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Leaders are the bosses. That’s the popular perspective. They’re the ones who give orders from the top, their decrees flowing down from on high toward the bottom, where everyone else.
But there’s a kind of leadership that tilts that very idea on its head. This is servant leadership.
Where traditional leadership says that it’s the team’s job to carry out the leader’s vision, servant leadership says that it’s the leader’s main job to serve the team.
Servant leadership programs teach this powerful method, showing clearly and clearly that putting others first is the real key to success–and if you want to be a servant leader, the journey will change you completely.
You will be a pillar of humility, towering and firm, with a heart and a mind that make you strong and kind.
Serving others creates a truly humble heart.
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The Leader Who Serves First
“The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first.”
This quote is from the book Servant Leadership: Ethical, Engaging, & Effective by Dennis Ondrejka, showing the core idea of what it means to be a servant leader.
A servant leader does not grab for power; instead, they look to help, and they ask themselves what is needed so that their team can succeed, not just as a whole, but individually. When everyone finds success, no one is losing.
This first step is where the change to be a servant leader begins. When you are focusing on others, you stop thinking about yourself all the time and begin to create the necessary connections to push your team to the front.
This is the start of becoming a humble example for everyone.
The greatest among you shall be your servant. – Matthew 23:11
Listening Builds Understanding
A proud person is someone who talks without ever listening to anyone else. In contrast, a humble person is someone who listens without ever having the need to talk.
Servant leadership teaches that listening is the most critical skill, with Ondrejka writing that a servant leader “listens receptively to what is being said and not said.” For all of you would-be leaders out there, this means really paying attention and not just nodding your head to every beat in the hopes of finishing the conversation. You have to hear people’s words and their feelings. Because when you do so, you learn from them.
When you listen, you are implicitly telling people that they matter and their opinions have merit. This practice breaks down pride, yours and theirs. As you engage with your team’s needs, you start to realize you don’t have all the answers.
This active listening lays a foundation of meekness, which is not a weakness. It is a strength that you have under control, choosing to learn from others.
Choosing Others Over Self
A major test of a leader is who they put first; a servant leader always chooses the team. They give credit where credit is due for the continued success of the team; they take the blame when things go wrong, acknowledging that accountability and responsibility are cornerstones of success; and they make sure their team has what they need.
These actions embodyhumility to a brilliant degree.
When a servant leader conducts their actions as such, they become humility in motion. Every time a leader puts the group’s needs ahead of their own wants, they become a little more humble and build a steadfast modesty that does not change, whether times are good or bad.
What’s more, true leaders make more leaders; a servant leader’s goal is to help every person on their team grow to their true potential, cheering ever onward for their team’s wins. Servant leaders provide training and support that Ondrejka defines as “helping people to develop and perform.”
When you spend your energy making others better, you cannot be selfish. Your joy comes from their success, and you stop wanting to be the star. Because now, you start wanting to build stars.
This focus turns you into a tower of humility, someone known for lifting others.
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, – Philippians 2:3
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A Pillar of Humility in Action
What does this transformation to a servant leader look like? The person is strong but kind, confident but not arrogant, leading without making people feel that they are small.
Servant leaders are the pillars that hold up a building.
They are a pillar for their whole community that was built with one act of service at a time: every listened-to concern, every shared credit, every moment of putting the team first added a stone to this pillar.
You are unshakable because your leadership is built on love and service, not on pride and fear.
The humility you build does not go away when you leave work. It becomes who you are, permeating through your bones and your spirit. You start to become more patient with your family and become a better friend. You begin to see the value in every person you meet.
The foundation of meekness you built makes you steady in all parts of life, where you are no longer easily angered by minor insults and, instead, find more joy in helping than in being helped.
This is true transformation.
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. – James 4:10
The path of servant leadership is for anyone and everyone.
You do not need to have a title to serve others; you can start today by listening to a coworker without interrupting, helping someone without expecting a thank you, looking for ways to make others’ jobs easier, etc.
Each small act of service strengthens your pillar of humility.
Service is the most rewarding kind of leadership, transforming teams, organizations, and, most importantly, you.
To learn more about this powerful way of life and leading, get the book that inspired this article. Discover the full depth of ethical, engaging, and effective leadership with a copy of Servant Leadership: Ethical, Engaging, & Effective by Dennis Ondrejka.
