What Defines a Servant Leader--Part 2
by Nathan Davidson
A good servant-leader does not need to be both a conceptualizer and an operator. Rather, a good servant-leader will usually be either a conceptualizer or an operator, and assign the opposing role to someone more fit for the job.
In our previous post, we discussed some of the qualities that a good servant-leader must have if they are to help their group succeed. This post is a continuation of that discussion. We will now discuss how the qualities of being able to properly communicate with others, being able to withdraw oneself from a situation, being able to accept and empathize with others, the ability to conceptualize and operationalize actions, nurturing your community, and choosing to lead are important skills for a servant-leader to have.
A good servant-leader must also understand how to properly communicate. They must avoid terms and words that have a certain connotation that may be misinterpreted or deemed disrespectful to the group or individuals. In addition, they must also know when to communicate—it is possible to say too much and take away the power behind the words. Sometimes less is more, which is something that a regular leader may not realize at times.
Then there is the skill of withdrawal. What I mean by withdrawal is the ability to step aside from an intense situation and allow the servant-leader to reorient and compose themselves. It also forces servant-leaders to prioritize things—they must decide what is important and urgent and must be dealt with immediately, what needs to be dealt with in the future, and what does not need to be dealt with. This skill in particular is difficult for college students, especially with their busy schedule. To completely withdrawal yourself, you need to step out of the situation and take the time to think out what you know and how you will proceed. With a busy college schedule, this can be difficult, but taking the time to remove yourself from the situation can actually help you come up with a solution sooner!
Acceptance and empathy are two skills that go hand-in-hand. A good servant-leader must be able to emphasize with those that they work with. They must be able to understand what people’s thoughts are on a certain subject, and must be able to work with or around those thoughts if they are to be effective. If a person is uncomfortable working on a certain project, the servant-leader must be able to understand why the individual is uncomfortable with the project and either put that individual into a position where they can function or help them push past their limitations. If that is not possible, then the servant-leader needs to accept the individual’s limitations and adjust the person’s role accordingly. In the end, it is the job of the servant-leader to take an imperfect person and find the best way to utilize their skills for the greater good of the group.
According to Robert Greenleaf, author of A Life of Servant Leadership, conceptualizing is the prime leadership talent. Greenleaf says that a good conceptualizer has “the ability to see the whole in the perspective of history—past and future—to state and adjust goals, to evaluate, to analyze, and to foresee contingencies a long way ahead.” In other words, the conceptualizer is the one who plans everything out and builds the relationships to make it happen.
However, conceptualizing is only one half of the equation. The other half requires “operators,” which Greenfield says have “the ability to carry the enterprise toward its objectives in the situation, from day to day, and resolve the issues that arise as this movement takes place.” In other words, operators are the ones who take the ideas of the conceptualizers and makes them reality.
A good servant-leader does not need to be both a conceptualizer and an operator. Rather, a good servant-leader will usually be either a conceptualizer or an operator, and assign the opposing role to someone more fit for the job.
It is also necessary for a servant-leader to nurture their community if their group is to thrive. The basic idea is that when a group takes care of its community, the community is more likely to be receptive to the group. It should be noted that a community doesn’t mean community in the traditional sense: community can also mean businesses, churches, and other groups in the area. By working with the community, a servant-leader can increase the chances of success within the community.
Finally, a servant-leader must choose to lead. A servant-leader knows that the enemy is, as said by Greenleaf:
“Not evil people. Not stupid people. Not apathetic people. Not the ‘system.’ Not the protestors, the disrupters, the revolutionaries, the reactionaries…in short, the enemy is strong natural servants who have the potential to lead but do not lead, or who choose to follow a non-servant.”
A servant-leader knows that they have the skill necessary to make a difference, and actually puts those skills to use. People will typically support a servant-leader, if the servant-leader is willing to lead them. In other words, to be a servant-leader, you must choose to take on the burden and lead—if you can do this, people will follow you.
Hopefully you found this two-part series enlightening and making your involvement both on campus and off campus go further to help create an effective-running group!
