You Complete Me. Servant Leadership Makes Us All Better.

“It wasn’t just about the money, was it? Was it… Was it?”

~ Jerry McGuire

Servant leadership has a long history as a philosophy of conduct but a relatively recent tenure as a formal leadership model. “Servant leadership” is generally attributed to Robert K. Greenleaf’s seminal essay, The Servant as Leader, published in 1970¹.

When considering servant leadership, it is easy to hone in on the word “servant” and think of it in a derogatory sense. Removing those pejorative connotations to the word “servant” and, by extension, to the phrase “servant leadership” lets us see a powerful concept in theory and practice.

That’s why the definition of servant leadership adopted by the National Society of Leadership and Success (NSLS) is appealing, along with the ease we can apply it with alacrity to leading associations and staff teams.

NSLS says, “Servant leadership is a style based on the desire to serve and give to your community. By putting the needs of others first, you empower people to perform at their best. When members of the community see your passion and your commitment through your actions, they want to be connected to you.²”

Doesn’t this sound like what association leaders are called upon to do? Isn’t this the mindset we want at the foundation of the volunteers and staff teams supporting these organizations?

Indeed, as stewards of associations and the leaders and teams that support them, we have a fundamental responsibility to look outside ourselves and our individual needs. We are called upon to expand decision-making with diverse perspectives, empower and enhance others’ development, and be ethical, inclusive, and compassionate.

James W. Sipe and Don M. Frick describe seven pillars of servant leadership³ that illustrate how deeply ingrained it is in association management. Our whole profession encompasses the values of servant leadership from a historical context wherever groups of individuals gathered for a defined purpose and elected representatives from their midst to guide those interests.

Sipe and Frick³ essentially point to:

Persons of character
Who put people, and in this context, organizations, first
Are skilled communicators
And compassionate collaborators
With foresight
Who are also systems thinkers
And will lead with moral authority

How do we ensure that the individuals leading and supporting associations – board leadership, volunteers, and staff – embody and deploy these attributes? We can –

Establish and communicate clear organizational missions and values and articulate a vision that serves and advances these.
Foster collaboration and celebrate diversity, bringing together varied backgrounds and broader perspectives.
Define leadership and staff recruitment processes that promote desired attributes.
Maintain robust, comprehensive board, committee, and staff onboarding and orientation processes. Develop leaders and staff to inspire desired values and conduct.
Govern and act by the organization’s mission, articles of incorporation, bylaws, policies and procedures, and strategic goals.
Ensure legal and ethical integrity, fiduciary responsibility and oversight, and maintain transparent accountability measures. Engender the duties of care, loyalty, and obedience in everything the organization does.
Understand the needs, values, and desires of the constituencies served. Ask members and employees what is important to them and find the means to act on this information to the extent it serves the organization’s purpose and goals, and there are resources to support this.
Listen, seeking equitable solutions while respectfully treating all, especially those with differing perspectives.
Create organizational cultures premised on shared purpose, respect for the individual, meaningful work, and straightforward tenets of conduct, creating a sense of community where all matter – members, staff, and others who encounter the association and workplace.

The positive implications of servant leadership for the organization and the people interacting with it are commitment and engagement and the relationship of these to organizational success and sustainability⁴. The servant leadership style inspires these qualities, a zeal for excellence and endeavors to improve all.