What qualities abound in leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr., Abraham Lincoln, and George Washington? It takes more than one thing to be a servant leader who is dedicated to improving the lives of others and changing the world for the better. A servant leader is one who upholds the fundamental principles that define effective leadership.
The benefits of servant leadership are exponential: by modeling servant leadership, you and your colleagues will experience success and fulfillment on both a personal and professional level that goes beyond what is often expected of traditional leaders.
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These seven guidelines will greatly increase your efficacy as a leader, along with examples of how to put them into practice. Examine them. Put them into practice. Give them a way of life. Pass them on to others. Then see the astounding outcomes.
Seven Essential Elements of Servant Leadership
1: Put others’ needs ahead of your own
“I speak to everyone the same way, whether he is a garbage man or the president of the university,” said Albert Einstein once. This little sentence captures the essence of deliberately putting the needs of others before your own. No matter where someone is in life, Einstein treats them all with true respect by treating them all as though they are important. An attitude of respect is the fundamental quality of a servant leader.
Let’s put this idea into perspective: a team member approaches you and admits that they have forgotten why they are doing what they are doing. Criticism in return causes significantly more harm than just the relationship. It destroys your approachability as their leader and stifles personal drive, both of which have a negative impact on team and individual productivity.
But, you have already begun the process of developing a devoted team member who has a genuine enthusiasm for their profession if you accept and validate a worry like this, expressing thanks and respect for their openness.
2. Create a Vision (Prior to Determining a Course)
Helen Keller once said, “The only thing worse than being blind is having sight with no vision,” in an inspiring moment that will never be forgotten.
Every day, leaders all throughout the world are traveling at 100 miles per hour without any destination in sight. However, exceptional leaders strive to create a vision that surpasses their own perceptions and garners complete support from their group. A motivating environment created by teams’ buy-in and the leadership’s vision makes almost any goal achievable.
Inspiring vision prior to charting a route is the second virtue of Servant Leadership. There are two ways in which this idea is frequently overlooked that can have a significant impact on the result.
How a Leader Can Establish a Vision for Their Company
The first challenge arises when leaders act without first establishing a vision. These firms tend to move extremely rapidly, but the investment is all at risk due to the lack of direction. In addition to disengaging and disorienting a team, it keeps leadership from ever accurately gauging performance.
Failure to foster buy-in for their goal is the second way leaders make mistakes when establishing a vision. Teams that experience this lose hope and are unable to see the greater significance and purpose of their job.
In order to overcome both shortcomings, a genuine servant leader inspires a team to share the organization’s vision by first exhibiting it. You’re empowering your staff to take responsibility for their own contributions to realizing the goal by doing this. This gives you the chance to impart your vision’s “what” and “how,” driven by the “why.”
3: Prioritize ethics above profit
According to the book of Proverbs, “A good name is to be chosen over great riches.” Millions of prosperous leaders during the past two millennia have discovered the usefulness of this adage.
Integrity is something that cannot be purchased, yet lacking it can have expensive consequences. Although this virtue is emphasized in Christian teachings, proverbs or parables encouraging this idea may be found in practically all major religions. We may conclude from this that honesty matters.
We have seen what seems like an endless number of organizational crises over the past several decades, involving everything from large enterprises to non-profits and churches. It would appear that an organization cannot be shielded from wrongdoing by altruism.
One or more leaders’ lack of moral rectitude and integrity is the recurring thread in all of these controversies. However, integrity takes time to degrade. Leaders seldom, if ever, consider the possibility that they may become strong and deceive thousands of people by breaking or bending the law. To put it another way, significant scandals don’t usually happen overnight for leaders. These infamous events are the result of daily decisions. Because of this, it’s critical that you as a leader communicate clearly about the things that are non-negotiable in both your personal and professional life.
4. Empower Others (Prioritizing Self-Interest)
“You can accomplish amazing things if you don’t care who gets the credit.” This statement from the late President Harry S. Truman perfectly captures the idea of how leaders may succeed most when they empower the people around them.
A select group of leaders exhibit intangible traits as they consciously foster a team atmosphere that enables their employees to grow as leaders.
Applications of Servant Leadership
If we, as leaders, let our teams continue in their existing patterns of inertia, we risk severely crippling our organizations. The most astute and self-aware leaders acknowledge the group of influences and leaders that facilitated their own rise to prominence.
If an organization prioritizes profit before empowering individuals and teams, ultimately it will collapse. When a team lacks leverage and the leader becomes the lone point of failure, this can happen. Even when these leaders achieve their financial goals, they still have to deal with the ticking time bomb of important team members quitting to pursue more rewarding career paths.
5: People with Privilege (Priority Tasks)
A pioneer in the field of living out purpose, Simon Sinek has stated, “People expect a return on their financial investment. People want to participate when they are emotionally involved.
Nothing is more valuable than a group of people who are passionate about doing their jobs. A team like this starts with leadership that recognizes and values each team member individually as well as collectively.
Many leaders struggle to discern how they may uphold their complete power over the team while both affirming and respecting its members. But just like with the preceding Servant Leadership standards, underappreciating staff members leads to an unhappy team, a negative atmosphere, and shoddy output. But there’s a simple fix for this conundrum: showing value with deference, thoughtfulness, and plain encouragement.