October | 2018 | entropyHed

Servant Leadership

This is a long post

I’ve been thinking a lot over the last couple weeks about the political situation in the US and why it is bothering me so much. I think whichever side you land on we can all agree that our government is not working well for us. I think part of the reason is that the behavior I’m seeing from our representatives doesn’t align well with what I have always considered to be good leadership. As part of being a dad and having a son in Scouting, I had the privilege of participating in the teaching of new leaders in the troop on how to be good leaders. My favorite section is the one titled servant leadership. This is where I’m experiencing the most dissonance. Following this I have lifted from the guidance text the servant leadership section. I do wish our representatives followed these guidelines. I’m not naive enough to discount the pull of power and money, but we can still expect them to have our interests at the heart of what they do…and punish them when they fail us.

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Introduction to Servant Leadership

Discussion: Lead a discussion of why Scouts should choose to be leaders. Ideally, the Scoutmaster leads this section.

Most Scouts will very quickly tell you that they would rather tell people what to do than be told what to do. That is human nature, not just the nature of a Scout. But leadership in the troop is not about the title or even about being the person doing the telling.

It is about a choice to lead. It is about a choice to give rather than to receive. What we need to build into the makeup of our Scout leaders is the concept of servant leadership. We trust effective leaders because they care about us and about helping others succeed. That is the true role of a leader—helping other members of the troop succeed. Servant leaders understand what success looks like not only for the group but for each member of every team. They do everything they can to help the troop and each member succeed.

Servant leaders help the troop through day-to-day operations and through all the chores and tasks that must be accomplished. Duties are delegated and roles assigned. Troop leaders help manage this process. They focus on how to make every member successful in assigned tasks so that the troop will come together quickly as a team.

Servant leaders want to lead because they know they can help make a difference and provide a better experience for every individual.

Reflection: Lead a discussion about servant leadership. Use open-ended questions until the teaching points are all brought out. Sample questions:

• What do you think the phrase “servant leadership” means?

• Why do you think Scouting encourages us to be servant leaders?

• What does that mean to you? How can you be an effective servant leader in your role?

• Is servant leadership focused on the team, the individuals, or both/all?

• What do you think other members of the team think of a good servant leader?

• How can a Scout serve as a servant leader? What are some examples?

Some key teaching points:

• Servant leadership is about making the choice to lead, to give more than you receive, and to make a difference.

• Effective servant leaders care about others, about helping others succeed, and about making the group successful.

• It is important to build up the idea and value of servant leadership in our Scout and adult leaders.

• A good group leader is focused on the success of the members of his team—as individuals and as a team. Servant leaders understand what success looks like not only for the team as a whole, but also for each member of the team.

• Group members can see when a leader cares about their needs and is focused on their success. That service earns him the group’s respect. When he has that respect, the Scout has earned the title and role of leader.

• A troop leader who seeks to serve knows his troop members well enough to help them succeed, helps his troop through its day-to-day operation, manages and delegates troop duties, focuses on how to help all members be successful in their assigned tasks, and works to bring the troop together as a team.

• Servant leaders want to lead because they know they can help make a difference and provide a better experience for every individual.

The Servant Leader

What is the relationship between a leader and the team? Many people’s first reaction is to state that the team “works” for the leader, performing tasks for one person. When this happens, the leader isn’t simply a leader, but more like a “boss” or an “owner.” Many people don’t want to be part of a team that works this way, and they’ll only join them for the sake of external rewards, like a salary.

In a true team, the leader is one part of the team, and this role isn’t necessarily any more important than the role of any other member. Being a team leader means accepting responsibility for the team, its members, its objectives, its reputation, its morale, and more. Being a team leader means serving the team.

When a leader recognizes that he is responsible to the team (and not the other way around) and acts accordingly, he becomes a “servant leader.” Servant leaders lead teams that people want to join. Servant leaders use a variety of leadership styles based upon the needs of the team and its objectives.

A servant leader needs to enable the success of those led, remove barriers for them to the best of the leader’s ability, and create an environment for the team to succeed.

Many of the leadership examples you’ve seen in your lives aren’t servant leaders, they’re “bosses” and “commanders.” These kinds of leaders are rarely chosen by a team’s own membership to lead them but are imposed from outside. The modern workforce is making this kind of leadership less valuable. As people become more skilled and capable, they expect more respect for their actions and capabilities, more input into decisions, and more interactions with their leaders. They need more service.

In your lives today and in the future, you will have many opportunities to lead. If you accept the role of a servant leader, you’ll find that teams will seek you out to lead them, your advice and opinion will be sought, and your team members will also grow and succeed.

To be a servant leader to a high-performing team, you’ll need to listen carefully: Be attuned to the people around you, and empathically understand what they’re thinking. The servant leader knows his team’s capabilities and desires.

At the same time, servant leadership is more than just a consensual approach. Leaders need to lead— to set direction and lead team members in that direction. Sometimes they need to hold team members to account, to make tough decisions that some won’t always like, and to encourage (push) people to excel. Sometimes, this is uncomfortable—for the leader and for team members. If leaders don’t do this, however, teams may become too “cozy”; they may lose their edge and start to fail their customers—the real reason teams exist.

From a point/counterpoint perspective, servant leaders:

• Need to listen and know when the time for discussion is over.

• Achieve consensus and know when to preserve things that are good without foundering in a constant storm of question and reinvention.

• Set/maintain standards and know when to reject what does not maintain those standards or the team vision.

• Serve their customers and know how to make a difference with the team.

Please think about how you can be a servant leader in your current role in the troop.

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Month: October 2018

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Servant Leadership