SERVANT LEADERSHIP, PART 2

In Part 1, we described the leadership model referred to as “SERVANT LEADERSHIP” – a term which sounds like an oxymoron, as do the characteristics of this model we’ll describe in Part 2.

     “Servant Leadership seeks to involve others in decision making, is strongly based in ethical and caring behavior, and it enhances the personal growth of those around them while improving the caring and quality of organizational life.”

In Part 1, we also pointed out that 50% of Fortune 500 companies have adopted Servant Leadership in its entirety or in some form.  Here in Part 2, we are identifying five of the key attributes of Servant Leaders (for purpose of brevity, we’ll sometimes use the abbreviation SL to stand for Servant Leader).

1.    Listening: 

• Leaders have traditionally been valued for their communication skill, and this skill remains important for the SL .  However, the SL has a strong genuine commitment to the listening part of communication, rather than to the speaking part.
• She or he listens intently and receptively to what is being said and unsaid, and takes time to reflect on that which was heard.

This is in striking contrast to the command and control, authoritarian style of leadership that many organizations have long depended upon.

2.    Empathy: 

• The Servant Leader understands how important it is for individuals to feel accepted and understood.
• Therefore, she/he strives to understand and empathize with others.

In his classic book entitled “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, Stephen Covey wrote:

”Habit 5: Seek first to understand, then to be understood.”

3.    Healing: 

• Since all organizations are comprised of people, relationships are vital. Often various circumstances cause relationships to become fractured.

This buy generic viagra find out here can lead to chemical imbalances that might ultimately lead up to ED issue.

• The Servant Leader recognizes that the healing of relationships is a powerful force that enables people to work together in a highly productive manner, and that she/he is in a position to promote healing.

Especially, but not only, when the broken relationship is between the SL and another individual or group.

4.    Awareness: 

• The SL has a highly develop sense of general awareness, including self-awareness.
• This serves her/him well in understanding issues, particularly those involving ethics, power and values.

5.  Persuasion: 

• Another characteristic of Servant Leaders is a reliance on persuasion, rather than on one’s positional authority, in making decisions within an organization.
• The SL strives to convince others, rather than coerce compliance.  She/he is highly effective in building consensus within groups.

This attribute is one of the clearest distinctions between the traditional authoritarian model  of leadership and that of Servant Leadership.

In Part 3, we’ll provide more of these key characteristics.

For more information about Servant Leadership or other Organizational & People Development matters:

• E mail Trinity at info@TrintyHR.net
• Visit our website at www.TrinityHR.net
• Call us at 856.905.1762

You have HR opportunities…Trinity has paths forward!