THE GREENLEAF SEMINAR

SERVANT LEADERSHIP

Presented by

Phil Anderson andRebecca Nordeman

© Copyright Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership 2010

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Servant-Leadership Begins with the Desire to Serve

“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.”-Robert K. Greenleaf, The Servant as Leader

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DEFINING THE SERVANT-LEADER Robert Greenleaf’s definition: Hermann Hesse – Journey to the East

It begins with the desire to serve Leader-first vs. servant-first Do those served grow as persons? Concerned for the least privileged

TIMELESS IMPORTANCE OF SERVICE

Judaism Christianity Islam Taoism Hinduism Buddhism Greek–Aristotle Roman– Cicero

Belief and Philosophy

MORE THAN…

Style: Servant-leadership cannot be just a leadership style

Theory: It is based on the theory of servanthood, not leadership

Formula: Neither 50/50, nor 1+1

LIFE AS SCARCITY OR ABUNDANCE

If we choose scarcity, then it’s a matter of competition, selfishness, and uncaring

If we choose abundance, then it’s a matter of how to share and serve

THE DESIRE TO SERVE

“The purpose of human life is to serve and to show compassion and the will to help others.”

~Albert Schweitzer

THE DESIRE TO SERVE

“Life’s most persistent and

urgent question is: What

are you doing for others?”~Martin Luther King, Jr.

THE DESIRE TO SERVE

“I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.”

~Rabindranith Tagore

THE ULTIMATE GIFT - STOVALL

“In the end, a person is only known by the impact he or she has on others.”

“The only way you can truly get more out of life for yourself is to give part of yourself away.”

Servant Leadership Is Ethical

“The potential of hierarchy to corrupt would be dissolved if leaders chose to serve those they led – if

they saw as their job as Leader – as true service.”-Robert K. Greenleaf, The Servant as Leader

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POWER–SERVICE PARADOX

POWER (leader-first) Neither moral nor

effective Make people do

things Grabbing and taking Coercion Few can lead Personal agendas

SERVICE (servant-first) Both moral and

effective Help people do

things Giving and sharing Persuasion Any and many can

lead Personal goals

SERVANT LEADERS

EXERCISE: Think of a servant-

leader you know Share with

somebody next to you about who you chose and why

SERVANT-LEADERS

Famous Servant-Leaders Washington Lincoln Harriett Tubman

Fictional Leaders Atticus Finch Neo/Mr. Anderson

People we know

POWER MODEL PROBLEMS Having it, not using it

wisely It’s about gaining more Promotes/glorifies conflict Leaders become

irrelevant It’s all about maintaining

power

There’s never enough

GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER

Born a slave in Missouri Loved education – ISU On to Tuskegee Institute Brought hope and

“scientific agriculture” to the South – “lowlands of sorrow.”

Discovered over 300 uses for peanuts, never patented any of his discoveries, to be free to all

CARVER’S BELIEFS

“Lift as you climb” “How far you go in life depends on your

being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and the strong. Because someday in life, you will have been all of these.”

“It is simply service that measures success.”

CARVER’S LEGACY

Dr. Carver’s epitaph perhaps sums up his life best:“A life that stood out as a gospel of self-forgetting service. He could have added fortune to fame, but caring for neither, he found honor and happiness in being helpful to the world.”

SERVANT-LEADERS… Can gain power without seeking it because

people trust them Are the best type of leaders to take an

organization through a period of change Facilitators, coordinators, healers, builders

Are driven by involvement with other people Process and product

DECIDING ON POWER

What decision will enhance my power?

What decision will make me look good?

What decision will help me beat my rival?

What decision will impress the boss?

DECIDING ON SERVICE

Whose needs are we trying to meet?

If we decide to meet this need, who will suffer negative impacts?

Who should be involved in this decision?

Is the decision consistent with our values and mission?

Servant Leadership Is Practical – What Do Servant Leaders Do?

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SEVEN KEY PRACTICES OF SERVANT-LEADERS

Self-Awareness Listening Developing your

colleagues Coaching, not controlling Unleashing the energy

and intelligence of others

Changing the pyramid Foresight

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Dr. Kent Keith, The Case for Servant Leadership

Self-Awareness:“...having a deep understanding of one’s emotions, as well as one’s strengths and limitations and one’s values

and motives...People with strong self-awareness are realistic...they are honest with themselves about

themselves and...with others.”

Goleman, Boyatzis, & McKee, Primal Leadership

1. SELF-AWARENESS

“. . . If you don't have self-awareness, if you are not able to manage your distressing emotions, if you can't have empathy and have effective relationships, then no matter how smart you are, you are not going to get very far.”

~Daniel Goleman

EQ

SOCRATES INJUNCTION

Know Thyself!

