The Servant Leader in the New Normal
The 3 Main Points for a Better Leadership after 2020
At the beginning of 2020, unaware of how strongly hit we would be by the pandemic, I founded a biotech company. Obviously, it did not start well. Things look worse than the worse scenario in the business plan. How am I reacting? I discovered servant leadership and I am reframing the situation with it. You can give up or try to understand what you are doing wrong, this might be the good mindset to do so.
The “servant leadership” movement was introduced by Robert K. Greenleaf in the 1970 in his essay :
“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, perhaps because of the need to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire material possessions…The leader-first and the servant-first are two extreme types. Between them there are shadings and blends that are part of the infinite variety of human nature.”
Unfortunately, many people in charge were often driven by narcissism or by acquiring material possessions. 2020 brought a pandemic, a large anti-racist protest, economic depression, and new mental health issues. In what we call “the new normal”, the constant reactive mode and isolation have brought the worse in many people. Contraction economy, selfish behavior, and fight-or-flight response might be what we call “the new normal”. Managers and Leaders are probably the major culprits as they are the first hit by stress and responsibilities.
A possible way to recover the damage is to increase and promote servant leadership. With servant leadership, you’re a “servant first” — you focus on the needs of others, especially team members, before you consider your own. According to Larry C. Spears, these are the 10 most important characteristics of servant leaders:
- Listening.
- Empathy.
- Healing.
- Awareness.
- Persuasion.
- Conceptualization.
- Foresight.
- Stewardship.
- Commitment to the growth of people.
- Building community.
Those are not Pollyanna words, or a pinky way of seeing leadership. A five-year research project showed that the essential ingredient for taking a company to greatness is having an extreme personal humility blended with an intense professional will.
Considering the the past 2020, we can tune those principles in 3 acting points:
1. Re-focus Your Team on a Higher Purpose
Since the pandemic started, many organizations and companies lost sight of their vision in favour of emergency mode. They contracted their workforces, fired or reduced working hours employees, and so on. Most likely, at the same asking more engagement by the employees. Is that possible?
Not really, those are not actions that inspire great engagement. Inevitably, when there is a scarcity of funding or sales business can not continue as usual. Nevertheless, when things go wrong, it is really important to protect employees, serve customers with excellence, and the deep purpose of the company. Re-focus on purpose might be the best way to go through tough times, rather than asking to the survivors to improve performance despite the cuts. In a small startup as the one I am involved, the principal thing is to admit my mistakes and re-evaluate our purpose.
2. Remind the servant role of leader(s) and find alternative to lay-off
Inverting the hierarchy is always a good idea, to show the emergency level of servant approach really exist. Reinforcing a flat structure (even if only temporarily) is a good a way to align to other cofounders and employees, instead of staying in the ivory tower. When people feel supported, they bring their best selves to the task at hand, and the organization can ride this productivity boost toward achievement.
If nevertheless cuts have to be performed, the SHRM foundation suggested the following alternative to layoff:
- Eliminate overtime.
- Offer voluntary retirement.
- Freeze salaries.
- Cut salaries.
- Delay raises.
- Freeze hiring.
- Cancel business trips and costly perquisites.
- Postpone or eliminate bonuses.
3. Prioritize Health and Wellness
Misinformation, panic from media, alarms, new genetic variations… this information pandemic not necessarily is good for mental health, apart raising valuable concerns for health.
In this mess, it is crucial for a leader to step in, fight misinformation or unclear status, but show that we care for the health of employees. With health we refer also to mental health. A home office approach, self-isolation and life on Zoom have advantage and disadvantage. A proof of leadership is also to check for the mental status of employee.
A healthier workplace provides a powerful motivation for both workers and employers, which will reward this effort with loyalty and enhanced problem-solving. As reported by the WHO Healthy Workplace Framework and Model, describing the relationship between health and wealth.
In summary, purpose, humility and empathy are the keys. Showing genuine interest for the cause of stress, anxiety, and demotivation and minimize these issues, it is the best way to create a virtuous circle within organizations. Empathy, importantly, is not passive. During and after a crisis, it is essential to listen to the stories of those most affected; seek to understand and identify with their struggles; and then make them feel heard and validated by working to improve conditions. Leading with love and being a servant is the pivotal aspect to be used striving in the new normal, improving quality of work and being happier.
References
WHO Healthy Workplace Framework and Model
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