How does servant leadership work

As organizations change and adapt to meet the needs of employees, managers should be versed in what it takes to be a servant leader. One thing to focus on would be EQ. Also spend time developing the skills necessary to be a manager and leader among the team. A big part of servant leadership is focusing on developing others, so consider helping employees learn what it takes to step into those larger roles. Ready to see more of our online training library?

Request a demo to learn how our solutions can help you deliver engaging and impactful learning to your employees! Skip to content. View our infographic on servant leadership here. Characteristics of Servant Leaders While traditional leadership is focused on helping an organization thrive, servant leaders put the needs of their employees first.

Good listening skills Often leaders are valued by their power, decisiveness, and communication skills. Empathy This is a key part of connecting with others. Encouragement It is important to understand that people are more likely to perform better if they are led by someone that is nurturing and encouraging. Collaboration Servant leaders are great at making their teams feel like they matter.

Forward-thinking A servant leader is a forward thinker. Accountability Traditional leaders believe that they are only accountable to their superiors, if they even think they are accountable at all. Continuous improvement Servant leaders are committed to the growth of every employee. The Importance of Servant Leadership Servant leadership is important because it creates a nurturing environment where workers feel like they are head, appreciated and respected.

Servant Leadership Training As organizations change and adapt to meet the needs of employees, managers should be versed in what it takes to be a servant leader. Angie Spencer. This website uses cookies that are necessary to deliver an enjoyable experience. Putting on trade shows and other large-scale events can be an exhausting whirlwind. So within The Expo Group, Pekowski credits servant leadership with " creating a dynamic that's always positive , despite the quick turns and fast movements of events and trade shows.

He also believes it has made an impactful difference in their relationships with clients. He explains, "Our 'Others First' mindset has led to higher levels of trust and empathy with clients to smooth out the friction points that come with collaboration. Pekowski is adamant that servant leadership creates a company with a powerful culture and financial success. In fact, for The Expo Group, it's inspired employees to work harder and faster. It is important that companies identify and hire candidates that will fit with the culture.

Pekowski says, "Hiring practices must reflect the mission and servant leadership needs. This process doesn't pay dividends just for the company. Pekowski shares, "The servant leadership style creates more trust among employees, clients, prospects and vendors.

That trust leads to high employee retention and satisfaction. On Fridays, Kevin explores industry trends, professional development, best practices, and other leadership topics with CEOs from around the world. Top Stories. Top Videos. A servant leader feels responsible for helping people learn and grow, feel purposeful, motivated, energized, and contribute at their highest level. Servant leadership is about inspiring people to do noble work that calls forth the very best they have to offer.

Your engagement is likely to involve asking employees how you can help them do their job better, rather than telling them how to do a better job. You put the needs of your people above your own. To put it bluntly, servant leaders have the humility, insight, and courage to acknowledge that they can learn from people at all levels of an organization. They see their responsibility as a leader to increase the confidence, capability, ownership, autonomy, and responsibility of their people.

The goal is to bring the best out of others and help them work at a higher level. Often the best way for leaders to serve employees is to create a low-risk space for them to experiment with their ideas.

For example, a servant leader encourages people to use time management, accelerate development, and remove hassle for customers. Then a servant leader celebrates when employees try innovative approaches to make improvements.

These small, fast, and cheap experiments minimize risk and encourage people to access their knowledge and skills for other areas of their life. The key is to learn from the success or failure of each experiment. When people know you care about them , they will trust you because they know you have their best interest at heart. Your investment in them is returned when they become invested in the quality of work they do. When you are not judging your people, they quickly realize you want what is best for them rather than to secretly compare, rank, and judge their performance.

The truth is you will never know how good someone is until they stop improving.