8 September 2001, 11:56pm IST
DINESH KUMAR.
Recently met the newly elected chairman of a voluntary organisation who told me that he was in the process of a massive shake-up of his organisation. the organisation, he said, had acquired a laid-back style of functioning. it has always surprised me how organisation chiefs are forever shaking up their organisations with a view to improving their performance but instead face frustration year after year. it is my experience that much more is achieved in organisations through enrolment rather than enforcement and it is the strong and the weak working together that make up the bedrock of a great organisation. the context of these two situations prompts me to put forth an emerging concept of leadership called, `servant leadership'. the term servant leadership was coined by robert greenleaf who worked with the multinational organisation at&t for 40 years. the servant leadership model puts the `significant others' including community members and employees as number one priority. it begins with the feeling that one wants to serve first and in the wake of the desire to serve comes an aspiration to lead. the best test, according to greenleaf is to find out whether those who are being served grow and evolve as people; ask yourself do people, while being served by me, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous and in the process become servant leaders themselves. servant leadership is not a quick-fix solution. at the core of it, it is a long-term transformational and spiritual approach to work. but then, this applies not to work alone, but to life itself. it is a way of being that has the potential to create a positive change within the organisation. these are some strong attributes of the servant leaders. servant leaders listen intently and empathetically to others. for them, it is very important to know the will of the people for they know that unless people in an organisation get enthused by an idea, something great is not likely to happen. there are many broken spirits roaming around in organisations whose performance is much below their true potential. servant leaders, being essentially spiritual leaders, set about healing them. they not only listen intently to others but to their inner voice seeking to know what one's body, mind and soul are communicating. a servant leader might reject the behaviour of others but will never reject him as a person. servant leadership has the potential to heal oneself and other broken spirits in the organisation. the leaders say, "i love you enough not to let you do less than your best, but then i invite you to it, and shame you into doing the best that you are capable of". servant leaders are acutely aware and sharply awake. they are aware of the ethical issues involved in an issue. this is the scary aspect of being a servant leader because making a commitment to foster awareness can mean hitting the dirt about you and your organisation. awareness, as we know, does not guarantee peace. in fact, it disturbs peace and serenity and a person has to cope with any disturbance that awareness brings. servant leaders are deeply committed to the personal, professional and the spiritual growth of every individual in the organisation. it is all right for them to have their people fall forwards and not backwards. persuasion is another characteristic of servant leaders. they rely on persuasion rather than positional authority. they seek to convince and enrol rather than enforce compliance. they do not believe in combative management. in fact, it is this characteristic that sets them apart from the `movers and shakers' type of leadership. in fact, the movers and shakers do not realise that their approach to leadership is like running on the spot believing that you are covering the distance. persuasion is slow, but in the matter of dealing with people, slow is often fast. running fast in these matters increases the distance. they are apt to say, "believe me, i will back you. if there is a problem, come to me. i will provide you a safety net, a security blanket. they set about chipping at the traditional chairperson-director-executive committee model of hierarchy and replace it with servant-leadership approach." the concept of servant leadership is, therefore, caring for people with the more able and the less able working together and building the base on which the organisation rests.
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