HONEST SELF-EVALUATION

“Would you be green,

or would you be red?”

STRENGTHS VS. WEAKNESSES

BEWARE THE “80% FACTOR”

“At least 80% of the information the brain works with is information already in the brain . . . Information relayed from the outside accounts for only 20% of what we use to create a perception.”~Humberto Maturana & Francisco Varela

DISCOVER WHAT MAKES YOU COME ALIVE?

“Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

~Howard Thurman(1899-1981); Author, Philosopher, Theologian, Educator, Civil Rights Leader

SELF DISCOVERY: A LIFELONG JOURNEY “The art of being yourself at

your best is the art of unfolding your personality into the person you want to be...

Be gentle with yourself, learn to love yourself, to forgive yourself, for only as we have the right attitude toward ourselves can we have the right attitude toward others.”

~Wilferd A Peterson (1900-1995); author

DIFFERENT DRUMS AND DIFFERENT DRUMMERS

“Our Similarities bring us to a common ground; Our Differences allow us to be fascinated by each other.”~Tom Robbins, essayist, novelist

Listening:“...only a true natural servant automatically responds

to any problem by listening first.”-Robert K. Greenleaf

2. LISTENING

Key to understanding how to meet the needs of others, guessing just doesn’t work well

“Curse of Knowledge” Made to Stick, Dan and Chip Heath

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EXERCISE:DIFFERING PERSPECTIVES

LISTENING

Scott Peck – “We can truly listen to him or truly hear her only out of emptiness.”

Meg Wheatley – “Listening is such a simple act. It requires us to be present…”

LISTENING RECHARGES US

“Listening is a magnetic and strange thing, a creative force. When we really listen to people there is an alternating current, and this recharges us so that we never get tired of each other. We are constantly being re-created.”

–Brenda Ueland Author

DIALOGUE Collaborative Common Ground Gain

Understanding, find meaning

Possibility of better solutions

Many pieces from many places

Oppositional Winning Find flaws and

arguments Defend “the”

solution One right answer

and someone has it

DEBATE

CONVERSATION PARADOX

LISTENING

“We must be silent before we can listen.

We must listen before we can learn.

We must learn before we prepare.

We must prepare before we can serve.

We must serve before we can lead.” ~William Arthur

Ward

LISTEN

REFLECT

CONNECT

LET’S GET GOING

Developing Your Colleagues“...the work exists for the person as much as the person

exists for the work.”-Robert K. Greenleaf

3. DEVELOPING YOUR COLLEAGUES

“The greatest good you can do for another is not just share your riches, but to reveal to him his own.

~ Benjamin Disraeli

WOULDN’T YOU LOVE TO WORK FOR AN ORGANIZATION LIKE THIS?

[Organization X] provides an environment

that nurtures the learning, growth,development, and performance

excellenceof all members.

YOU DO!

OUR VISION

Austin Compliance provides an environment

that nurtures the learning, growth,development, and performance

excellenceof all members.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR MANAGEMENT

Identify barriers to performing our work and achieving our goals

Listen to suggestions for eliminating those barriers

Acknowledge & reward exceptional achievements

Providing all employees with frequent, constructive, actionable feedback as well as positive reinforcement and acknowledgment of work well done

Celebrate team and individual accomplishments

Encourage open dialog, creativity, and innovation.

PAY RADICAL ATTENTION!

COURAGEOUS CONVERSATION

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AN INTERVIEW WITH ANDREW CARNEGIE

“…Find the vein of gold…”

THE UBUNTU ETHIC

“A person with Ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed.” ~Desmond Tutu

THE UBUNTU ETHIC

“Sawu Bona”“Sikhona”

Coaching, Not Controlling“Good coaches listen to you, encourage you, and help

you learn what you need to do to get better.”-Katie Grubb, age 10

LEGENDARY COACH JOHN WOODEN

“Effective teaching is intrinsic to effective leadership…”

“If you don’t think of your team as a family, why should the team think of you as head of the family?”

COACHING, NOT CONTROLLING

Chester Barnard: authority rests in the hands of the receiver of the signal

Meg Wheatley: Organizations are not machines but dynamic living systems in which relationships count

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THE SERVANT LEADER – JAMES AUTRY Six Things Leaders Do:

Not about controlling people; it’s about caring for people

Not about being boss; it’s about being present for people and building a community at work

Not about holding on to territory; it’s about letting go of ego, bringing your spirit to work, being your best and most authentic self.

AUTRY – WHAT LEADERS DO…

Less concerned with pep talks and more concerned with creating a place in which people can do good work, can find meaning in their work, and can bring their spirits to work

Leadership, like life, is largely a matter of paying attention

Leadership requires love

EFFECTIVE COACHES:

Help others identify their goals. What is it THEY want to accomplish?

