SERVANT LEADERSHIP
I recently participated in a leadership retreat with a group of county leaders organized to make a difference in their county and communities. I was asked to speak on servant leadership. I did not specifically try to address the traits of a servant leader, but I shared my own leadership challenges and experiences.
Here are some basic principles I shared from my personal leadership experiences:
The servant leader serves the people he/she leads which imply that they are an end in themselves rather than a means to an organizational purpose or bottom line.
They:
- Devote themselves to serving the needs of their organization.
- Focus on meeting the needs of those they lead.
- Develop followers to bring out the best in them.
- Coach others and encourage their self expression.
- Facilitate personal growth in all who work with them.
- Listen and build a sense of community.
- Never loses sight of the most important principles governing any project involving human beings: namely, that people are the more important than things.
- Look outward when things go right, look in the mirror at themselves when things go wrong.
- Never try to put themselves on a pedestal; they let their followers do it for them.
- Develop a personal relationship with people and genuinely love the people they lead.
Servant leaders are felt to be effective because the needs of followers are so looked after that they reach their full potential, hence perform at their best. The strength of this way of looking at leadership is that it forces us away from self-serving, domineering leadership and makes those in charge think harder about how to respect, value and motivate people reporting to them.
Are you working to be a Servant Leader for Kiwanis? I am!
Sylvester Neal
Kiwanis International Vice President Designate