Servant Leadership

Today’s Tuesday Reading is from Adam Ouellette, Assistant Director IT Asset Management at Harvard University and a MOR program alum.  Adam may be reached at [email protected] or via LinkedIn.

Editorial Note: This is the last Tuesday Reading of 2024.  The next Tuesday Reading will be in January.

Reflecting on my MOR experience, I considered the profound impact this program has had on my understanding of leadership. Each cohort member, with their powerful insights and experiences, contributed immensely to my growth. As I connected the dots of this experience, I kept circling back to a central theme: the power of human connection in leadership, beautifully embodied in the concept of Servant Leadership.

The Heart of Servant Leadership: Human Connection

At its core, Servant Leadership is about building genuine, meaningful connections with the people we lead. It’s about seeing the humanity in each team member and recognizing that our role as leaders is not just to direct but to inspire, nurture, and empower. This aligns perfectly with what we’ve learned throughout our MOR journey about creating environments where people can thrive and become the best versions of themselves.

Building Connections That Inspire

1. The Power of Genuine Interest: I recall the importance of “listening to understand, not to respond.” I’ve found that asking simple questions like “How are you doing?” or “What’s exciting you about your work right now?” can open up profound conversations. These moments of genuine connection often reveal what truly motivates people – whether it’s finding fulfillment, receiving recognition, or contributing to something bigger than themselves.
2. Creating Space for Authenticity: Our discussions on psychological safety and inclusion take on new meaning through the lens of Servant Leadership. It’s about creating an environment where people feel safe to bring their authentic selves to work. When we connect on a human level, we create the trust necessary for people to take risks, share ideas, and grow.
3. Empowering Through Trust: I’ve seen firsthand how powerful it can be to truly trust and empower our team members. A direct report recently told me that my belief in her abilities and my willingness to give her autonomy motivates her to work harder and do her best work. This connection – where a leader’s empowerment inspires an employee to become the best version of themselves – is the essence of Servant Leadership.
4. Celebrating Together: Something as simple as having lunch with the team after completing a big project can have a profound impact. These moments of shared celebration strengthen our human connections and remind us that we’re all in this together.
5. Connecting to Purpose: Servant Leadership isn’t just about individual connections – it’s about connecting everyone to a larger purpose. When we help our team members see how their work contributes to something meaningful, we inspire them to bring their best selves to work every day.

Connecting the Dots: Human Connection Throughout Our Journey

As I reflect on our MOR experience, I see how this emphasis on human connection ties together so many of the concepts we’ve explored:

1. Emotional Intelligence: Our ability to connect with others is directly tied to our EQ – our self-awareness and our ability to understand and manage our response to the emotions of others.
2. The Three Lenses: Building meaningful connections requires us to consider not just the strategic aspects of our work but also the political and cultural contexts in which our team members operate.
3. Change Management: When we have strong human connections with our team and colleagues, we’re better equipped to guide them through periods of change and uncertainty.
4. Strategic Thinking: By fostering deep connections with our team members, we gain diverse perspectives that enrich our strategic thinking.
5. Networking: The “4 I’s” we learned (Initiate, Inquire, Invest, Influence) are all about building meaningful human connections, both within and outside our organizations.

Moving Forward: Committing to Connection

I’m more committed than ever to prioritizing human connection in my leadership approach. I challenge each of us to consider the following:

• How can we create more moments for genuine, meaningful connections with our team members and colleagues?
• How can we better understand what truly motivates and inspires each individual on our team?
• How can we use our connections to help our team members see and realize their full potential?

By focusing on building these human connections, we not only become more effective leaders but also create environments where people are inspired to become the best versions of themselves. This human-centered approach will be crucial in driving innovation, navigating change, and achieving results in our rapidly evolving field.

Which way do you most want to grow your own leadership?

Helping team members see and realize their full potential.

Creating moments of genuine, meaningful connection.

Better understanding of what truly motivates and inspires others.

Last week, we asked how you envision AI impacting your work in the next year. This is the same question we asked earlier this February as we considered Leading, Managing, Doing, and AI. Here is a comparison of how our responses evolved this year:

Taken as a whole, it appears we have gained greater clarity through this year on the impact of AI at our institutions. For some this means the anticipation of minor changes in the time ahead, and for a small number of us, our institutions are more wholly diving into significant changes.