Episode 005: How Servant Leadership Can Transform Your School’s Culture

What is Servant Leadership?

• Simply put, Servant Leadership is a leadership style where the leader’s number one priority is to serve others.
• Their number one priority is not to lead. 
• Their priority is not to make the business more profitable. Their priority is not to make the employees follow the employee handbook.
• A servant leader’s first priority is to serve others.
• It is not easy. It meant that I had to set aside my ego. It meant that I could not just rely on my authority as Principal or Division Head. It meant that I had to always put others first, even when I didn’t feel like it. 
• Have I done it perfectly? No. But it has transformed me as a leader and my teams and my school and I cannot stress strongly enough how much people desire to be led in this way. 
• We are emotional beings and we want to be led with Emotional Intelligence. We want to be led by someone who actually cares about us as a person.

• So Servant Leadership means to serve first and lead second.

• To elaborate on that, I’m going to quote Robert Greenleaf here. He says, "Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants?"
• Greenleaf also said, “I serve because I am the leader and I am the leader because I serve.”

The desire to serve others has to be authentic or your teachers and teams will see right through it. This is not a tip or trick or a hack. This is a way of life.

Big Takeaways:

OK, let’s hit the big takeaways from today’s episode.

• Servant Leadership is a lifestyle and not a leadership hack. 
• People don’t want to work at a top down, command and control, “do it because I said so” organization. They want to feel emotionally safe at work.
• A servant leader serves first and leads second.
• There are five characteristics that an effective servant leader displays.
• Those five characteristics are: First, a true servant leader is humble.
• Second, display integrity at all times.
• Third, a servant leader is passionate about helping others grow.
• Fourth, if you want to be an effective servant leader you encourage participation that makes people feel safe. You can do this through being approachable, visible and having a predictable mood.
• Fifth, you inspire others through influence rather than position.

You can click here to find a ton of resources.

If you implement these strategies at your school, I would love to hear from you! Send me a quick note at [email protected] and tell me about it. I can answer your questions and I’m also good at giving pep talks when you get stuck!

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Music by Twisterium from Pixabay