important as similarities. They are the source of creativity, discovery and change. So invest the necessary time and energy to understand the differences.

vi. Crisis can make collaboration stronger.

 

CONCLUSION

The idea of a servant leader as a model of leadership is rooted in the far reaching ideal that people have inherent worth and dignity, servant leader model therefore

presents leaders who are able to build organization without sacrificing productivity and who are able to embrace diverse potentials rather than adhering to traditional, more hierarchical approaches which has not only resulted in moral decline of the relational environment but a pervasive malaise common to the psyche of the contemporary working person.