The 5 Habits of Highly Effective Servant Leaders
Average leaders deliver results.
Servant leaders develop people who deliver results.
The 5 Habits of Highly Effective Servant Leaders
#1. Know and support a development plan for each team member.
Average leaders focus on the short-term bottom line. Servant leaders take the medium-term view by developing people.
- Ask each employee to develop a personal development plan.
- Align personal aspirations with organizational goals.
- Maintain individual responsibility by choosing a coaching approach.
- Use development plans during 1:1s.
#2. Practice mutual accountability.
You are as accountable to them as they are to you.
- Build trust by publicly declaring your commitment to support the development of each team member.
- Confront helplessness. Promote responsibility.
- Agree on shared goals and timelines.
#3. Choose behaviors that reflect humility.
Think of humility as a practice, not a feeling.
Humility earns respect, promotes collaboration, encourages continuous learning, and advances personal contribution.
Explore humility here: How Humble Leadership Really Works
#4. Connect with customers actively.
Servant leaders deliver value to customers.
- Expect everyone to define connection with customer value.
- Connect with customers systematically, even if you’re in a support role.
- Share stories of customer value you delivered either directly or indirectly.
- Ask, “What are we learning from our customers?” during team meetings.
#5. Expect more from yourself than you expect from others.
Your pursuit of high standards invites respect. The ability to inspire hinges on your example.
- Show up on time, prepared, and focused. Rush says people don’t matter.
- Seek feedback specifically and systematically.
- Accept responsibility. Never blame.
People don’t rise to low standards.
What servant leadership habit is most relevant for you today?
Still curious:
Big Shot, Bureaucrat, or Servant Leader
The Top Signs You’re a Servant-Leader
Servant Leadership PowerPoint.pptx
“The danger of authority is the tendency to expect more from others than you expect from yourself.” This is so true. I feel like most leaders start out well and put the well-being of their employees high on the their list. But, success can sometimes pollute us. We start reaching for recognition and we forget about the essential things we did that helped get us into leadership (mainly, investing in our staff’s emotional, relational, and professional advancement).
The seduction of power is pervasive. People who say they don’t feel it might have already given in to it. It’s so easy to make self-serving decisions when we can blame others for failure.