What is a Servant Leader?

A Servant Leader turns the management pyramid upside down. Here is what that looks like in practice.

A Servant Leader…

Upends the pyramid of conventional management thinking.

Servant leaders put themselves at the bottom of the pyramid and unleash the energy, excitement and talents of the team, business and community. All are equal, all are called to lead, all are mentors.

Runs to great purpose.

Servant leaders hold out in front of their team, business or community a "reason why" that is so big that it requires and motivates everybody’s very best effort.

Raises the bar of expectation.

Servant leaders are highly selective in the choice of team leaders and establish high standards of performance. These actions build a culture of performance throughout the team, business or community. Each team member is both unique and equal!

Blazes the trail.

Servant leaders teach Servant Leadership principles and practices and remove obstacles to performance. These actions increase the servant leader’s impact by educating and activating tier after tier of leadership. Servant leaders aren’t afraid to do what is necessary, but instead looks forward to doing whatever is necessary.

Builds on strengths.

Servant leaders strategically select each person in the team, business or community to contribute what he or she is best at. This improves everyone’s performance and solidifies teams by aligning the strengths of many people. A servant team requires each member to lead when their strength is needed.