Servant Synergy

It’s been a while since I posted last, my apologies (insert smile here). I recently provided some workplace capacity-  building development work to the leadership team and staff of a local not-for-profit in the PNW (where I happen to live). What struck me most profoundly during our discussions and our workshops was how powerfully the concept of servant leadership resonated with them, personally and professionally.  More, how refreshing it was for me to “revisit” that style/philosophy. So much so that I’d thought I would devote my next series of posts to the power of Servant Leadership. I’ll follow what Larry C. Spears (former president of the Robert K. Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership) lists as the 10 most important characteristics of servant leaders. The series is titled “Servant Synergy”. Side note: if you Google that phrase, you’ll get many “hits” for an online virtual game…odd, I wonder what Larry and Robert would think of that?

I use the term Servant Synergy intentionally. Synergy is the interaction or cooperation of two or more parts (i.e. organizations, people, substances, etc.) that when combined produce and effect or outcomes greater than the sum of their separate parts. I believe that Servant Leadership in practice and realized in any setting is synergistic and a powerful mechanism for change and building capacity. The 10 servant characteristics proposed by Spears:

1.      Listening

2.      Empathy

3.      Healing

4.      Awareness

5.      Persuasion

6.      Conceptualization

7.      Foresight

8.      Stewardship

9.      Commitment to the Growth of People

10.   Building Community

From “Character and Servant Leadership: 10 Characteristics of Effective, Caring Leaders” by Larry C. Spears, published in “The Journal of Virtues and Leadership, “Vol. 1, Issue 1.

For those readers not familiar with Servant Leadership. It’s a leadership theory developed by Robert K. Greenleaf in 1970. Although this approach to leadership has existed and used for centuries. In a nut-shell as a Servant Leader, you are a Servant first and foremost. You focus on the “needs” of others before your own. Greenleaf developed his theory after reading a novel (printed in the 30’s) by Herman Hesse called, “The Journey to the East”. In particular the actions of one character in the novel named Leo.

I’ll focus on 2 characteristics in each post of the 5-part series. Stay tuned and as always, thanks for reading (insert smile here).

~Bruce