5 elements of servant leadership
I have had the privilege of building and leading teams inside many organizational cultures. As such, I have observed the varying degrees of effectiveness of many types of cultures – hierarchical, flat, inclusive, fear-inducing, supportive, toxic, and just about every combination of the above. By maintaining attention to the core principles and responsibilities that I sketched out early in my leadership career, I’ve ensured that, regardless of the broader culture, my personal mission and service to my team remains in focus. I would like to share some ideas from those core principles of servant leadership – five essential elements to consider prioritizing in your work with your team.
Early in my management career, I laid out a framework establishing what I believed were my true responsibilities regarding the building and leadership of a high-performing team. It has served me well as a personal reference for driving business results while developing and maintaining effective and meaningful relationships with most of my direct reports.
Specifically, I focus on my commitments to each individual reporting to me and the assistance I provide to help them maximize their potential. This in turn expands the potential of the entire organization.
Although servant leadership is not a brand new idea, I have found that documenting these essentials, sharing them, and evolving them has driven countless beneficial conversations. I daresay it has also helped many individuals begin or accelerate successful careers.
Let’s explore the components and benefits to both managers and direct reports.
I break this down into five main areas, in no particular order of importance: Motivation, Expectation, Administration, Mobilization, and Inspiration. (Please forgive the rhyming, I was listening to a lot of Eminem and just beginning my Bob Dylan phase when these were initially crafted).
Understanding employees’ motivation helps the manager understand what drives their team members to contribute to the organization. And what makes them want to contribute more. It helps the manager prepare to respond to each employee’s desire for purpose in their work. It gives the manager insight into what obstacles they are going to need to help this employee overcome – both organizationally and personally.
For employees, a manager who cares about their motivation helps them think about what makes them want to exchange part of their life to contribute to the organization. They can consider whether they are truly committed to producing the results required and if they can personally define what success looks like in this role.
Setting expectations is quite simply clearly defining what is needed from each individual in the performance of their assigned role. It is all of the what’s and when’s of the position. In some roles and organizations, it may also articulate the how’s. Expectations define the goals, activities, and behaviors that drive the measurable results that the manager is charged with.
For employees, it clarifies their contribution to the organization – both what it is and what it should be. It represents the outcomes to which they are being held accountable and enables them to check the objective behaviors or metrics to which they are held accountable.
The administration function is perhaps the least-liked by all parties. It involves the seemingly never ending paperwork, policies, and occasionally preposterous political posturing required of any enterprise involving more than two human beings. But it is necessary.
As I far too often quote from Tom Clancy’s novel “Debt of Honor” – “If you didn’t write it down, it never happened.
