Servant

What is your value system?

servingThis statement on serving sounds good and makes perfect sense or does it? So many quotes such as these pass our desk on a daily basis and in most cases we nod our head in agreement….but do we really believe it? Do we really practice it?

We presume that we are doing all the things we learnt, but are we? In truth leadership can become like driving a car. The longer we have been driving the more bad habits creep into our driving ability. We drive while texting or talking on our phone, we change lanes without indicating, we drive with one hand on the steering wheel, we sometimes forget to check our blind spots and can have many other bad habits. In fact our driving skills are only truly exposed when we have a learner driver wanting to learn how to drive from us. We may be able to teach the basics, but they will have to do things very differently if they want to pass the test. In fact we may even adjust some of the things we are doing whilst teaching them, purely because we suddenly become consciously aware of a bad habit we had developed.

Leadership is the same. We allow bad habits to creep in and unless we do an audit on ourselves we may not be consciously aware that we are actually being ineffective leaders. For this reason I highly recommend that leaders of people read leadership books and speak to other leaders. If possible they should go on leadership refresher courses. Yes, you may say that you learn nothing new. However that is just arrogance and shows how little you really know. Rather identify whether the lesson you have heard before is actually in operation in the way you lead. Ask yourself, “Am I doing this?”. Look for the gold nuggets that will make you a better leader. Get back to the basics. The only way we can become servant leaders is by learning that we need to serve those that follow us to the best of our ability and also understand that our skills can and will improve if we commit to a lifestyle of humility and learning.

Have a very blessed day.

Are you a servant leader?

ThankLeadership you for the difference you have made in my life. Thank you for supporting me when I was down and out. Thank you for inspiring me to greater heights. Thank you for all the opportunities that you bought my way. Thank you for believing in me. You have been a God send in my life.

Statements like these encourage the leader to keep going. They are a source of joy to the leader as they realize that all the work has paid off. True greatness in leadership is not measured in how much “stuff” the leader has achieved but rather in how many “lives” the leader has impacted in a “positive way”. Have you as leader served and developed your team members? Have you impacted their lives positively? This is the true measure of success in leadership.

Kevin Hall is 100% correct in his statement that “a life of significance is about serving those who need your gifts, your leadership, your purpose”. When a leader serves their team the whole focus of their being is how can I better the lives of my team members better. This attitude generates good will and like a smile freely given causes another to smile, so the leader that serves causes those been served to want to do likewise. This is true leadership; this is the type of leader I personally love to be led by.

What type of leader are you?