So what is service leadership and why is it important. Service leadership is a leadership philosophy built on the belief that the most effective leaders strive to serve others, rather than accrue power or take control. The aforementioned others can include customers, partners, fellow employees and the community at large.
Service leadership is a leadership style and philosophy whereby an individual interacts with others—either in a management or fellow employee capacity—to achieve authority rather than power.
What is service leadership?
The term was coined by management expert Robert K. Greenleaf in a 1970 essay, “The Service as Leader.” According to Greenleaf, the seminal idea grew out of his reading of Journey to the East by the German writer Hermann Hesse. As defined by Greenleaf, service leaders are not motivated by the traditional manifestations of power:
How Service Leadership Works?
So now that we know what is service leadership let’s look at how the leadership in service works and why is service important in leadership? It seeks to move management and personnel interaction away from “controlling activities” and toward a more synergistic relationship. Service leadership also aims to develop leadership qualities in others. This leadership style requires an individual to demonstrate characteristics such as empathy, listening, stewardship, and commitment to the personal growth of others.
Service Leader Characteristics
Service based leadership approach towards a situation and organization is from the perspective of a service first, looking to lend their presence to answer the needs of the organization and others. Service leaders seek to address stakeholder wants and requirements as their priority, with leadership to be pursued secondarily.
Developing and mentoring the team who follow their instructions, or the clients’ and customers’ needs, take precedence over personal elevation.
Service leadership vs. other leadership styles
So what are the responsibilities of a leader?
The below described are the 10 responsibilities of a leader as “central to the development”:
Listen to others
While all leaders must possess superior communication and decision-making skills, the service leader also must be willing to listen intently to others,
Empathetic ear
A service leader “assumes the good intentions of co-workers and colleagues and does not reject them as people, even when one may be forced to refuse to accept certain behaviors or performance.”
Healer
Service leaders understand part of their leadership responsibility is to “help make whole” employees whose sense of self is precarious or impaired.
Awareness
Able leaders are usually sharply awake and reasonably disturbed,” he said, but are steadied by “their own inner serenity.”
Power of persuasion
Service leaders rely on persuasion, not positional authority or coercion, to convince others. “
Think big and conceptualize
Service leaders must balance between thinking big and managing the everyday reality.
Foresight
In service leaders, the ability to understand the past and see the present clearly to predict how the future will unfold is a key attribute.
Stewardship
CEOs, staff and trustees all have a responsibility to hold the institution “in trust” for the greater good of society.
Commitment to the growth of people
Believing in the intrinsic value of people, service leaders feel a responsibility to nurture the growth of employees.
Build a community
The leader should be aware of this loss propels service leaders to find ways to build community in their institutions.
What are the responsibilities of a service leader?
The main responsibility of a service leader is to manage service teams and ensure that the tools and processes they use are efficient and effective. It’s a broad remit, involving not just people management, but process management.
Using forward planning to anticipate customer demands
Why leadership in service important?
An organization’s product or service may be outstanding, but if the customer’s experience of it is subpar, everything else fades into the background. Satisfied customers become advocates. But dissatisfied ones are more likely to share their experiences and they have many channels to do so.
Customer service is the backbone of any business, especially in the current moment. Customer-centricity has become a top priority. It’s down to service leaders to shape the reputation of their company by leading their teams effectively and developing intuitive, efficient processes for solving customer problems.
As Jack Welch, former CEO of GE, once said, “Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.”
Leading towards a better future
Both businesses and customers depend on effective service leadership – now more than ever. Having ineffectual or inefficient service leadership not only leads to dissatisfied customers, it can lead to an unmotivated workforce. Good service leaders inspire the workers, and they give them the tools they need to succeed. Put the 10 responsibilities of Service Leadership into effect today, and create a stronger workforce for tomorrow.
