The MOR Leaders Program employs a leadership model which calls for leaders to focus on
This is a very helpful starting point for a discussion about leadership, focusing, as it does, on the “what” of leadership.
Another helpful vantage point is to think about the leader’s demeanor, his or her manner, the way he or she goes about leading. Dan Cable,1 professor of organizational behavior at the London Business School notes that too often leaders can overly emphasize the power that comes with their role, focusing too intently on outcomes and control, and in the end seeing their team members primarily as a means to an end. When this happens, he noted, unease and fear increase, and positive feelings about the leader’s work, along with any desire to experiment and learn decreases.
Cable argues that perhaps the best way to help people bring their best selves to work feeling purposeful, motivated, and energized is to adopt the humble mindset of a servant leader. The phrase “servant leadership” was first used by Robert Greenleaf in his 1970 essay, “The Servant as Leader.”2 From Greenleaf’s point of view, the great leader is always a servant first. And, from that vantage point, the servant leader focuses primarily on the growth and well-being of people in the communities they lead.
The key question, then, is what are the skills and actions of a servant leader, a humble leader? As you might expect, there has been a lot written to address this question. Here are eight sets of actions and behaviors, drawn primarily from the essays listed below in the section Further Reading, you might consider exploring:
Legendary basketball coach John Wooden once said, “It’s amazing how much can be accomplished if no one is concerned about who gets the credit.” That’s the way it is in teams led by humble leaders.
Building off Wooden’s observation, I’d like to challenge you to take a few minutes to ask whether one or more of these practices of humble leaders might be something that you’d like to begin to do with your team.
Make it a great week. . . . jim
Jim Bruce is a Senior Fellow and Executive Coach at MOR Associates. He previously was Professor of Electrical Engineering, and Vice President for Information Systems and CIO at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA.
References:
Further Reading:
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