What is Servant Leadership, How Does it Work and Why Does it Matter?

For far too long, leaders have been taught, trained and conditioned to think of leadership as a position of power and control. When people in your organization feel like they have no choice but to surrender to your power, they may also surrender control, but what they will not do is bring all they have to offer to your organization. In other words, your employees will not be fully engaged.

In today’s world where people are much more connected and have access to a nearly unlimited amount of information, not too many people respond well to the old school leadership model of power and control. The good news is there is a better way to lead, one that combines equal parts of serving and leading. This kind of leadership requires a special kind of leader: a Servant Leader.

Many ill-informed executives, managers and other organizational leaders resist the concept of Servant Leadership out of fear that they must serve rather than be served by those they lead. This fear-based belief is nothing more than a misconception about what Servant Leadership actually is and how it works.

Ken Blanchard explains the concept of Servant Leadership as follows:

“In this model, leaders assume a traditional role to set the vision, direction, and strategy for the organization — the leadership aspect of servant leadership. After the vision and direction are set, the leaders turn the organizational pyramid upside down so that they serve the middle managers and frontline people who serve the customer. Now the leader’s role shifts to a service mindset for the task of implementation — the servant aspect of servant leadership.”

Some organizations and leaders attempt to implement this model as a do-it-yourself initiative.  While that approach works for some, others get into trouble during implementation.

Mr. Blanchard explains why this happens:

“When command-and-control leaders are at the helm, the traditional hierarchical pyramid is kept alive and well. All of the organization’s energy moves up the hierarchy, away from customers and frontline folks who are closest to the action. When there is a conflict between what customers want and what the boss wants, the boss wins.”

We offer support to executives, managers, organizational leaders, learning, and talent development professionals who want to correct this situation by philosophically turning the traditional hierarchical pyramid upside down by putting customer contact people at the top of the organization and top management at the bottom.

This philosophical mind-shift reminds everyone in the organization that when it comes to implementation, leaders serve their people, who serve the customers. Although this change may seem minor and to some insignificant, when properly implemented, it makes a major difference between who is responsible and who is responsive.

The next step in the process of making the shift is to align values, policies, practices, direction, and support to remove barriers for the people who are taking care of customers. This high-investment approach to talent management is designed to bring out the best in everyone.

To make sure the people in their care are well supported and best positioned to provide customers and other stakeholders with the finest service, Servant Leaders are constantly trying to find out what their people need to perform well and live according to their values and the organization’s vision. In top high-performing organizations, leaders believe if they do a good job serving their people and showing their people that they truly care about them, the employees will, in turn, practice that same philosophy with the organization’s clients and customers.

Research shows this concept is not just a new age theory.  Instead, it is the leadership model used by many of the highest performing organizations on the planet.

Rick Petry trains some of the world’s most effective business leaders and managers and provides them with the world’s most widely used leadership development programs and services that deliver real ROI on your training dollars.

If your organization is operating with a lack of urgency to improve leadership skills and less-than-optimal leadership practices, we can help.

Combined with our strategic partners The Blanchard Companies and The Barrett Values Centre, Rick Petry and Preeminent Consulting have well over 50 years of experience leading others and training others how to lead others.  Looking back at what we have learned over time with all of the organizations we have worked with over the years, one of the most persistent barriers to more people becoming successful servant leaders is a heart motivated first by self-interest.

As a leader, you must ask yourself two very important questions. The first question is: “Why do you lead?” The second question is: “Do you lead to serve or to be served?” Answering these questions in a truthful way is vitally important because it will help you uncover your motivation and provide clues regarding your leadership style.

You see, you can’t fake being a servant leader. Either you are or you’re not.

As a leader, if you don’t get the heart part right, you simply will not ever become a servant leader.

Mr. Blanchard explains what lies beneath many leaders’ barrier to becoming a servant leader. 

“Managers who somehow have themselves as the center of the universe and think everything must rotate around them are really covering up not-okay feelings about themselves. This is an ego problem that manifests as fear or false pride. When you don’t feel good about yourself, you have two options. You can hide and hope nobody notices you, or you can overcompensate and go out and try to control your environment. I always say that people who feel the need to control their environment are really just scared little kids inside.”

