SERVANT LEADERSHIP

by Vicki May, Human Resources Director

In today’s economy of business, there is a continuous push to ‘coin’ the latest and greatest approach to impactful leadership. It is interesting to me, that while all of the prolific experts on leadership offer insightful and engaging thought on the subject matter of leadership—each echoes another, and the similarities and the ‘secret sauce’ to successful leadership are really much the same, except for one–Servant Leadership. This edition of Great Plains living has an emphasis on Service and what it means to Serve. In keeping with this theme, the subject of Servant Leadership continues to be a popular approach to leadership that is capturing the attention of CEOs and businesses from Main Street to Wall Street. The term, Servant Leadership, is credited to Robert Greenleaf in his 1970 essay, ‘The Servant as Leader’. Greenleaf, a former AT&T executive, was inspired by Hermann Hesse’s novel, Journey to the East, which tells the story of a humble servant named Leo, who guides a religious pilgrimage across the desert in search of ultimate truth. Leo is the servant in the group, and he takes care of all of the menial needs of the pilgrims and by doing so, he keeps their morale high. Into the story, Leo disappears and the group begins to fall apart and the pilgrimage is abandoned. The group realizes that it was Leo, the one serving the group by carrying their luggage and meeting their needs— who was in fact the true leader of the group. Greenleaf applied this fictional story to business, and his essay on ‘Servant Leadership’ began to disrupt from the top-down, corporate hierarchical boardrooms across the world as new generations of leaders have searched for better ways to lead. A servant leader has been defined as a person who prioritizes the needs of others, and derives his/her authority from a heartfelt desire to help. Most of us have been taught that the leader is ‘out in front’--setting the examples and directing affairs from ‘above’, or at least from a different office. The servant leader does just the opposite. The servant leader doesn’t view themselves at the top of the hierarchy where they need to use their position to control things—servant leaders place themselves at the bottom of the hierarchy where they can empower their people and allow them opportunities to have experiences that allow them to develop and to grow. The servant leader leads from behind, but is still present to provide direction and feedback. A servant leader uses sharpened management skills to lead from behind–skills like active listening, asking questions, talking through scenarios, and staying present and in-the-moment with their employees. The servant leader is able to lead from behind because they know their people–their strengths as well as their weaknesses. As a result, the servant leader earns loyalty and trust from his/her employees and develops highly functioning teams in the process. The overarching difference between top-down leadership and Servant Leadership is that top-down leadership gets things done based on position, the servant leader gets things done though his/her ability to influence the team out of the team’s genuine trust and belief that the servant leader has the employees best interest at heart. James Hunter in his book, The Servant, distinguishes the difference between power and authority. Hunter describes a leader who uses position and ‘power’ to coerce someone to adopt their beliefs and narratives, or to perform or carry-out the leaders directives because of a leader's position. Hunter denotes that ‘Power’ dictates what, when and how things will get done. On the other hand, Hunter explains that ‘Authority’ comes from influence and in cultivating a desire in other people to want to work with you. Hunter goes on to discuss how authority occurs when employees see the servant leader as trustworthy, caring, committed, selfless and understands how to listen to the employee's needs in order for the employee to be successful. Conversely, ‘Power’ carries-out the agenda of one person ‘in charge’, but as Hunter warns, this kind of control erodes relationships, and over time, organizations lose good talent. Employees won’t work for the power-position leader like they will work for the more successful leader with a servant’s heart. Servant Leadership is not so rigid with black and white ‘must-do’s and must-haves’ as a model. The

beauty of Servant Leadership as a model, is that if an organization buys-in to the concept that leaders exist to guide and serve the needs of their employees, and if there is understanding between the difference between the leader who must control, and the servant leader who earns authority and respect from their employees—then Servant Leadership can be summarized with a few generalized precepts. Organizations like: Marriott, The Container Store, Starbucks, Nordstroms, Southwest Airlines, Synovus Financial, Whole Foods Market, QuickTrip, SAS, and many more. Interestingly, a large number of companies that practice Servant Leadership are also among the ‘The Best Places To Work. The smaller businesses that practice servant leadership don’t make Fortunes list or the World's Top CEO list—but size doesn’t matter. In some form or fashion, these organizations consciously value and intentionally uphold the following general tenets of Servant Leadership:

Greenleaf’s Five tenets of Servant Leadership

1. Moral Love - Servant Leaders have a deep caring love for their employees–not just a few, but for all team members. They feel their pain and they look for opportunities to celebrate their joys. They love them like they would love a friend. 2. Humility - Servant leaders keep their egos incheck. They share credit and success with the entire team. Servant Leaders don’t take other’s good ideas as their own. 3. Altruism - Servant Leaders are ‘givers’. They put others’ needs before their own. (Servant Leaders eat last.) Servant Leaders prioritize the needs of their people as well as the needs in the community. Servant leaders the communities where they do business and they seek out ways to ‘give-back’ to those communities; they do not seek to benefit themselves in their outreach. 4. Vision - A Servant Leader has a clear vision of where the company is going and works to make sure the team members goals and hopes align. The Servant Leader excites and involves the team members and shares with the team how the company’s direction includes them and their skillsets. 5. Trust - Servant leaders are deeply trusted by members inside the organization. People trust the Servant Leader’s word is their bond. This trust can not be bought–it must be earned. (Deception and manipulation are understood quickly by employees.) Finally, Servant Leadership is hard, and it’s not a model for just any organization. Truth be told, most organizations are made-up of multiple leadership styles; if an organization could catch any vision of Servant Leadership–they would be a better organization for it. Servant Leadership takes time for relationships to form and for the leadership style to cycle throughout the organization. Fading-back and leading from behind is not easy. It requires equipping the servant leader with acute people skills that develop relationships where people want to perform well and where people want to stay. Robert Greenleaf said, "Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants?" I have heard Bill Clark, Owner and Dealer Principal of Great Plains Kubota say this statement on more than one occasion. "Great Plains is a ministry, and we might sell a few tractors along the way, my hope is that Great Plains will make a difference in the lives of our employees and our customers, and in the communities we serve." If after reading this quick snapshot of Servant Leadership, you think it’s easy and that you’re already doing it—I have probably misled you.