Help others identify the barriers or challenges to reaching their goals. What stands in the way?

Help others remove these barriers, including those that are self-made and organizationally oriented. What do they need to move forward? How can you help them get it?

Help others gain and use feedback effectively for improvement and growth. What can I learn as I move forward?

Coaching is about their vision for themselves, not your vision for them!

JOHN WOODEN’S PYRAMID OF SUCCESS

For more detailed information visit: www.coachwooden.com

Unleashing the Intelligence and Energy of Others

“Everybody can be great. Because anybody can serve.

You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve....

You don't have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve.

You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

5. UNLEASHING THE ENERGY & INTELLIGENCE OF OTHERS

A special word of thanks to Dr. Kent Keith,CEO, Greenleaf Center for Servant

Leadershipfor the

DEMISEof the

“E WORD”!

AVOID WASTE! ENCOURAGE FULL ENGAGEMENT

“Not unleashing the energy and intelligence of others is extraordinarily sad and wasteful . . . It doesn’t make any sense to have lots of people in an organization, but let only a few people – those at the top – use their full potential.”

~Dr Kent Keith CEO, Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership

YOU WANT TO UNLEASH THE ENERGY & INTELLIGENCE OF OTHERS!

United States Air Force Academy Graduation Ceremony - May 26, 2010

Photo by Paul Walker

I’m sure glad the hole isn’t in our end!

MICHELANGELO’S MISSION

“…TO FREE THE ANGEL FROM THE STONE…”

"Great leaders have the strength to abandon themselves to the wild ideas of others . . .”

~Max DePree, Leadership Is An Art

Changing the Pyramid:The servant-leader articulates a vision, then inverts the

pyramid.Leading at a Higher Level, Ken Blanchard

QUESTION:

Why do organizations exist? What is their purpose?

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Organizations exist to serve. Period.

Leaders live to serve. Period.

TOM PETERS, MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT

CHANGING THE PYRAMID

In the traditional pyramid, the workforce is focused on the boss, not the customers or clients

If everyone is looking up, who is looking out?

How much do you really see? Or know? Or learn?

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FROM PYRAMID TO PROGRESS A pyramid is lonely at the

top – natural relationships are all skewed

Wooden: “When you start having all the right answers, you will stop asking all the right questions”

When people focus forward – Southwest Airlines

PITFALLS AT THE PINNACLE

Don’t get isolated – build a new team Do those below you filter or inform? Do you trust them or direct them?

What if it’s the wrong direction? Or there’s a better way?

You are still subject to the success or failure of those in other places on the org chart

Do you truly have what it takes to be a “power of one?”

WOODEN: “IT TAKES TEN HANDS…”

It takes all the team’s hands

If you have an great idea, bring it, but be prepared to own and lead it

Leadership matters, so does followership

“The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team.”

SERVANT-LEADER AS A CHANGE AGENT Change is disruptive

“All progress is change, but all change isn’t progress.” – Coach Wooden

“…we suffer together, but never choose in common.”

Dr. Benjamin Barber

Is change more inherently disruptive to servant leaders or power leaders?

Foresight“Foresight is a better than average guess about what is

going to happen when in the future. It begins with a state of mind about now...”

-Robert K. Greenleaf

7. FORESIGHT

"All we have to decide is what to do with the time

that is given us.” ~ Gandalf

The Fellowship of the Ring

J.R.R. Tolkien

“FORESIGHT IS THE CENTRAL ETHIC OF LEADERSHIP”

“The prudent [leader] is (s)he who constantly thinks of ‘now’ as the moving concept in which past, present moment, and future are one organic unity. . .”

“Foresight is the ‘lead’ that the leader has. Once (s)he loses this lead, and events start to force his/her hand, (s)he is leader in name only.”

WHY ROBERT GREENLEAF AND PETER SENGE MAKE MY HEAD HURT

“We’ve come to believe that the core capacity needed for accessing the field of the future is presence. We first thought of presence as being fully conscious and aware in the present moment. Then we began to appreciate presence as deep listening, of being open beyond one’s preconceptions and historical ways of making sense . . .

Ultimately, we came to see all these aspects of presence as leading to a state of “letting come,” of consciously participating in a larger field for change. When this happens, the field shifts, and the forces shaping a situation can shift from re-creating the past to manifesting or realizing an emerging future.

~Peter Senge Presence: Human Purpose and the Field of the Future

WHAT THIS ALL COMES DOWN TO . . .

AWARENESS, REFLECTION, and INTENTIONALITY

are fundamental in order to for a Leader to exercise

wise FORESIGHT.

