Great Leaders SERVE

Are you a “leader who serves” or a “servant who leads?”

If you said, “both!” – you’re probably on to something!

The motivation behind leadership can get tricky from time to time. Why do we lead? Is leadership merely a position to attain or a responsibility to steward?

What isn’t so tricky is noticing the results of leadership. Are people flourishing or floundering? What about the organization?

The late Zig Ziglar proclaimed, “You can have anything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want.” This was a modern take on King Solomon’s proverb, “He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed,” and inspired by the Golden Rule, “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” When we put others first in our leadership, good things happen for everyone.

Servant leaders use their positional authority to maximize the benefit of everyone they influence and the organization as a whole. They relentlessly pursue excellence with a “give” rather than a “take” mindset.

So what exactly do servant leaders do differently? These are the ways great leaders SERVE:

Share the Spotlight (Think Others First)

Are you a serving leader or a self-serving leader? Do you lead in order to receive or do you lead because it’s your privilege… and your responsibility? And when good things happen, do you soak up the reward (and the spotlight)? Or do you look for ways to share the spotlight with others?

Servant leaders aren’t self-deprecating. They don’t have an inferiority complex. They do have the self-confidence and humility to make others shine.

Envision the Future (Vision)

“Where are we going?” That’s the first priority servant leaders set out to answer for everyone. King Solomon noted a few millennia ago, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”

If leadership is simply a position, then it doesn’t really matter where you’re going, the goal is just to hang on as long as possible. (Unfortunately, many leaders lead this way!) But if leadership is a responsibility (and it is!) then leaders must take ownership to envision and shape a compelling destination.

Reinforce the Objectives (Clarity)

Once a preferred future has been identified, the next step is to ensure that each person is crystal clear on who is responsible for what at all times.

If this sounds like a lot of work – it is! That’s because clarity is always a moving target in pursuit of the vision. It must be reinforced constantly for individuals, teams, departments and organizations.

Lee Colan observed that, “Ambiguity is the Achilles heel of accountability.” It’s simply not possible to create a compelling destination (or serve people) when there are unclear performance expectations or confusion about what “good” looks like.

Value Results & Outcomes (Execution)

If you’ve wanted to work for a servant leader because they are “nice” or easy to work for… you’re probably in for a shock. Servant leaders may think “others first” but they know that everyone loses if execution fails. They possess the fortitude to ensure the outcome.

Servants leaders don’t lower the bar on accountability. They raise it – usually higher than it’s been before.

If you follow a servant leader, you better be prepared to go to work – and to be held accountable for the results – because servant leaders ALWAYS accept accountability for results and outcomes on their end.

Engage & Empower Others (Champion People)

Servant leaders often repeat sentiments like, “We work too hard to not have fun in the process!” But they also know that engagement goes beyond just having fun – it’s an emotional connection between people, the work and the organization.

Ultimately, servant leadership ends exactly where it begins: by benefitting others. Except servant leadership never ends… it’s a process that continues to repeat.

With each project and performance cycle, leaders take the opportunity to re-deploy people into new assignments, ideally with even more responsibility. In short, great servant leaders create more engaged and empowered servant leaders.

Servant leadership isn’t for the faint of heart. It involves high effort, sacrifice and resilience. It requires a high degree of character to overcome challenges that stimy lesser leaders. But servant leadership manifests its own reward: an ecosystem where everyone thrives.

If you happen to notice something good in the world, it’s probably there because a servant leader took an opportunity to SERVE. If you notice an opportunity to create a better future or improve human conditions, it could be your opportunity to SERVE as well.

This article is included in the Leadership-in-a-Box® program: