A true Leader provides a SERVICE.
A leader can lead from the front, or from within. The important factor is how you go about leading…
If you’re like me, a person who’s wanting to better themselves not only personally but also in your career, you will come across a lot of terms, acronyms and rules to live by. I, personally, love learning these things, but… I’m not so good at the remembering part. That is why I strive to adapt everything I think is worth remembering, in to some form/process which is easy to remember.
When I was studying to become a Scrum Master, one of the terms I came across was Servant Leadership. This to me was a real eye-opener. It’s a concept I already kind of knew, but never actually thought about and so I’d like to share with you guys some knowledge about the term and an acronym I created to help guide me going forwards. Enjoy!
Servant Leadership
A Servant Leader is someone who leads from the trenches. Someone who is one of your peers, holds no hierarchical power and yet exemplifies the leadership qualities that makes you want to follow them in to battle. Not only do they make you want to grow as a person, they also are a key part of making it happen.
In 1970, a guy called Robert K. Greenleaf published an essay which first coined the term “servant leadership”. In this essay, Greenleaf explained that whilst the concept has been around since the beginning of time he has a specific way of defining it.
“It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead.” — Robert K. Greenleaf
He goes on to explain that there are many people who are lead-first, rather than serve-first. But also there are many shades in between. There is no right way to be a person, but society would benefit by having a lot more serve-first people.
A serve-first person will always strive to ensure that another’s priorities are served. That is one of their top priorities. Whilst a lead-first person will always look to be a leader, maybe by aiming for a position of power, or to specifically to acquire some form of material possession, and then considers how to serve later.
Let me reiterate, neither of these types of people are right or wrong, better or worse. It is simply two different extreme mind-sets and ways of the world.
Greenleaf continues by stating that the most basic test for whether one is a true servant is:
Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants? And, what is the effect on the least privileged in society; will they benefit, or, at least, not be further deprived?
Now, introspection and self-analysis can be difficult, and sometimes you can only discover your self by asking or observing the changes of those around you. But by doing this, you should be able to consider whether you have demonstrated servant leader qualities or not, and think about how you can adapt for the future to achieve a more serve-first mindset.
Regardless of whether we are applying the ideal of Servant Leadership to the workplace or not, I stand alongside Greenleaf in the belief that having more serve-first people in the world can only make it a brighter and more beautiful place to live. (Cue music, applause and tears here!)
So, now that we know what a Servant Leader is, why am I telling you this? Well, my career for many years now has been that of Scrum Master, and as soon as I came across this term, it struck me;
A Servant Leader is exactly what a Scrum Master should strive to be.
It is for that reason, that I decided to consider my role more and how I could better achieve becoming a Servant Leader and helping those around me to achieve and grow.
That is why I now live to provide a SERVICE.
SERVICE
Strive — In order to be a leader in any form, it is important for you to strive. You have to be able to make the effort required to achieve your goals, to be dedicated enough to support and assist through to the end. Being a good leader isn’t an easy task, but the better you become and the more you see people grow, you can almost guarantee you’re going to want to strive for more ambitious goals!
Enable — Look to those around you, how can you help them? How can you leverage your skills to create a pathway for them to achieve what they need or want to achieve? As seen earlier, one of the tests of the Servant Leader is to see the growth of those around them. Being an enabling presence (by giving opportunity to others), is one major step on achieving growth within and without.
Respect — Like in all aspects of life, respect is important. By having respect for your fellows, you can improve communication and trust between yourselves, allowing for a further increase in your productivity and achievements. And as an added bonus, by giving respect, one often finds you start to gain respect yourself, allowing for your voice to be heard even more.
Versatile — Be versatile! By this, what I mean is; do what you need to do, to get the job/goal done. Versatility is an extremely underrated skill and important when considering helping others of multiple disciplines and backgrounds.
Now I know there is a saying about “Jack of all trades, master of none”, but just stop and think about it. For the majority of day-to-day issues and assisting those around you, what is better; a person who can swap hats as the task requires or an expert in one specific area. Furthermore, being versatile can be just as much knowing the limit of your own knowledge, before connecting them with the expert!
Introspection — Introspection is all about looking inwards. It’s about observing one’s own mental and emotional processes, and analysing how you feel. In today’s society, this skill is becoming more prominent through processes like Mindfulness.
As a leader, it is extremely important that you look after oneself, not only because you deserve it, but because people are depending and influenced by you. A leader can influence their team whether they mean to or not, and that can be in a positive way, but also a negative. Consider how many of us have known of or had a “bad boss”. So remember, look inwards, challenge yourself and observe whether you’re providing the positive atmosphere for people to grow and if not, why?
Courage — It takes an enormous amount of courage to be a true leader, and to stand up for what is right/best or even simply for what you believe in. When acting as a leader, you will sometimes be met with conflict and clash with those who’s views do not align with your own. Having courage is about being able to face these obstacles and debate, persuade or compromise without having to resort to schoolyard tactics (personal attacks etc.).
Empathise — Empathy (not to be confused with sympathy, as many do) is to have an understanding of how another feels. To walk in their emotional shoes, and to carry around their emotional baggage if you will. In the case of being a leader, having empathy for one’s fellows is extremely important, to having an understanding of what they are wanting to achieve and their viewpoint on the world. This can help improve communication and growth between your relationship.
A good example of this can be considered in the scenario of a colleague turning up late for work. One without empathy may jump straight for the punishment, and attitude of “It’s not my problem, it’s their job to be here on time” approach. Whilst a leader with empathy, may still not be happy about the consequence of the colleague not turning up on time, but they would consider the why? Were they stuck in traffic, as so many of us are. Was there an accident? Is everything OK in their personal life? Let’s not judge before trying to understand.
So that is my acronym to help me live a lifestyle geared towards Servant Leadership. Live to provide a SERVICE. By keeping this acronym in mind, you will hopefully be able to consider your current lifestyle and working methods, and determine whether you are a Servant Leader or if it’s something you’d like to aim for.
