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Servant Leadership Style Explained
Written by Dana Wall-Oakley
Servant Leadership Style just might be the right style for you – Are you a servant leader? Read on for the Servant Leadership Style explained.
For the last few articles in the Classy Business Education series, we have been exploring leadership styles. There are many recognized leadership styles. So far, we have discussed Confident, Democratic, and Visionary. Next up, we take a look at Servant Leadership. As the name suggests, the servant leader serves others. This style emphasizes the needs of the team members first, rather than the leader’s needs first. The servant leader strives to help people grow and make a positive impact on society. The vision becomes “ours” and not the sole vision of the leader. This is very effective in motivating and inspiring your team. Read on for a few tips on how you can make Servant Leadership work for the success of your business.
- Servant Leadership Traits – Great servant leaders typically have good listening skills, empathy, the ability to develop others, good persuasion skills, and “big-picture” thinking abilities. When your team member’s needs are understood, you are better able to meet those needs. You can use active listening, for both verbal and non-verbal cues, to determine which needs must be met. Self-awareness is key for this type of leader to employ empathy and persuasion for team members to engage and be motivated to accomplish the goals of the team.
- Pros & Cons of Servant Leadership – There are many advantages and disadvantages to this leadership style. Some advantages include high morale, strong ethics, motivation, and cooperative decision-making. These advantages could also lead to obstacles or disadvantages. It takes time to establish a true servant leadership style. The team could lose sight of the overall goals and lose motivation if the leader doesn’t use the traits of a servant leader consistently or effectively. Self-sacrificing behavior is a common trait, meaning ego takes a backseat. It’s very difficult to find a leader who is willing to put their ego away and not be demanding and strive for control.
- Improving Servant Leadership Skills – How can you be effective as a servant leader? Servant leaders are more able to make informed decisions by learning from past mistakes. You must be a selfless mentor. Develop a mindset of service and think about other’s needs before your own. Improve your active listening skills. Discover the needs and wants of your team by asking questions. The efficiency of your role as a servant leader relies on helping your team members to grow, be motivated and inspired, and collaborate. This leads to increased teamwork and efficiency as well as personal growth.
Servant leadership can create a beautiful work environment if you know how to use it well. Remember that it should come from a genuine place; people can detect fake and inauthentic servant leaders. Your business can be successful with the use of servant leadership when you use active listening, empathy, and motivation to develop the skills and needs of your team before your own. If you need help figuring out how you can use Servant Leadership in your business, reach out to Classy Communications today. We can help. Contact us at www.ClassyCommunications.net. Please follow us on LinkedIn at Classy Communications PR & Advertising.
