Serving While Leading

First of all, I want to wish a very happy July 4th to my family, my friends, and to the men and women who serve in both the Armed Forces and as First Responders.  We should all feel so blessed to have each of you placing your lives on the line daily to protect our freedom and keep us safe.  Thank you.

Now, to my blog entry this week...

I love my family.

Both of my children are older (23 and 20). Nevertheless, they still enjoy going and doing things with mom

and dad, and we love doing things with them. They are an absolute pleasure to be around, and are growing into fantastic adults. Our daughter (23), is in her second year of her masters/doctoral program, and will

become a college professor when she graduates. Our son (20) is in his third year of his firefighter/paramedic program, just completed a 2 year residency service at our local fire department, and will someday be a paid firefighter and paramedic. Paid is good! Both of them serve as lifeguards at various public pools. They have saved people’s lives on numerous occasions while living their lives in an ethical manner. For the most part, they do the right thing at the right time (this is me being a critical parent!). When their friends need someone to talk to, they listen and show genuine empathy and love. They are fine examples of young referent power and future leaders; all through the servitude of their fellow man. They are my heroes, and I am proud to call them daughter and son.

Each week, I have read multiple chapters as part of my leadership curriculum. Each theory, style, or leadership type possesses very similar goals. Whether it is trait, contingency, path-goal, or leader-member exchange (LMX) theories; skills, style, or situational approaches; transformational, servant, or authentic leadership; all focus on one thing: how we, as leaders, communicate with people.

Of all of the leadership styles and theories, I have a real connection with servant leadership, and think it is a

big deal. A really big deal. Those who are servant leaders exhibit skills such as listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to the growth of people, and a commitment to build communities to make them stronger. Is there any skill associated with servant leadership that you feel is not essential to being an effective leader? I would argue that there is not, because one of the beautiful things about servant leadership is that it is inclusive of every key criterion necessary for effective leadership.

When I think of servant leaders, I think about people who give their love, support, and amazing sacrifice of themselves in support of people and causes. Examples include Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandala, Martin Luther King Jr, the Dalai Lama, the Prophet Mohammed, and of course, Jesus Christ. One of the greatest things we can do as leaders and as people in general is to care for our fellow humans. While some of us can be a tad narcissistic at times, at the core of our being must lie the need to help each other out, raise each other up, and to give everyone an opportunity to shine as much as he or she wants to. No exceptions.

Servant leadership is about helping people shine. At its core, this form of leadership is focused on the behaviors of the leader and their ability to put the needs of their employees first through the use of empathy, empowerment, nurturing, and ethical behavior. Servant leadership was first discussed by the late Robert

Greenleaf, who was the director of management research for American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T). At the time, Greenleaf was considered by AT&T to be the “conscience of the company”, as he taught that “servant leadership begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first… to make sure that other people’s highest priority needs are being served”.

Serving the needs of your employees will result in happier, more content people. One of the benefits you will

see is higher retention of staff. If you are placing our employee’s needs first, and are successfully fulfilling those needs through empathy, empowerment, nurturing, and ethical behavior, you will see happier employees, less work days lost to illness, and the opportunity for greater employee retention. You will still have employee turnover, as some employees will take the support you provide and run with it. They will shine like a new penny and ultimately move on and accept advancement opportunities that are presented to them. This is not only ok, it is a great thing! As a leader, whether you are a parent, manager, supervisor, or director, your role is to help your followers learn, grow, seeking to fulfill their dreams and aspirations.

This is our ultimate goal.