I remember my first ‘Management’ course back in the early days of my career. Of course, many things have changed, including the change in language from Management to Leadership.
The typical type of top-down leadership is outdated, and, more importantly, counterproductive. By focusing too much on control and the end goals, and not enough on their people, leaders are making it more difficult to achieve their own desired outcomes.
The key, then, is to help people feel purposeful, motivated, and energized so they can bring their best selves to work. I have found in my career that overall, most people come to work to do a good job and want to do a good job and be recognised for it. If they don’t know how their results are recognised as successful, they could become despondent and more than likely leave the organisation.
There are many ways to help people achieve their best at work, one of the best ways is to adopt the humble mind-set of a servant leader. Servant leaders view their key role as serving employees as they explore and grow, providing tangible and emotional support as they do so.
Good leaders have the humility, courage, and insight to admit that they can benefit from the expertise of others who have less power than them. They actively seek the ideas and unique contributions of the employees that they serve. This is how servant leaders create a culture of learning, and an atmosphere that encourages followers to become the very best they can. I had the privilege of leading many teams across both Europe and Asia and I have always been astounded at some of the amazing ideas and problem-solving solutions that have come from some of our youngest and junior members of the team.
Humility and servant leadership do not imply that leaders have low self-esteem or take on an attitude of servility or lack of knowledge and skill. Instead, servant leadership emphasizes that the responsibility of a leader is to increase the ownership, autonomy, and responsibility of their people, to encourage them to think for themselves and try out their own ideas, and in some cases, learn from their mistakes.
Ask how you can help employees to do their jobs better — then listen
It sounds deceivingly simple, rather than telling employees how to do their jobs better, start by asking them how you can help them do their jobs better. It goes without saying that they need to have the skills and tools to do their job and to know what their KPI’s are or what success looks like.
What it comes down to is this, employees who do the actual work for your organization often know better than you how to do a great job. Respecting their ideas and encouraging them to try new approaches to improve work, encourages employees to bring more of themselves to work. An employee that feels safe, supported, valued, mentored and acknowledged for their work will generally go above and beyond for the company.
Sometimes the best way for leaders to serve employees and their organization is to create a low-risk space for employees to experiment with their ideas. By doing so, leaders encourage employees to push the boundaries of what they already know.
Leaders often do not see the true value of their people, especially “entry-level” workers. But when leaders are humble, show respect, and ask how they can serve employees as they improve the organization, the outcomes can be outstanding. And perhaps even more important than better company results, servant leaders get to act like better human beings.