Is Servant Leadership Holding Your Organization Back?

Are your leaders setting high enough expectations? Are they challenging people in ways that help them grow? Are they finding the best roles for them so they have the greatest impact on the company? 

Many of the leaders and teams I work with aspire to be servant leaders and/or hold up servant leadership as a model for their organization. The challenge I often see is that in their efforts to “serve,” many people forget to lead. 

When leaders are too focused on being a good servant they can believe they shouldn’t make people uncomfortable or challenge them. In their effort to serve and support, they bend over backward to understand what their people want and accommodate their desires and needs. 

On its face, none of this is bad. In fact, it’s good IF it’s balanced with the right mix of leading, challenging, pushing, and inspiring people in service of their learning, growth, and success. 

Without the right mindset and skills, servant leaders end up becoming followers. Sometimes resentful ones. Particularly if they fall into the habit of taking on too much of the team’s work in the name of protecting and serving others. 

Servant leadership means leading first - in service of others. 

If you’re working on building service leadership into your culture and want to make sure you have the balance right, pay attention to the following:

• Challenge your leaders to see building a team and organizational capacity as their primary responsibility. 
• Ensure your leaders have a vision for the people they lead. Start with what they tell you they want and then build your own understanding of their strengths, where they could grow, what they’re capable of, and what’s possible for them. Care enough to see more for them than they might see for themselves. 
• Get comfortable with discomfort. If you, or your team, isn’t a little uncomfortable a lot of the time, you aren’t growing. Being someone who leads in service to others means you have to challenge and push them from time to time. For many of us, that’s uncomfortable whether you’re being challenged or the one challenging. 
• Develop coaching skills your leaders need to see, uncover, develop, and bring out the best in others. Helping people achieve their full potential, whatever it is, requires connecting and challenging in ways that don’t come naturally to most of us. Invest in building those skills to ensure you get the full return on the potential of servant leadership. 

If you’d like to learn more about how the Resilient Leader program can help your managers deliver on the promise of servant leadership, let's connect!

As I reflect on authentic leadership during this nostalgic time of year, I am reminded that our relationships are a product of how we nurture and lead ourselves. What we wish for is the result of authentic expression, expansion, and elevation. It’s not just about what’s in our hearts but what we do to bring our authentic desired outcomes to fruition.

The holidays are a perfect time to take stock of where you are as an individual—and then take action on your goals for next year. It's a chance to get clear on what matters most so that you can make space for what really matters.

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