Servant Leadership: What It Is and What It Is Not
Servant leadership is often misunderstood as being soft or saying yes to everything. At its best, it means leading by helping people become more capable, and holding a high standard while you do it.
Servant leadership is an approach where the leader’s first priority is the growth and wellbeing of the people they lead and the communities they serve. In practice it means listening first, removing obstacles, developing people, sharing credit and putting the team’s success ahead of personal status. It is not the same as being permissive. Servant leaders still set clear expectations, make hard decisions and hold people accountable, because helping people grow requires honesty.
My dad taught me to always be kind to everyone and to serve others. He was the guy who would pull over to help when a car was broken down, and the person who was there whenever someone needed him. I did not have a word for it then, but much of what I believe about leadership started with watching him. I wrote about him in What My Dad Taught Me About Serving Others.
Servant leadership is the idea that great leaders serve the people they lead. It sounds simple. It is often misunderstood.
What servant leadership is
At its heart, servant leadership asks a different question. Instead of how do I get more out of this person, it asks how do I help this person become more capable, more confident and more prepared for what is next. The leader’s job is to listen, remove what is in the way, develop people and create the conditions for the team to succeed.
Clearing up common misunderstandings
- It is listening first. It is not avoiding decisions.
- It is removing obstacles. It is not doing everyone’s work for them.
- It is developing people. It is not protecting them from feedback.
- It is sharing credit. It is not avoiding responsibility.
- It is high support. It is not low standards.
- It is serving the mission. It is not pleasing everyone.
What servant leadership is not
Some people hear servant and picture a leader who says yes to everything, avoids conflict and never asks much of anyone. That is not service. Support does not mean lowering the standard. It means giving people the coaching, clarity, tools and belief to reach it. Compassionate leadership is having the conversation people need to hear, not what they want to hear.
What it looks like day to day
Servant leaders go to where the work happens and ask what is getting in the way. They fix the obstacles they can. They make time for one-on-ones and future conversations. They give credit publicly and take responsibility when things go wrong. And they measure their own success by how much the people around them grow.
Why it works
People follow leaders who they believe care about them. You can have a great vision, but if people do not believe in the person, they will not buy into the vision. Servant leadership builds the trust that makes everything else possible, and it tends to create teams that stay, grow and perform. Managers account for at least 70% of the variance in team engagement, according to Gallup research.
Leading by serving is central to my leadership workshop, You Are Capable of More: Leadership. See also What Supportive Leadership Really Means and Success and Significance.
Servant leadership means putting the growth and wellbeing of your people first: listening, removing obstacles, developing people and sharing credit. It is not permissive. Servant leaders still set high standards and have hard conversations, because helping people grow requires honesty.
Frequently asked questions
What is servant leadership?
Is servant leadership weak?
What are examples of servant leadership?
Why is servant leadership effective?
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