Monday, 14 April 2008
The Invisible Leader
| I was reading the Tall Poppy blog where Ann talked about the invisible leader - the person who is not up front leading the troops but staying behind bringing issues into focus, marshalling people and resources and planning for the future. It is similar to the concept of Leader as Servant by Robert Greenleaf "It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead…The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant-first to make sure that other people’s highest priority needs are being served. The best test, and difficult to administer, is: do those served grow as persons, do they grow while being served, become healthier, wider, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants?" Through extensive work with Greenleaf, Larry Spears, the director of the Robert K. Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership, identified ten characteristics, which describe the essence of a servant leader. The characteristics are listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to the growth of others, and building community. Unlike leadership approaches with a top-down hierachicalstyle, Servant Leadership instead emphasizes collaboration, trust, empathy, and the ethical use of power. At heart, the individual is a servant first, making the conscious decision to lead in order to better serve others, not to increase their own power. The objective is to enhance the growth of individuals in the organization and increase teamwork and personal involvement. (Source Wikipedia) This style of leadership naturally suits women - Quentin Bryce who has been just announced Governor-General of Australia epitomizes the servant leader style of leadership. In a workplace the servant leader is often not the nominated "boss" of the company - often it is the Executive Assistant, wife of the boss or some other female role within the company. These women are the real leaders of the company - often invisible, generally under-appreciated and yet without them the company would not be financially successful. At your next meeting look for the traits of the servant leader - see if you can spot the true organisational leader from the one in the role. The results may surprise you. Until next time Ingrid Cliff Heart Harmony Labels: leadership |
Love your newsletter Ingrid... this is the first time that l have taken the time to check out your blog. You have "The Invisible Leader" in a nutshell. I've been it, seen it, but never really identified it. Thank you for some much needed clarification!
Ditto from me, Ingrid. Very well put and it's nice to recognise this after all (even if it's only us quietly giving ourselves a pat on the back!).