LEADING THROUGH TIMES OF “CRISIS”

A YOUNG REVOLUTIONARY’S DEFENSE

"During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to the struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But, if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”

Nelson Mandela addressing his accusers from the dock at the opening of the Rivonia Trial April 20, 1964

A TRUE VISIONARY’S FORESIGHT“The time for the healing of the wounds has come.

The moment to bridge the chasms that divide us has come.

The time to build is upon us. . .

We enter into a covenant that we shall build the society in which all South Africans, both black and white, will be able to walk tall, without any fear in their hearts, assured of their inalienable right to human dignity - a rainbow nation at peace with itself and the world.”

~Nelson Mandela’s inauguration speech May

10, 1994

WE ARE ALL CONNECTED

“Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect.”

~Chief Seattle (1780-1866); Leader of the Suquamish and Duwamish Native American tribes

SHACKLETON’S ANTARCTIC ADVENTUREA STUDY IN SERVANT LEADERSHIP

Can you think of a time when you were

really, REALLY COLDAnd

really, REALLY MISERABLE?

MEN WANTED

Men wanted for hazardous journey.Small wages.Bitter cold.

Long months of complete darkness.Constant danger.

Safe return doubtful.Honour & recognition in case of return.

London, January 13, 1914

500026+1

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634!

“When disaster strikes and all hope is gone,

get down on your knees andpray for a Shackleton.”

~Sir Edmund Hillary

What Behaviors, Qualities, etc. distinguish

Exceptional Servant Leaders

and enable them to buildExceptional Teams

that accomplishExtraordinary Things?

SHACKLETON’S ANTARCTIC ADVENTUREA STUDY IN SERVANT LEADERSHIP

What Behaviors, Qualities, etc. distinguish

Exceptional Servant Leaders

and enable them to buildExceptional Teams

that accomplishExtraordinary Things?

SERVANT LEADERS GIVE AWAY THE CREDIT“No words can do justice to

their courage and their cheerfulness. To be brave cheerily, to be patient with a glad heart, to stand the

agonies of thirst with laughter and song, to walk beside Death for months and never be sad – that’s

the spirit that makes courage worth having.

I loved my men.”~ Sir Ernest Shackleton

Servant Leadership Is Meaningful

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WHAT GIVES YOU PURPOSE AND MEANING?

“The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.”

~Mitch Albom (author, Tuesdays with Morrie)

WHAT’S HAS VALUE? MEANING?

“Not everything that

counts can be measured.

Not everything that can be measured

counts.” ~Albert

Einstein

THE PARADOXICAL COMMANDMENTS STORY

Kent Keith wrote the Commandments in 1968, when he was 19 and a student at Harvard University, as part of a book for student leaders.

THE PARADOXICAL COMMANDMENTS STORY

Used by millions of people around the world Tweaked, modified, Anonymous

Dozens of books have cited them Mother Teresa had them up on the

wall of her children’s home in Calcutta (c. 1995)

A growing network of kindred spirits Servant-leaders understand the

Paradoxical Commandments

ANYWAY

1. People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. Love them anyway.

It’s just plain common sense…to some

2. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Do good anyway.

Why would you do that? Because it’s the right thing to do!

PARADOXICAL COMMANDMENTS

3. If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.

Drawn to power and money

4. The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.

Did you really waste your time?

PARADOXICAL COMMANDMENTS

5. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway.

Respectful and candid, not callous

6. The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds. Think big anyway.

Steven Jobs and Steve Wozniak, Apple, upon the invention of the personal computer

PARADOXICAL COMMANDMENTS

7. People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs. Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

Hoosiers Movie

8. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.

Building bridges

PARADOXICAL COMMANDMENTS

9. People really need help but may attack you if you do help them. Help people anyway.

10. Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you have anyway.

THE PARADOXICAL COMMANDMENTS

THEIR MEANING

Finding personal meaning in the face of adversity

“Personal declaration of independence”

“No excuses” policy Facing the worst in the world with the best in ourselves

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IRS AUSTIN COMPLIANCE SERVICES

“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.”

-Robert Greenleaf, The Servant as Leader

Self-Awareness

Listening

Developing Your Colleagues

Coaching, Not Controlling

Unleashing the Energy & Intelligence of Others

Changing the Pyramid

Foresight

Because I want to deepen my journey as a Servant Leader…

1. I will:

This will help me to be a more effective Leader because:

Others could help me by:

2. I will:

This will help me to be a more effective Leader because:

Others could help me by:

3. I will:

This will help me to be a more effective Leader because:

Others could help me by:

ON MY LIFE JOURNEY, I WILL…

Physical Spiritual Mental Social

Work life Home Life Play Life Learning

Life

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SUMMARY…

Servant leadership is ethical, practical, meaningful, and its works in business

Serving others is not just something you do–it’s what life is about

Be a servant-leader and look back on a life filled with meaning

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TASHI DELEY