I am a technology leader. I break the job down into three parts:

1. Ones and Zeros: This is the technical aspect of the job.
2. Dollars and Cents: This is the managerial aspect of the job.
3. Flesh and Blood: This is the people part.

Of those three, the Flesh and Blood is by far the hardest. The humans are always more difficult than the machines and spreadsheets. As I was making my way through my career, I really wanted to learn the most effective way to lead people, so I spent three and a half years in graduate school doing just that. After all of that study, I concluded that servant leadership is the best way.

Before I get into what a servant leader is, let’s start with a fundamental question:

What is a Leader?

We all bring a lot of connotation and past experiences to that question. We’ve all had leadership demonstrated to us in one way or another. Be introspective for a moment and consider what and who has shaped your definition of leadership.

1. Is a leader all about being the loudest? Sometimes, the way our politicians debate you may think leadership is all about getting in the last word and being heard. If you are quiet, does that mean you are not a leader?
2. Is a leader the smartest? Leaders have the answers. They are the go-to-person when you need something figured out. If you aren’t the smartest person in the room, then are you the leader or is someone else?
3. Is a leader the one with the most authority? What’s your title? How many direct-reports do you have? What’s your budget? What’s your signing authority? Are these the measures of a leader? If you lack these measures does that mean you aren’t a leader?
4. Does a leader need an outgoing personality? Are you the life of the party? Are you popular at the office? Do you have a charismatic charm that attracts people to you? If instead you are introverted and reserved, do those traits disqualify you for leadership?
5. Is leadership all about winning? Are you the top salesperson? Have you won the most accolades? Have you put up better numbers than all of your peers? Then by definition, you are the leader, right? Everyone else is a follower, correct?

What if all of that is wrong? What if your conceptions of leadership are in-fact misconceptions? What if leadership doesn’t depend on these artificial constructs, but is something more basic and fundamental? If that’s the case, then what is leadership, really?

Leadership is Influence

Influence can come from:

1. Being quiet, using few words, and choosing them wisely.
2. Having average intelligence, but being smart enough to know where to go for insight.
3. Having no formal power, but acting as a catalyst of collaboration across a network of people.
4. Being an introvert, and able to form fewer, but deeper relationships with people.
5. Coming in second or third place, while meeting the needs of others on the team and building trust.

Leadership is influence. Influence comes from service.

Servant leadership takes the traditional organizational model and flips it upside-down. Leadership exists to support the teams. The teams exist to serve the customers.

This is the attitude that a Servant leader brings to work:

“The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first.” – Robert Greenleaf

Robert Greenleaf popularized servant leadership as a modern leadership concept in the 1970’s, but the origin goes back much further. Jesus Christ turned the world upside down with his counter-cultural approach to leadership.

“Jesus called them together and said, ‘You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’” –  Mark 10:42-45 NIV

Perhaps you that think servant leadership is one of many legitimate leadership styles. Some choose servant leadership, others choose command and control. They are all good. I disagree.

“I’m tired of hearing about servant leadership because I don’t think there’s any other kind of leadership. Servant leadership is the only leadership. All else is economics.” – Patrick Lencioni

Servant leadership is about creating a culture where people feel safe inside the organization. This concept cannot be adequately explained in a short quote. Please take the time and watch this compelling TED talk from Simon Sinek:

Servant Leadership at Work

A few people in an organization practicing servant leadership is not enough. It takes a critical mass to create an environment of safety and trust. Each of you play a role. Each of you have a homework assignment. Take one of these and put it into action this week. For extra-credit, grab two:

1. Contribute to the needs of others. Put your 29 #1 priorities aside for a moment. Help someone else accomplish their goal. People are struggling and floundering all around you. Give one of them a hand, even if it’s not on your priority list.
2. Delegate and empower. Give someone else a job. Allow them the freedom to do it their way. This isn’t just something you don’t want to do, but something that will be a development opportunity for someone that needs it.
3. Resist the urge to use positional power. Keep that trump card in your pocket. We all have authority that comes with our job titles, even if it isn’t managerial. Calling upon positional power shuts down the conversation. Find other ways to influence.
4. Put relationships over tasks. People all around you are stressed out by work and hurting from stuff in their personal lives. Be a friend to someone that needs it. Just be intentional and you will see the opportunities.
5. Be vulnerable. Showing your own flaws helps others feel safe inside the team. It makes you more approachable and will make it more likely that people will honestly share the problems they see.

This stuff isn’t easy. It’s hard to do when times are good. When it’s crunch time, or you are going through a crisis, it may seem impossible. However, that is precisely when servant leadership is most critical.

Thanks for going on this journey with me. Good luck with your servant leadership. The more of us that practice this, the more powerful it becomes.