You're leading with a servant mindset. How do you ensure the organization's success remains a top priority?

Leading with a servant mindset requires balancing the growth of team members with the overarching goals of the organization. This can be achieved by aligning team goals with organizational objectives, prioritizing high-quality results, fostering a culture of accountability and excellence, and empowering team innovation. Building strong relationships with stakeholders through transparent communication is crucial for ensuring alignment and support. Additionally, it is important to focus on sustainable long-term success while remaining agile to adapt to changing organizational needs. Ultimately, effective servant leadership harmonizes team development with the organization's strategic priorities, ensuring continued success for both.

Leading with a servant mindset means prioritizing the needs of your team while keeping the organization’s success at the forefront. Here are some strategies: 1. Empower Your Team: Provide resources and support to help team members excel. 2. Clear Vision: Communicate the organization’s goals and how each role contributes. 3. Foster Growth: Invest in professional development and continuous learning. 4. Encourage Innovation: Create a safe space for new ideas and risk-taking. 5. Measure Impact: Regularly assess team performance and its alignment with organizational objectives. 6. Lead by Example: Demonstrate commitment to the organization’s mission and values.

I believe active listening is essential in servant leadership and creates a culture where team members feel heard and valued. By engaging deeply with their ideas and concerns, you foster collaboration and align individual goals with the organization’s objectives. This not only strengthens team dynamics but also drives innovation and success through open dialogue and feedback.

Active listening is one of the hardest soft skills to find, and one of the easiest to develop! Here are some tips on how to be a better listener. Be Present: Eliminate distractions and focus on the speaker. Ask Questions: Use open-ended questions to delve deeper. Reflect and Summarize: Paraphrase to ensure understanding. Avoid Interruptions: Let others finish before responding. Validate Emotions: Acknowledge and empathize. Give Constructive Feedback: Offer thoughtful, actionable responses. Encourage Diversity: Seek and value different viewpoints. Follow Up: Act on discussions and check back for further needs. Observe Nonverbal Cues: Pay attention to body language and tone. Create a Safe Space: Foster an environment of openness and trust.

I use a bold, direct approach here: I remind everyone that the success of the organization we are working for creates an entire ecosystem of success for stock holders, clients, employees and utterly the society. And also the fact that some people has invested in this idea for money. This needs to be said loud and clear and not hidden or modestly suggested. Not accepted, becomes the big elephant on the room. Then I will fear not to overcommunicate as a leader, and with simplified language, all that I can share with teams and leaders. I will invite them to join the "what" discussion, once the "why" conversation has been addressed. People usually know where we have to fine tune, it's only a matter of listening and empowering them.

As a leader, I believe that the success of an organisation is driven by its people. When people are well supported, the results tend to fall into place. For any high performing team or organisation, there are 2 components at play: Catalysts and Nourishers. Catalysts are the goals, objectives, the tangible metrics that are an indicator of how the team performs. Nourishers are the intangible things- psychological safety, trust, sense of belonging, connection that enable people to thrive in their environment and deliver on their goals. As a leader, you need to provide the right balance of catalysts and nourishers to achieve high performance.

To empower others as a servant leader, consider using the following approach: Encourage Autonomy: Allow team members to lead projects and make decisions. Provide Development Opportunities: Offer training and mentorship to build skills. Recognize Achievements: Acknowledge and celebrate their successes. Foster Open Communication: Create channels for feedback and ideas. Support Risk-Taking: Encourage trying new approaches and learning from failures. Facilitate Collaboration: Promote teamwork and shared goals. Bonus tip: always always always GIVE CREDIT.

To develop people as a servant leader, follow these steps: Understand Goals and Strengths: Have one-on-one meetings to discuss career aspirations and create personalized development plans. Provide Training and Resources: Offer access to relevant training programs, workshops, and learning resources. Mentorship and Coaching: Connect them with mentors and schedule regular coaching sessions. Assign 'Stretch' Assignments: Give challenging projects that push their boundaries, expanding capacity. Encourage Autonomy: Delegate significant tasks and empower decision-making. Regular Feedback: Offer actionable feedback and celebrate achievements. Create Growth Opportunities: Facilitate career advancement and professional networking.

Shared vision is a powerful tool to ensure your team has a sense of ownership to the organization’s overall goals and objectives. Working with teams that understand the value of their work and its contribution to the larger organization has proven to be more engaged and dedicated to their work, knowing that the value of their work has a larger and meaningful impact that goes beyond them as an individual.

But How? Storytelling: Use engaging narratives and success stories to illustrate the vision and its impact. Visual Aids: Represent the vision with infographics, charts, and vision boards. Regular Updates: Discuss progress in meetings and provide regular progress reports. Involve the Team: Involve team members in collaborative goal setting and create feedback loops. Celebrate Milestones: Acknowledge achievements and implement recognition programs for contributions. Consistent Messaging: Reiterate the vision and ensure all communications align with it. Lead by Example: Demonstrate commitment and passion for the vision to inspire your team.

Promote teamwork and collective effort towards common goals, making the team more resilient and effective. Emphasize authenticity, accountability, and integrity, as these values are essential to servant leadership. Cultivating a culture of community through genuine connections is the most effective way to build a cohesive and successful team. Be vulnerable and appropriate. Have a baseline of professionalism while encourgaing a fun environment. Create daily updates by charing birthdays, milestones, and life outside of work. Create opporunitites for Employee Resource Groups or events/clubs/committes that bring together larger groups into smaller intimate ones!