Is Servant Leadership Masking Weakness?

Servant leadership is a catchy term that’s been floating around more frequently lately. You hear about it in speeches, casually dropped in HR trainings, and maybe in a business book you’ve been reading. It sounds soothing to the ears, but what does it really mean? Isn’t leadership about being in charge, charting a course, and getting all your employees and resources in line?

Not entirely. Leaders must engage and grow people. They demonstrate a genuine care for their team. Teams notice this and desire to work harder for someone who they know truly cares about their professional and personal growth.

What if you could re-engineer your leadership style to reflect a selfless and more supportive role? How might that affect your relationships and team dynamics?

What is Servant Leadership?

While servant leadership is a timeless concept, the phrase “servant leadership” was coined by Robert K. Greenleaf in “The Servant as Leader”, an essay that he first published in 1970. In his essay, Greenleaf describes the qualities of a servant leader. These center around the core concept of putting others before yourself.

The servant-leader puts the needs of others first

“The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve.” A boss tells you what to do and waits for results. A leader guides you through a project while asking, “How can I help you be successful?”

A great leader constantly communicates with his team and removes barriers for them. What exactly does this look like? One example is that a process is broken, causing excessive administrative burden for an employee. They’ve tried to fix it on their own, but don’t have access to or even know the right individuals involved. With your company knowledge and professional contacts, you arrange a meeting to get all the key players in the room to discuss the issue and next steps. Then, you let your employee manage the process from there, all the while letting them know that you are available to step in only if the problems are insurmountable. After this first intercession, your employee may be able to manage on his own, fix the situation, and move onto the next thing on the list. This approach improves work output and personal confidence.

Some people may think you are doing your employee a favor, when really you’re just doing your job. As a leader or manager, it’s up to you to help your employees with what they need. Your own projects come second.

The servant-leader develops and helps other people to perform with excellence

“The difference between [servant-first and leader-first] 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 difficult to administer, is: Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, and more likely themselves to become servants?”

In the example above, the servant-leader puts her own projects aside to make sure the employee has what he needs to be successful with the process improvement project. After the project, we see that he’s healthier because he has a good dose of confidence; wiser because he knows how to fix similar future problems; freer and more autonomous because he was supported while still doing all of the work himself; and more likely to become a servant himself because he was led with a great example.

if leaders simply ask for straight-forward work and/or take over a project when it appears an employee needs help, there is no employee development. Skill, morale, and development is ignored. Your best employees want hard, challenging, and interesting work. Give it to them, especially if they aren’t 100% ready for it. With your support, they’ll do what they can, turn to you when they need your expertise, and grow immensely. Afterwards, you’ll have an employee who can problem-solve and think creatively, and continually engage in their work.

The servant-leader shares power instead of holding it solely

It’s lonely at the top. A leader that clings tight to power finds that he or she is less productive, lacks solid professional relationships, and is overall less effective. A leader who empowers his team gets more done because his team has the ability to be more autonomous. Great employees with good ideas can act on them and add value, without hand holding or extreme oversight from their leader.

I’ve been fortunate to see this in action. I know an employee who works hard and builds trust with her leader. Her ideas get a hearing. Her leader asks for an action plan, a timeline, and what resources are needed. The employee feels support. The leader encourages. And both are rewarded with on-time, excellent execution.

What was the leader doing while the employee was working hard? Supporting, encouraging, and helping all her other employees! You can see how much more productive a team of employees such as these can be versus a team who is micro-managed by a boss. A good leader will trust employees to execute, while also verifying the quality of the work product and offering assistance and feedback along the way.

So, Is Servant Leadership Just Masking Weakness?

Is this just soft leadership? Absolutely not. This style of leadership tells the truth and delivers difficult messages. The leader must put the organization’s purpose and need to develop other leaders over his or her own ego and popularity.

This approach requires self-awareness and careful introspection. The servant leader must seek feedback and desire continuous growth and development within him- or herself. There is no way to stay focused on others and maintain a healthy ego without continual cycles of personal focus and humility.

What do you think about servant leadership? Have you seen the effects of great leadership? Let us know in the comments how this might impact your leadership style!