Surveys are showing that people
are losing trust in leadership in all areas of our society. This lack of trust
is creating an increasing gap between leadership and the people they are
leading making it harder for leadership and the employees to come together and
achieve the results needed to sustain a competitive advantage for the business.
Here are some recent survey results that show how bad this gap between
leadership and the workforce has become:
Ø 65% of workers would
choose a better boss over a raise (Forbes.com 2012)
Ø Only 35% of people are
happy in their job (Forbes.com 2012)
Ø The majority of people
said they trust a stranger more than their boss (Harvard Business Review
2009)
Ø Fewer than 40% of
employees are motivated by their supervisor to give their best (DDI 2012)
The definition of INSANITY
is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results! Many
leaders are very frustrated in their roles because they are not finding
the joy and happiness they thought having a title and being able to tell people
what to do would bring. Many thought a title would make it easy to lead people
because their people would just do whatever they were told. What a surprise
when these leaders found that it’s not really about titles but about influence
which is earned over time by our actions and relationships with those we lead.
Many companies do not have the
right training process in place that can help leaders become the kind of leader
that energizes, motivates, mentors, and helps their people discover and reach
their potential. Most training programs seem to be just about giving out
some information instead of bringing about real change in their leaders.
Training and teaching are one of the most important ingredients for a business
to find real success. If leaders aren’t growing, it isn’t likely their people
are either.
What Leaders Need To
Understand To Become An Effective Servant Leader
We get what we allow to
happen as leaders. We must learn to be honest with ourselves, to look in the
mirror first before we start looking for others to blame. Self-awareness is the
strength of a servant leader. It helps them see how their imperfect moments
and actions (which we all have) impact their people. It helps them be
honest with themselves as to who they are and what do they need to do
differently to grow their people.
If we want our people to
change we must model the behavior we want to see in our people. We must teach
and coach them not just tell them what to do and then go back to our
offices and hope they change. Hope is not a strategy!
Leaders must transfer ownership
for the work and results to those who do the work and insure those closest to
the action are involved in decision making. This is so they not only feel
responsible, but also be responsible for the results. This is hard for many
leaders because they have been taught that they must be the smartest person in
the room and come up with all the answers. Then we wonder why leaders always
feel overwhelmed and left with no time to get to the things that are really
important for growing their people and business.
In a servant leadership
environment LEADERS cannot have their
people waiting on them to tell them what to do. Help your people
use their personalities, brains, passion and abilities. As their leader, see
their diversity of skills, personalities, and talents as a major strength
to be developed and nurtured. If you don’t see or understand their
differences, you will end up “leading generically” which means you put everyone
in the same box. Diversity requires us as leaders to use different disciplines
and motivations based on the needs of our people. It requires that leaders
build relationships with their people so they get to know who their people
really are.
Simply put in the business world
servant leadership helps companies and leaders move away from the “boss” model
which is about self and making people do things, to the “servant” model
of helping people accomplish things. It’s about seeing people’s
potential. Servant leaders make a difference in the lives of those who walk
through the door each day to produce products and serve customers. Servant
leaders help their people feel a part of something bigger than themselves and
accomplish more than they ever thought possible. Real servant leadership builds
an environment of trust and respect between leadership and their people.
Servant leaders recognize that their workforce comes to work with their dreams,
skills, goals, and potential for achieving something great and the role of
leadership is to help them reach and discover their potential and help their people
grow.
Servant Leaders And Their Five Keys for
Energizing Their People And Business Results
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1. Honesty is at the heart of servant
leadership. Honesty must first start with the leader. They must set the
example. Are you honest with yourself as to how you are leading and how you
see and treat people? Do you really
know how your people view you? Are
you making a difference in people’s lives as a leader? Do they trust you?
Are they following you as their leader? If not, why not? Do you truly have
a desire to serve and care for your people? The ultimate question they ask
themselves, “are my people growing in their job and as people.”
2. Commitment to each other, the business your customers,
and the community. In a world that seems to become more selfish by the day,
commitment seems to be lost or short lived in many areas of our life. In
places where I have seen a real commitment to excellence and results,
people are treated very well. In companies where commitment is lacking,
leaders don’t spend time with their people, the right kind of communication
doesn’t exist and leaders have a very authoritative leadership style which
means my way or the highway style
of leadership.
3. Teaching is the engine for great servant leadership and
any successful continuous improvement process. Teaching is what changes
people and cultures. Teaching is about change where training many times is
just about providing some information. Leaders who teach are in the trenches with their people. They
model the correct behaviors and work ethic. They spend time with their
people which say, “I care about you.” Teaching says to your people I trust
you to make decisions for yourself and the business. Teaching also creates
future leaders capable of thinking and making decisions instead of always
relying on their leader. It also helps you the leaders discover the people
you can delegate things to so you have more time to spend with your people.
4. Expectations tell your people the what, who, when, where and if necessary the how so there is
no guessing about what work, actions, and measurements are in place and are
acceptable. Great leadership and continuous improvement are all built
around people knowing what to do, how to do it and then working as a team
to meet the expectations that have been established. It’s not about doing
things faster, but doing them better with less waste and improving how you
meet customer’s needs. Expectations require ongoing communication. The real
kind that is person to person not some e-mail that gets lost in the long
list of e-mails waiting on a response.
5. Accountability at the end of the day is about
responsibility for the results and the success that was agreed to. Often
when working with companies and leaders, I ask how people are held
accountable for the results. This is when I start seeing that deer in the headlights look. It is an area many companies of all sizes
struggle with. Not because they aren’t working towards plans and goals, but
because when they come up short and miss the plan, they are embarrassed
because nothing really changes. Yes there might be a couple of meetings in
the conference room or between departments and after the meeting a few
people get chewed on, but the big question for most businesses needs to be
“What changes MUST we make to insure we correct the issues, problems, and
challenges that caused us to miss our
plan. Too often businesses spend a lot of time on the symptoms and not
the root problems. When it comes
to accountability servant leaders aren’t looking for people to blame, they
are looking for what areas need more teaching, coaching and help to bring
about improvement.. They are trying to determine what next steps in the
expectations and accountability process
Final Thoughts
For real change to take place senior leadership must be truly committed. Everyone must realize
this is a journey and will take some time, learning and teaching that never
ends. Communication and feedback is a must for its success; two-way between
leadership and the workforce. Honest and open. Make resolving conflict job one because there will be plenty as you
implement change. Expect some skeptics in the workforce. Remember, they
have seen your imperfect moments.
You will have to prove to them you are changing. Keep working to remove the
barriers that keep people and the company from reaching their goals. If you
and your people can capture the vision for servant leadership, you will
notice a change in how people speak and listen to each other. You will see
more patience and the setting of expectations and accountability by
everyone for the results. Also when
you lay your head on your pillow at night to go to sleep; you will start to
feel less stress and frustration knowing you and your company are helping
people discover and reach their potential. This will give you the true joy
and happiness all of us desire; the kind that is achieved by making a
difference in the lives we have been called to lead and impact. This is the
kind of joy and happiness money, job titles, power and fame can never buy.
Try it you will like it and so will your people!
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