Here are my highlights from Ken Blanchard’s – Servant Leadership summit:
Definition of “Servant Leadership” – Leaders who are there for their people. The leadership part is about vision, direction & goals. The servant part is about helping people accomplish the goals (helping them win). The tell-tale signs than an organization is led by servant leaders…are people who are 100% engaged and excited to be there!
- Leaders matter more than ever with the speed at which things are changing and the crises that currently exist
- The ability of leaders to “see” or be “aware” of how things are interconnected and interdependent – whether that is within a team, between teams or across the organizational ecosystem – will determine success in the 21st Century.
- The traditional approach to doing business – generated some money, with huge negative consequences over the short and long term for people, the environment, society etc. The conscious approach to doing business – outperforms the traditional approach financially AND generates multiple positive consequences for people, the environment and society. Click here to see some of the companies who have embraced the conscious approach.
- Leaders are either growing people and building a culture (by focusing on it) or they’re undercutting people and their brand (unintentionally). Being aware of your impact is the starting point to change. To understand your impact, ask people for feedback.
- To build a winning culture that achieves results – everyone needs to know: what game they are playing and why, what does “winning” look like (shared vision), what is their contribution to “winning the game”, how will they behave (shared values) on the way to “winning”? What are the obstacles and who chooses to take responsibility for what? How do we work together so that it is “win-win”?
- Real relationships (open, honest conversations) = unbelievable results
- Understand what people really need
- You want people to choose to grow themselves, to choose to commit and hold themselves accountable
- Decisions are made based on “what is right” for the organization. Not on what is right for the team or individual.
- Building great workplaces for ALL – isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s better for business (growth/stock price, retention rates, engagement levels, attracting talent etc)
Can you make a business case for continuing to do things the way you are? Or are you ready for a new approach? Are you willing to become the leader your team or organization needs to thrive?
