Servant Leadership

 

A fellow superintendent shared a quote that resonated with me.

“…the highest form of leadership: servant leadership.  They give you what you need.  They have hard conversations.  They hold you accountable. They push you outside your comfort zone.  And they do all those things from their heart, because they care about you.” - Steve Jones and Lucas Jadin

 It made me consider not only my role as superintendent, but the role of ALL educators.  We are all servant leaders in every sense.  The only difference is WHO we directly lead.  Some lead adults.  Some lead children. The form and function of that leadership is the same.  

When you first read the quote, it is apparent that those are the qualities of a great leader.  It describes someone who can lead people to become the best versions of themselves.  Hopefully, that is the experience that we would want for our children and for ourselves.

However, when the quote is broken down into individual parts, the challenges of servant leadership become apparent.

1.  - They give you what you need.

Often, people confuse what they WANT with what they NEED.  This can lead to feelings of frustration when our WANTS are pushed to the back burner.  To the person it can feel like lack of support, lack of care, and outright meanness. This coupled with the fact that, all too often, what we NEED is unpleasant.  Laundry, taking medicine, and exercising regularly are all things I don't WANT to do, but I definitely NEED to do.  When I am forced to do them, I immediately feel mistreated.  It isn't until I see the results of these actions that my view of them begin to change.

2. - They have hard conversations.

No one likes being told that their actions (or inactions) aren't up to standard.  It can feel like a personal attack.  Especially if the individual is personally invested in a particular method or construct.  Often they have invested a lot of time and sweat equity in these actions.  To be told that these efforts aren't working is a difficult pill to swallow.  

3. - They hold you accountable.

Accountability can feel like oppression if the person has never had that experience.  Often leaders will hear the following: "I'm being picked on.", "I feel like I'm being targeted.", "I've been doing things this way for 10 years and no one had an issue with it until now."  This can lead to feelings of resentment and outright dislike for the leader and/or organization.  It is human nature to put our personal feelings and comfort ahead of the overall welfare of the organization and the people we serve (the students).  

4. - They push you outside your comfort zone.

It is called a comfort zone for a reason.  It feels good.  It feels safe.  When we take away comfort, feelings of stress and anxiety are natural responses.  It is very difficult to surrender our comfort.  Our feeling of comfort comes from a feeling of certainty.  The things that we are certain about lie at the core of our identity.  Those certainties must be challenged so that we can make the conscious choice to choose to stay the course, or discard those long-held stances. Uncertainty drives creativity.  Creativity drives productivity, and productivity drives positive outcomes.

So, if we are going to practice the highest form of leadership, we run the risk of making people feel unsupported, personally attacked, and an increase in stress and anxiety.

The big question is:  How can we lead people to become the best versions of themselves when those negative feelings are assuredly going to arise?

The answer lies in these three things:  relationships, relationships, relationships.

Positive relationships are best fostered through empathy, open communication, and clear expectations.  Those we lead HAVE to know we care about them.  Knowing we care will allow us to replace a WANT with an unpleasant NEED without building resentment.  It will allow us to remove comfort while minimizing stress, and help those we lead become less risk averse.  Leaders need to show concern for the efforts and challenges that their people face, even as we demand high standards.  

Being a servant leader is not for the faint of heart.  It is hard work. The people you are trying to help, more often than not, don't want it.  That's the job though, isn't it?  Good educators give the people they lead what is NEEDED, not what they want.  We do these things from the heart, because we care.