Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Transformational Servant Leadership -- Facets

Having considered the foundation of transformational servant leadership, let us now consider its facets. It is a transformational journey that encompasses (borrowing a framework from Blanchard and Hodges, 2005):

o The motivation of the heart
o The perspective of the head
o The behavior of the hands
o The practice of habits

Let us quickly look at each of these facets.

1. The Motivation of the Heart
Most leadership books and seminars focus on the leader’s behavior and try to improve his/her leadership style and methods. That is, they attempt to change leadership from the outside. That objective is misguided. Effective leadership starts on the inside. It is a heart issue. If one does not get the heart right, then we simply won’t ever become transformational servant leaders.

The primary question you have to ask yourself is: “Am I a servant leader or a self-serving leader?” That is, “Do you seek to serve or be served?” Self-serving leaders never bring themselves to subjugate their own needs to the greater ambition of something larger and more lasting than themselves. Work will always be first and foremost of what they get – fame, fortune, power, adulation, etc. Work will never be about what they build, create and contribute. Secondly, self-serving leaders do not invest in succession planning. They view such an investment as a threat. Finally, self-serving leaders think they should lead and others should follow.

Transformational servant leaders, on the other hand, have a completely different motivation. They view their leadership as an awesome responsibility that affords them a position of trust and stewardship to take care of those entrusted to them – their staff and the company they work for. They build, create, and contribute to something that is larger and more lasting than themselves. Finally, they realize they came into the world with nothing and will leave with nothing.

Jim Collins mentioned this “heart” in his seminal work -- “Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't.” In this book, Collins examined companies that went from good to great by sustaining 15-year cumulative stock returns at or below the general stock market, and after a transition point, cumulative returns at least three times the market over the next 15 years. Among the many characteristics that distinguished these companies from others is that they all had leaders that directed their ego away from themselves to the larger goal of leading their company to greatness.

2. The Perspective of the Head
The journey of transformational servant leader starts in the heart with motivation and intent. Then it travels through the head, which is the leaders’ belief systems and perspective on the role of the leader. Transformational servant leaders have a specific point of view related to themselves and to others.

o View of Self
A transformational servant leader, first, dies to himself/herself. They sacrifice themselves to a higher good or yield to a legitimate authority. Quite often it means doing what you don’t want to do. Sometimes it means going down with the ship so that others may live. Second, they realize that the beginning of followership is getting to zero. That is, it is realizing that you don’t know everything and open yourself to the possibility of being remade into something more (Donnithorne, 1993). Third, a transformational servant leader is capable of performing a self-analysis in order to know their strengths and weaknesses. They “know” their mistakes, but see them not as failures, but as learning opportunities.

o View of Others
A transformational servant leader also has a specific point of view related to others. They believe everyone has dignity. Everyone is a child of God. Everyone deserves respect. Everyone deserves to be elevated. Secondly, they do not consider themselves to be superior to those underneath their authority. Thirdly, they avoid the trap of being proud for getting to where they are at. They know that they didn’t get themselves here. They know that others helped them, encouraged them and assisted them to get to where they are now.

3. The Behavior of the Hands
That which is in the heart and in the head, must be practiced. Your motivations and beliefs must affect your actions. What are some examples of how one can “practice” transformational servant leadership?

o Invite feedback. One of the operative principles of coaching is giving feedback. Managers need to turn the tables on themselves and invite their employees to give them feedback, too. But before they can do this, they must spade the ground. Asking for feedback from subordinates without proper preparation is akin to pulling a knife on them. Of course they will tell you what you want to hear. Leaders must make it safe for their people to offer criticism as well as advice. When done properly, it builds trust.

o Encourage dissent. Part of feedback is dissent, a disagreement with the central point of view. For leaders, dissent is a good gut-check as well as a lesson in humility. As with feedback, when you make it safe for people to voice a discordant note, you get other points of view. Accept dissent as a form of humility.

o Temper authority. Power comes with rank but you don't have to pull it to make it work for you. You can encourage others to make decisions by delegating authority and responsibility. Encourage your people to write their own performance objectives and set team goals. Allow them to make decisions. Your authority comes in the form of imposing order and discipline.

o Acknowledge what others do. Few have said it better than legendary Alabama coach, Paul "Bear" Bryant. "If anything goes bad, I did it. If anything goes semi-good, we did it. If anything goes really good, then you did it. That's all it takes to get people to win football games for you." Practice that attitude always, especially when things are not going well, and your team will rally together because they want you to succeed. In short, humility breeds humility.

o Turn failures into lessons. Mistakes give rise to the need for humility. Instead of trying to cover mistakes up, leaders need to publicize them. Not for the sake of retribution, but for the sake of education. According to the Wall Street Journal, Eli Lilly, the pharmaceutical company, took a second look at a cancer drug that had failed in human trials. Researchers at Lilly understand that the scientific method involves a degree of trial and error as well as failure analysis. The result is that mistakes can be turned into successes; the failed drug was modified and is now used to treat another form of cancer.

o Expect humility in others. Humility breeds humility. A good example of this practice is a Buddhist monastery. There all the monks work in support of the community and in pursuit of a oneness with their humanity and their spirituality. A sense of personal humility is a key to self-understanding that in turn leads to greater awareness of the wholeness of life. In other words, if you show humility, you can ask and expect others on your team to do the same.

o Demonstrate confidence. Too much humility can erode self-esteem. Ego is essential to leadership because it breeds self-confidence. If anything, leaders must demonstrate confidence, a sense that they can do the job. What leaders need to realize is humility need not be oppositional to confidence but rather supportive of it. Confidence is not simply about self, but can grow to embrace the entire team. That is, leaders can, and should, feel more confident knowing they have the support and the resources of others with which to do the job. And if the team is not right, then it is the leader's job to make it so through job training, personal development and augmentation of people with other skills.

o Don’t be first. First is not necessarily a bad thing, however being first can come across as competitive, self promoting or demoting of others. None of those things are common for a humble person. In a group or workplace, if you don’t be first to speak, participate or get involved, you give others a chance to be first. This can be very humbling for several reasons. You may see that others have better or smarter ideas than you had in the first place, you’re not the only one capable of the task or message and that you aren’t necessarily needed as much as you would like to think you are. These are very humbling realizations so if want to learn to be more humble, next time you have a chance to be first, don’t!

Jim Collins supports this truth in his best-selling leadership book Good to Great. According to Collins, when things are going well for typical self-serving leaders, they look in the mirror, beat their chests, and tell themselves how good they are. When things go wrong, they look out the window and blame everyone else. Great leaders, on the other hand, are humble. When things go well, they look out the window and give everybody else the credit. When things go wrong, these servant leaders look in the mirror and ask, What could I have done differently to allow these people to be as great as they could be?