Is Servant Leadership an Old Leadership Model Applied to a New Way to Lead in a New World of Business?

Yes, the Servant Leadership concept is timeless. The phrase “servant leadership” was first coined by Robert K. Greenleaf in his essay The Servant as Leader, which Mr. Greenleaf first published in 1970. In The Servant as Leader, Mr. Greenleaf wrote:

“The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then 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…The leader-first and the servant-first are two extreme types. Between them, there are shadings and blends that are part of the infinite variety of human nature.”

“The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant-first to make sure that other people’s highest priority needs are being served. The best test, and [most] difficult to administer, 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?“

A servant-leader focuses primarily on the growth and well-being of the people placed in their care and the communities to which they belong. While traditional leadership generally involves the accumulation and exercise of power by one at the top of an organization, servant leadership is different. The servant-leader shares power. She puts the needs of others first and helps her people develop and perform as highly as possible.

Leaders who have a servant’s heart thrive on developing people and helping them achieve their goals. They constantly try to find out what their people value and need to perform at their highest levels.  Once they understand this, then servant Leaders support their people in getting their needs met. Being a servant leader is not just another management technique. Instead, it is a way of life for those with servant’s hearts.

In a recent interview, Mr. Blanchard shared a story about his introduction to servant leadership:

“When I first began to teach managers back in the late 1960’s, I met Robert Greenleaf, who was just retiring as a top AT&T executive. Bob talked about servant leadership — the concept that effective leaders and managers need to serve their people, not be served by them. It was entirely new thinking then. In many ways, Bob is considered the father of the term servant leadership.”

“It is much easier for people to see the importance and relevance of servant leadership today than it was back then.” – Ken Blanchard.

Rick Petry trains some of the world’s most effective business leaders and managers and provides them with the world’s most widely used leadership development programs and services that deliver real ROI on your training dollars.

If you are ready to make the shift from having power over others to having power with others and from a leader with a love of power to one who understands and leverages the power of love, we can help you. Just click the button below to schedule a time to talk to one of our leadership skills development experts.

Today when employees see a manager or executive within their organization as a judge and critic, they spend most of their time trying to please the manager or executive rather than focusing on doing the things that need to be done to accomplish the organization’s goals and keeping it moving in the direction of the desired vision. In this type of scenario, “Boss Watching” becomes a popular sport and people get promoted based on their upward-influencing or boss pleasing skills. That role doesn’t do much for accomplishing a clear vision. Instead of striving to bring the vision to life, people focus on protecting themselves rather than moving the organization in its desired direction. If you see people doing things like sending cover your behind emails and other things of that nature, that’s a good sign that there is some Boss Watching and some self-protecting going on inside your organization.

Rather than trying to get their people to appease them, servant leaders are constantly trying to find out what their people need to be successful. Thus, rather than wanting their people to please them, they want to make a positive difference in the lives of their people—and, in the process, make a positive impact on the performance of the organization.

Servant Leadership: The Power of Love, Not the Love of Power

A few years ago, Mr. Blanchard received a letter from a man in New Zealand with a line that he believes sums up the servant leadership philosophy. The man wrote that he felt “I was in the business of teaching people the power of love, rather than the love of power.” In a sentence, that pretty much sums up the power of servant leadership.

The business world and the world at large, is currently facing a leadership crisis. We strongly believe the world is in desperate need of a different leadership model, a new leadership paradigm that focuses on power with instead of power over, and one that focuses on meeting the needs of all stakeholders rather than those of an elite few, including self-interested leaders. What our world needs now are more servant leaders. So, spread the word to everyone who will listen! Our mission is to teach people the power of love rather than the love of power, and we invite you to join us on the critically important mission.

BRING YOUR LEADERS, TEAMS, AND ORGANIZATION TO THE NEXT LEVEL OF GREATNESS WITH OUR WORLD CLASS LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS.