1.
Servant Leadership
Greg Hutchings"
Agile 2012
"
August 15, 2012
Copyright 2012 Greg Hutchings
We must be the change we seek
2. A bit about me… Greg Hutchings_"
Ò I coach and train new product development
teams for diverse clients including Michelin,
Alcatel-Lucent & Schneider Electric
Ò I live in Paris and have worked for Valtech
there and around the world the past 6
years, gaining deep experience in scaling
lean and agile distributed software
development
Ò I began my agile consulting career at
Thought Works in the San Francisco office
Ò I’ve been in team level to company wide
leadership roles in both large and small
organizations since the early 80’s, and am
on the path to becoming a servant leader
Ò My current professional mission – to help
leaders and their teams to become more
effective and happier, lean and agile as a
means to this end
Ò My highest pride and honor: parenting my 5
year old daughter Sophie to whom I would
like to dedicate this session!
3. Session structure"
Ò 3:30 – 4:00– Lecture and setting stage: Servant Leadership (Merge)
Ò 4:00 – 4:30 – Workshop: Introduce process, break into teams to think,
share and collect patterns and anti-patterns of leadership, build your
ideal and to-avoid images of leaders (Diverge)
Ò 4:30 – 4:45– Tour tables and look at what each team has produced, 3
minutes a table, note top 3 + / - per table.
Ò Note the leadership patterns and anti-patterns from each table in the
session
Ò 4:45 – 4:55 – Reflect on how these patterns and anti-patterns apply to
you and your own personal transformation (Diverge) as a servant leader.
You are invited to share your observations and commitments.
Ò 4:55- 5:00 – Feedback, discussion, evaluation forms, close.
5. Servant Leadership – Historical Origins"
600 BCE Lao Tzu
The greatest leader forgets himself and attends to the development of others. A leader is
best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will
say: we did it ourselves.
563-480 BCE Gautama Buddha
The Buddha is only a guide and teacher for beings who must tread the path of Nirvana
themselves to attain the spirtual awakening called Bodhi and understand reality.
375 B.C. Chanakya’s Arthashastra
The [leader] shall consider as good, not what pleases himself but what pleases his
subjects. The king [leader] shall consider as good, not what pleases himself but what
pleases his subjects [followers]”. “The king [leader] is a paid servant and enjoys the
resources of the state together with the people.”
First Century A.D., Jesus of Nazareth
But the greatest among you shall be your servant (Matthew 23:11); The one who is the
greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant. (Luke
22:26). Here I am among you as one who serves (Luke 22:27)
6. Servant Leaders – more recent examples"
Mahatma Gandhi, (1869-1948)
“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not
to utter words, but to live by them.’ “And so my fellow Americans, ask not what your
country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.”
John F. Kennedy, (1917-1963)
“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not
to utter words, but to live by them.’ “And so my fellow Americans, ask not what your
country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.”
Robert K. Greenleaf, (1904 – 1990)
The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to
serve, to serve first. But a servant leader also leads. “In short, the enemy is strong natural
servants who have the potential to lead but do not lead, or who choose to follow a
nonservant.”
Barack Obama, (1961 – present)
"I am mindful that I might not be standing before you today, as President of the United
States, had it not been for Gandhi and the message he shared with America and the
world.” “He ended up doing so much and changed the world just by the power of his
ethics.”
8. Managerial Grid Model – Robert R Blake and Jane Mouton"
Founded in the 50’s by Drs. Robert Blake and Jane Mouton, renowned social psychologists based at the
University of Texas, Grid International has influenced leadership through this original and subsequently
extended models, helping companies to build cultures and leaders that produce excellence. The Produce
or Perish style is comparable to MacGregor’s Theory X and Team Style to his Theory Y.
9. Servant Leadership – Robert Greenleaf: 10 characteristics"
• Listening
• Empathy
• Healing
• Awareness
• Persuasion
• Conceptualization
• Foresight
• Stewardship
• Commitment to the Growth of
People
• Building Community
First published in 1977, republished in 2002, original
inspiration for many other authors and writers…
10. Servant Leader Characteristics – Listening"
Listening
This communication skill is essential for a
servant leader and needs to be developed
Verbal
Listen actively to others and support them.
Be silent, or ask only clarifying questions
Body Language
Pay attention to what remains unspoken.
Seeing
Going to Gemba, sitting with the team,
silently observing and acknowledging without
trying to influence or judge
11. Servant Leader Characteristics – Empathy"
"The task of leadership is not to put greatness into
humanity, but to elicit it, for the greatness is already
there.“
- John Buchan
12. Servant Leader Characteristics – Healing"
Ability to heal one’s self and others
A servant leader may be able to help heal an
individual or system through listening, empathy,
understanding and creativity
A servant leader helps people solve their problems
and conflicts in relationships, and encourages the
personal development of individuals and creation of
trusting teams and culture
In the “Catalyst example” from Practicing Leadership
Agility by Bill Joiner and Michael Hamman’s
workshop this Monday there was a great example of
healing:
Ed is able to retain Ray, VP of Manufacturing, by
asking him to invent any job, and guiding him to plant
manager role, instead of firing him or ignoring him.
13. Servant Leader Characteristics – Awareness (Key Points)"
Awareness
View situations from an
integrated and holistic position
Based on -
Improved General Awareness
Improved Self Awareness
Leads to –
Improved understanding of ethics
and Values
Outcome -
Aim to increase awareness among all
team members
14. Servant Leader Characteristics – Persuasion (Key Points)"
Persuasion
Focus on convincing rather than
coercion, be open to best outcome and
other’s ideas
Based on -
• Trust
• Honesty
• Knowledge
Not based on –
• Emotions
• Hierarchy in the Organization
• Power (Coercing compliance)
"People ask the difference between a leader and
a boss. The leader leads, and the boss drives.“
- Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt
15. Servant Leader Characteristics – Conceptualization"
Conceptualization
Being able to imagine a better future
To communicate and spark excitement in this future
vision
A servant leader helps others to conceptualize, to
encourage the belief in the possibility of change
through sustained effort, and by carrying forward and
helping to unify a common conceptual vision in a
team
Skill and the ability to teach systems thinking,
innovation, and accelerated learning are important
characteristics of an effective servant leader –
stimulating aspiration, and not desperation!
16. Servant Leader Characteristics – Foresight"
Foresight
Ability to foresee the likely
outcome of a situation
Based on –
• Knowledge
• Insight
• Experience
• Ability to identify patterns
Leads to -
• Learning about the past to
understand the current reality
• Identifying consequences about
the future
• Translating patterns to achieve
outcomes
17. Servant Leader Characteristics – Stewardship"
Stewardship
• Serving the Needs of the Team members
• Answers the Why of Servant Leadership
• The responsible overseeing and protection
of something considered worth caring for
and preserving
• Focus on Developing People
• Focus on Trust
• Obligation to help and serve others
• Openness and Persuasion are more
important than control
“The first step to leadership is servant hood.“
- Robert Maxwell
18. Servant Leader Characteristics – Building Community"
Building Community
• Create conditions for strong
communities to grow within
your organization
• Develop trust in the larger
ecosystem of customers,
partners and competitors
• Participate as active partner,
facilitator, “all in” member of
your communities
• Understanding and furthering
co-creation and synergy
• Creating consciousness that we
are part of a greater whole
19. Peter M. Senge, in his Afterword for Servant Leadership"
Ò “There is a basic difference between learning and change. Learning
requires change. (…) Change does not require learning”.
Ò “Efforts to produce such learning inevitably fail for two reasons:”
Ò First, the approaches taken usually do not allow sufficient time for
capacity building. Typically, today, somebody in top management meets
with a consultant, reads a book, gets excited about a new idea, and
begins to talk about it. Next there is a 3 day training program, the
program is “rolled out” across the organization, and everyone is
expected to participate.”
Ò “It takes deep commitment; it takes a willingness and a possibility to
practice, to try out new approaches repeatedly, and to learn from
experience.”
Ò “by definition, three day training programs, by themselves, are only for
learning what is not significant.”
Ò “The second problem concerns whom most change programs are
designed for. The real territory of change is always “in here”.”
Ò “We ask, what capacities do we need that we do not now have.”
20. Workshop on Servant Leader patterns & anti-patterns"
We are going to break into small groups of 3-4 people, so 3
subgroups per table. We’ll each take turns listening (2 people) and
speaking (1 person at a time, the other 2-3 people just listen).
There will be 2 rounds and you will each have about 3 minutes each
round to talk. First we’ll think about Leadership patterns.
Ò Think about a time that you worked for a Leader who you still
admire to this day, and who has had a lasting impact on your life.
Describe how it was to work with the person, and what you liked
about this person’s leadership. What were the key personal
attributes or qualities of this leader?
Ò Write one key word on each of up to 3 sticky 3”x5” cards, limit 3
key attributes per speaker, using a GREEN marker.
Ò Rotate to the next person in the sub group when time is up.
21. Workshop on Servant Leader patterns & anti-patterns"
Now, in the same sub groups, we’ll think about Leadership anti-
patterns.
Ò Think of the leader with whom you worked that was most
painful, stunting or limiting of your growth. Describe how it
was to work with this person, and what you disliked most
about this person’s leadership.
Ò Write one word on each of up to 3 cards to sum up the most
significant characteristic or quality of the person using a Red
marker.
Ò Rotate to the next person in the sub group when time is up.
22. Workshop on Servant Leader patterns & anti-patterns"
Merging at the table level and multi-voting.
Ò At each table, place all of the patterns on the Favorite Leader
silhouette, and all of the anti-patterns on the Least Favorite
silhouette.
Ò Use multi-voting, 10 votes each per Favorite and Least
Favorite silhouettes, to prioritize the patterns and anti-
patterns
Ò Order the attributes from high to low
24. Let’s tour the tables and see what others have done"
Ò Note common and different attributes with each table.
Ò We’ll take some time to ask questions and discuss
Ò Think about what you may have missed at your table, there
may be some characteristics you hadn’t thought of that you
would really like, or really dislike!
25. Taking it home"
Ò Remember, “we must be the change we seek”
Ò It is now time to focus on ourselves as leaders
26. Servant Leadership – Some questions to ask yourself"
• Do team members believe that you want to hear their ideas and value them?
• Does your team believe that you have a strong awareness of what is going on
and why?
• Does everyone follow your direction because they want to, as opposed to
because they “have to”?
• Do others on your team communicate their ideas and vision for the organization
when you are around?
• Do people believe that you are committed to helping them develop and grow?
• Do people come to you when the chips are down, or when something traumatic
has happened in their lives?
• Does everyone have confidence in your ability to anticipate the future and its
consequences?
• Does the team believe you are leading the organization to make a real
difference in the world?
• Do people believe that you are willing to sacrifice your own self-interest for the
good of the team?
• Does everyone feel a strong sense of community in the group that you lead?
• Are the people in your group growing thanks to your leadership?
27. Commitments to change – homework!"
• Returning to your table, take a few minutes to reflect on which
of least favorite characteristics you see some of in yourself,
which you would like to change.
• Note one of your own leadership anti-patterns. You are
welcome to share this, and if you dare, wear it for the rest of
the conference!
• Think about the favorite leadership patterns you have seen,
and note at least one which you would like to develop more of
in your future self as leader. Mark this one down– and share it
– and if you dare, wear it!
28. Closing"
Ò Is there anything you would like to share with the group from
this workshop?
Ò Please fill out the session feedback form, and complete the
signup sheet if you haven’t already.
Ò Thanks for spending this time with me.
Feedback is welcome and appreciated!
Stay in touch, and safe travels!
- Greg Hutchings
