“The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first.”
Robert K. Greenleaf
Servants are not worried about doing the dirty work.
They are humble enough to bend down, pick up a towel, and clean the feet of those following them.
Servant leaders are out there to serve!
They are out there to stand in front and run ahead while the people follow from behind.
They care about the vision and the people—they know that without the people, there’s no vision.
Servant leadership is one of the most interesting topics in leadership. It is built on a philosophy most modern-day leaders don’t deeply understand, and it takes time to master it—for it to become a habit and a culture because it’s not natural. To be a servant leader isn’t natural.
Servant leaders can’t fail in leadership because failure doesn’t exist in their dictionaries.
If you desperately want to go far in the world of leadership, mastering servant leadership is your secret weapon.
One thing you need to know is that it can’t be faked.
You can’t pretend to be a servant leader.
With time, it will show through the cracks in the wall.
Servant leaders are happy and excited to lead from under and behind.
Leading From Under & Behind
“…Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules, like the one who serves…But I am among you as one who serves…”
The LORD Jesus Christ
Most of what people call servant leadership today is false, fake, and shallow.
The servant leader does not work to please themselves!
They work from under and behind. They don’t only lead by example; they become walking and living examples of what they teach and portray.
Jesus’ last leadership message to His disciples was about how to become great leaders, and the message was a masterpiece about servant leadership—How to lead from under and behind.
Servant leadership puts the followers first. They consider the needs of the followers first before theirs.
This form of leadership does not permit any strand of selfishness within its fabric.
It’s all about putting people first, putting their needs first, and making them important parts of the team or organisation.
“When the leader cares more about the good of the team than his or her own enrichment.”
Hans Finzel
Humans naturally want to dominate and be in front.
We want to be served. We want others to follow our commands and bow down to us. It’s natural and normal for humans, and if you remember, in our definition of leadership, we established that following what comes naturally in leadership produces poor leadership; that is, we can’t follow what comes naturally to become great leaders because we are naturally selfish and look out for ourselves first, while leadership is in the core about self-sacrifice and selflessness.
Don’t do what comes naturally to you.
Herein lies why we have more bad and poor leaders than good because everyone is out there for themselves, and only a few care about the welfare of those they lead.
“Leadership is not about being in charge; it is about taking care of those in your charge”
Simon Sinek
Servant Leadership Is Not Slave Leadership
Servant leadership is about humility and loyalty to those you lead. It’s respect for them and a compromise always to ensure they are cared for.
It’s not about becoming an idiot or a fool for them. That’s entirely different.
In servant leadership, whatever the leader does for the team is done out of a secure understanding of the vision and mission and is done to preserve the culture that will take the team or organisation to where it should be—its goal.
They do everything they do with wisdom and understanding, not because they want to please every need of the follower.
When practising servant leadership, leaders must ensure that they stand firm on what is important to the team and the vision and not succumb to the greedy calls of team members who are only seeking to satisfy their own selves (remember—selfishness is natural in people).
It almost looks as if there’s just a thin line between servant leadership and slave leadership, but when you zoom in on this thin line, you’d be surprised to see that there’s a massive gorge between the two!
What servant leadership is not (culled from Hans Finzel’s book on leadership):
- You serve everyone.
- You do all the dirty work.
- You work 24/7 for the good of others.
- You are weak.
- Others take advantage of you.
- You carry the full load on your back.
- You are a doormat.
- You let others walk all over you.
- You do all the stupid, foolish things they ask of you (I added this myself).
- You do things without first analysing what good it does for the team (I added this, too).
The list goes on, but these are some things a servant leader wouldn’t do or is not.
The servant leader understands the value each person brings to the entire team. If the leader starts to do and be everything, it simply means they don’t trust or have faith in the abilities of others on the team.
Leadership is all about allowing people to become the best versions of themselves.
Even if the people make mistakes or are not as good, the leader allows them to make mistakes, fall, and stand up until they become as good or even better themselves.
Real servant leaders desire to have followers who grow to become better than them.
Sometimes, Followers Have Distorted Expectations
In most cases, as followers, we may not even know what to expect from a leader.
Our expectations may be either too unrealistic or even too low.
Slave leadership is borne out of followers who think leaders are their slaves and are meant to do all that they desire blindly.
Why is this?
It’s simply because most of us learn leadership from bad leadership role models around us.
We’ve seen leaders take advantage of the people, and people also take advantage of the leader, so our understanding of leadership is skewed.
Sometimes, the work of a servant leader is to embody genuine leadership in an attempt to dismantle the bad leadership culture that already exists in the hearts of people.
“Leadership is not about what our people do for us; it’s about what we do for our people.”
Hans Finzel
Shepherd Leader
It’s About Everyone
The servant leader is who they are because they understand that if they take care of everybody in the team, everyone is greater together.
Servant leadership is all about winning together and not just about personal goals and achievements.
In contrast, the hired hand (the opposite of the good shepherd) doesn’t care about the sheep.
If wild animals come to spoil the sheep, he abandons them because he doesn’t care about them.
He only cares about himself. He will never give himself for the sheep.
The servant leader is a shepherd.
The example of using a shepherd in teaching leadership is perfect.
Nothing does it better.
Shepherds are one of the most amazing people on earth.
To understand the shepherd leadership, read the book by Timothy Laniak, While Shepherds Watch Their Flocks.
Shepherding is the perfect embodiment of servant leadership.
If we have more shepherd leaders in our world, the world will gradually become a better place.
How many leaders can lay down their lives for the sheep (their followers) today?
How many shepherds can stand and face wild beasts and not run away?
Most leaders in our modern world are not shepherds; they are hired hands.
They are in it for their career growth and advancement (political or professional). They don’t care about anything or anyone.
They will bolt away when they see the slightest challenge and look for somewhere else to put their head.
The shepherd stands with the sheep in the rain, storm, cold, heat and through any situation.
The Choice Is Yours
It’s hard to live like a servant leader in a world that tends to place too much emphasis on what we can do for ourselves!
It’s all about self-love.
Me first, me second and me third.
The servant leader is the man or woman who will emerge victorious because they are able to bend down and nurture the team’s potential together.
They are able to carry the team along to their destination. They believe in winning together and not winning alone. They believe in every member of the team, even the small or weak members of the team.
While trying to care for their team, the servant leader knows where to draw the line and not become a slave leader who is at the mercy of their followers.
The servant leader is a shepherd.
They will stand with the team and for the team no matter what.
The choice is yours.
Take the servant leader path (travelled by few) or live for yourself alone.
