Servant leadership

Post Servant leadership

Servant leadership

For years I have been working on the methodical approach regarding leadership, attitudes and coaching. And you subconsciously certainly do it too. In our considerations on how to manage our teams or when sparring with partners in the new virtual present, we test new leadership situations and experience the so-called turning point.

Turning point. That sounds almost spiritual. In fact, we are less concerned with visible transformation of objectives, but more with the ‘uplift’ of mindsets towards focus, concentration and creative power.

A switch in time. We realized – very pragmatically and step by step accepted – that after nine months of a pandemic context, we are at the beginning of something new. The new, that affects our everyday business lives and requires the understanding of leadership as a daily task.

Many new-fangled terms related to ‘agile leadership’ such as Design Thinking, Scrum or Canban, which originate from traditional developments in hypnotherapy, from quality management and organizational development, created new terms such as ‘agile coach’, ‘facilitator’, ‘connector’ and, most recently, ‘servant leader’ – albeit limited to defined tasks. Times changed and former limits escape.

Upgrade. This may almost look like a downgrading of management tasks when the mentioned terms are now applied to people, who previously derived their effectiveness from organizational related hierarchy and established processes.

And no, quite the opposite. To lead people through these restless times of Covid is the noblest task at any level of leadership. It means to serve the whole big one, to lead people out of the small retreat box, we like to escape into in times of crisis, and giving them courage and perspective for the new era.

Yes, it will be challenging.
Yes, it’s uncomfortable.
And it’s exciting, crackling, and appropriate for the moment. Old and new, reality and virtuality blur – virtual reality.

 

Courage. History cannot be turned back. Former Knowledge and experience are needed as well as the ability to separate with cherished rituals and familiar control mechanisms. That makes it uneven and difficult to accept for some. Resistance, sadness and worry are part of the transformation and are a prerequisite for making friends with new things afterwards.

Let’s use this “unfreezing phase” to think new and experiment creatively.
Now show off your skills as a “servant leader”:

  • Provide secureness and reliability through structures, a framework in which growth and creative development can and should take place. Check the “space”, which may enable solutions.
  • Appreciate the contributions of single ones, encourage new perspectives and contributions of your team and colleagues.
  • Support and accompany those who still lack the courage to come forward with ideas or the technical possibilities to adequately contribute.
  • Invent and learn to use new communication channels, analog, digital or hybrid. What is “real”, what is simulation, what is dreaming, what is totally new?

The characteristics and attitudes are “simply but not easy” and briefly summarized

  • Force
  • Enthusiasm
  • Love
  • Flexibility
  • Orientation towards long-term results
  • Emotional intelligence
  • Systemic intelligence
  • Spiritual, conscious, reflected intelligence

Admit to yourself, that you are a learner. Associate with your colleagues, with your team towards a desirable result. Cooperation and the commitment of all of our senses are required.

Be lenient. With others and with yourself.
Be demanding. With others and with oneself.
Be reflective. Observe yourself as you learn and lead in a new context.

 Playful. Supportive. Optimistic. Powerful. You are the role model to which your, our interlocutors orient themselves. This gives leadership a different, social, caring quality – for a different yet promising future.

 Remember: we, the toccaverde team, will accompany you through the new challenges. Safely and competently. Give us a call or write to us.