Corporate E-Learning

Servant leadership can seem like a contradicting term, but it is becoming a very popular tool in many businesses. Servant leadership is a philosophy that involves focusing on others (i.e. your employees), and focus on their success, and in turn build better professional relationships that can benefit both manager and employee. Servant leadership shows that managers can be great leaders while boosting their employee’s confidence and further their success at the same time.

Servant leadership is a business philosophy that emphasizes the act of the leader, such as a manager or supervisor, focusing on the growth and development of their employees and ensuring their success. In doing so, the leader succeeds when their employees do. In a business team, servant leadership can not only help employees achieve and grow, but it can also benefit their leaders and the company as a whole.

There are many different types of leaders and each one has a different method and approach to handling conflict and success. However, many leaders often blend different style types together in order to find the right mixture for their employees. A leader must be able to recognize their own characteristics and styles, as well as the employee’s personality and attributes in order to determine what style of leadership will work best.

For some leaders, learning to share the power can be one of the hardest obstacles they face. After all, leaders are supposed to have a sense of power and use it when they can! But a servant leader knows that when they share the power with their employees, learn to be empathetic and share successes with employees, they in turn gain more power in the end and become an even better leader.

There are many qualities and characteristics that define a servant leader, including good listening skills, empathy, power of persuasion and great communication skills. Although a servant leader may develop or follow different leadership styles, they must all possess some of these main qualities and characteristics in order to become a great servant leader to their employees.

We’ve covered a lot of qualities and characteristics that make a great servant leader, but it is just as important to recognize what can hinder someone as well. Servant leaders are meant to encourage growth and promote confidence in their employees, but delivering excessive criticism, demanding action from employees and simply refusing to engage with them can create the complete opposite effect.

A good leader knows that every member of the team brings a unique talent and aspect to the group. Every employee should work together and complement each other’s skills in order to get work done efficiently. But a leader but also be aware of any challenges a team may face, such as clashing personalities, and be prepared to step in and remedy any situation.

Motivation is an important tool to use in the workplace because it keeps employees uplifted and inspired to keep moving forward. But every employee responds to different methods of motivations, so the leader must be able to know what makes their employees tick and what works for them. Employees work best in an environment where their feel their leader is behind them and gives them a good reason to do great work.

Being a mentor can sometimes be lost in terms such as ‘manager’ or even ‘coach’, but mentors are a valuable tool to many workplaces. Mentors can be helpful to new employees or to employees who have begun to lose confidence in their work. A good leader must also take on this mentor role and ensure their employees are getting the boost they may need.

As a servant leader, one of the best qualities you can possess is the ability to instill servant leadership into another leader. Training future leaders takes many processes and cannot be completed overnight. Take the time to teach great values for a leader, such as a desire to serve, the ability to be empathetic, and the knowledge of how to motivate employees.

When the day is done and the employees have gone home, where does that leave you – the servant leader? While it is important to take care of your employees and help them grow to succeed, you cannot forget to help yourself grow and pay attention to what you want to gain or achieve. A servant leader has to have a desire to serve not only others, but themselves.

Although this workshop is coming to a close, we hope that your journey to learning about servant leadership is just beginning. Please take a moment to review and update your action plan. This will be a key tool to guide your progress in the days, weeks, months, and years to come. We wish you the best of luck on the rest of your travels!