Estimated studying time: 4 minutes
Organizations are very targeted on monetary success proper now. Nicely, really, organizations have at all times been targeted on monetary success. It’s simply with financial uncertainty, it turns into even extra obvious. However organizations ought to be equally targeted on the individuals facet of the enterprise. As a result of it’s the group’s individuals that can carry earnings.
It jogged my memory of an interview that I did with Dr. Ken Blanchard and Randy Conley after the discharge of their ebook, “Easy Truths of Management: 52 Methods to Be a Servant Chief and Construct Belief”. I first realized concerning the idea of Servant Management throughout a program I participated in years in the past referred to as Management Broward. This system was designed to encourage enterprise leaders to change into energetic group stewards. One of many ideas shared throughout this system was servant management.
If you’re not accustomed to the idea of servant management, right here’s somewhat historical past. Servant management was began within the 1970’s by Robert Greenleaf, director of administration analysis at AT&T. Greenleaf’s job was to check how the very best leaders emerged in organizations. Throughout the identical time, Greenleaf was personally troubled by the scholar unrest on school and college campuses.
So, Greenleaf determined one of the best ways to grasp the youth motion was to learn a novel that was very talked-about with youth on the time. The novel was “Journey to the East” by Hermann Hesse. SPOILER ALERT: “Journey to the East” is a few group of individuals touring to a brand new land. Accompanying the group is their servant, Leo, who takes care of their stuff and sings songs of encouragement. Throughout the journey, Leo disappears. The group struggles to remain collectively and finally disbands. A number of years later, the group realizes that Leo – the group’s servant – was actually their chief.
Impressed by Leo’s character, Greenleaf realizes the important thing to management lies in “serving” (aka specializing in the individuals you handle) and writes what’s thought of to be his most well-known essay, “The Servant as Chief”, which outlines ten primary competencies related to servant management. I’ve highlighted just a few of them beneath.
- Consciousness. Self-awareness of our strengths and weaknesses is important. Leaders should open the doorways of notion and see what’s inside. This may be scary, however it’s essential to supply actuality and see issues in correct perspective.
- Listening. Different management specialists have written concerning the significance of listening. A pacesetter responds to an issue by listening first. We now have to maneuver previous the stereotype that leaders have all of the solutions. The fact is that leaders should be open to admitting that they don’t.
- Empathy. Empathy is straightforward to say however in apply, is actually onerous. Leaders not solely establish with others however settle for them for who they’re. Nice leaders search to grasp variations.
- Dedication to creating individuals. Wonderful leaders assist others change into good leaders. You’ve heard me say earlier than {that a} supervisor’s job is to rent and prepare their alternative. This instantly ties to that. Good leaders aren’t threatened by others and make time to assist the individuals of their workforce develop.
- Foresight. Greenleaf says that leaders can sense the long run. It’s what provides leaders their “lead.” I like to consider this as leaders should use good decision-making abilities. And we should always keep in mind that a scarcity of choice making will be perceived as an moral failure.
- Conceptualization. Leaders articulate a transparent imaginative and prescient with ardour, which engages and energizes the remainder of the workforce. Whereas I’m undecided that we at all times have a transparent imaginative and prescient of the long run, I do consider we will do a very good job of speaking our ardour and intent.
I’ll admit that Greenleaf’s writings have obtained some criticism over time. However in studying his phrases, I discover it wonderful that many years later, many (if not all) of the traits are nonetheless related to management. These competencies is probably not referred to as by the identical title, however the traits are comparable.
It’s a reminder that’s there is no such thing as a clear path to being a very good chief. If there was, we’d all have an index card with the steps to be a very good chief and the dialog could be over. Management takes time and apply. But when there was one factor we might all deal with to enhance our management abilities, possibly first serving the individuals round us is an efficient place to begin.
Picture captured by Sharlyn Lauby whereas exploring the streets of New York, NY
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