Good Leaders Must Be Good Servants

"Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve."
—Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Organizations and teams are crying out for effective leaders. The most effective and positive leaders are those that understand and practice the philosophy of "servant leadership." Servant leaders feel their role is to serve others—employees, customers and other key stakeholders.

If you think about the most respected and effective leaders you know, chances are they saw themselves as "serving leaders," not "self-serving leaders." Some of the most notable leaders in history (e.g. Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela) have embraced the philosophy that anybody wanting to be the leader must first be the servant. If you want to lead you must serve.

One of my favorite definitions of leadership is: "the skill of influencing people to work enthusiastically towards goals that are identified as being for the common good." Do you want to be an influential leader? I suggest you learn and apply the following "SERVE" model (based on "The Secret: What Great Leaders Know and Do," by Ken Blanchard and Mark Miller):

See the future
Engage and develop others
Reinvent continuously
Value results and relationships
Embody the values

What it Means to Serve

Seeing the future involves developing a compelling vision that stirs passion within you—and the people on your team. Invite participation from your team members about your team's purpose, values and goals. Consider how you can add value for your key stakeholders, such as customers, employees and shareholders/owners. Give serious thought to where you and the team would like to be several years in the future—then paint a picture of a better future that people can rally around.

Engaging and developing others involves having the right people in the right roles, fully engaged to achieve the future. Identify a person's strengths and find a role that leverages those strengths. I agree with Peter Drucker who said "the leader's objective is to leverage the strengths of people and make their weaknesses become irrelevant." We have many tools available to help develop people—including classes, cross training, special assignments and mentoring.

Reinvent continuously. Embrace the concepts of continuous learning and continuous improvement. Learning and improvement starts with us first—we need to read (including trade journals like this one), attend conferences (such as IPMA), be involved with professional organizations and model the behavior for team members. We need to regularly evaluate our systems and processes and keep asking "can we do it better, faster and for less money? Can we improve the quality of our products and services?"

Value results and relationships. Our job as leaders is to get results that add value to the organization and its stakeholders. But how we get results is very important, and servant leaders realize that people are our most valuable resources, and developing positive relationships is absolutely essential. Servant leaders know that people will not give you their hands until they see your heart. I try to live out my "3 Rs" approach with people in my life:

• Recognize people for who they are and for what they do.
• Reward in tangible and intangible ways whenever you can.
• Respect others, and practice the golden rule.

Embody the values that you and your organization deem important. A great example is how my company (Portland General Electric) survived and even thrived despite being owned by Enron. Our common values were the glue that kept us focused and together: be accountable, dignify people, make the right thing happen, keep a positive attitude, exhibit team behavior and earn trust. Values can drive the corporate culture and provide a strong foundation for developing your vision.

Being a servant leader is rewarding for the people you serve—and for you. Let me close with a quote from Dr. Albert Schweitzer: "I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve." IPG