9 Servant Leadership Characteristics To Have As A Leader

Have you ever wondered really immoderate leaders conscionable person that unthinkable expertise to captivate a room and summation unanimous buy-in from their team?

At first glance, it’s easy to property their occurrence to their charismatic characteristic aliases their unthinkable expertise to articulate a clear and concise vision. But if you look closer, you’ll recognize that nan only point that sets them isolated from nan remainder is their servant leadership.

These leaders person a heavy knowing of what it intends to service their team, and they usage that knowledge to build a organization that’s dedicated to achieving greatness, inclusion, and respect. What makes them awesome is their willingness to put their team’s needs supra their own.

Now, you mightiness beryllium reasoning that servant activity is simple, but it’s really rather complex. And it’s a batch much than conscionable being a bully person.

What Exactly Is Servant Leadership?

Servant activity is simply a accuracy and group of practices that are based connected nan belief that nan astir effective measurement to lead is by serving others. That intends taking nan clip to study astir and understand nan needs of each your squad members—and that takes clip and intention.

It’s difficult work. But if you’re consenting to put successful nan effort, it tin profoundly effect your team’s morale, performance, and wide success.

To thief you get started connected your travel to becoming a servant leader, present are 9 servant activity characteristics that each awesome leaders have.

1. They Are Self-Aware

Servant leaders cognize who they are—their strengths, their weaknesses, and really their actions effect those astir them. When leaders return clip to understand themselves and look astatine their ain behavior, they’re capable to spot their blindspots and pivot erstwhile necessary.

Self-awareness is simply a gift, but it’s not thing that comes people to everyone. It’s not easy to look astatine yourself successful nan reflector and purposefully look for your strengths and weaknesses. But it’s a important portion of servant leadership.

One of nan champion devices to thief you go much self-aware is nan Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). This characteristic trial will thief you understand really you spot nan world and make decisions and show you really your characteristic is simply a hindrance and thief successful your activity role.

2. They Are Good Communicators

Servant leaders cognize nan value of communication. They understand that it’s not conscionable astir giving orders aliases broadcasting information. It’s astir listening, too.

This is why if you want to build a beardown narration pinch your team, you must carve retired clip to perceive and study astir their needs and goals. Communication is simply a conversation, which intends that group request to consciousness heard earlier they’re consenting to perceive to your ideas.

If you’re consenting to cheque successful pinch your squad daily, aliases moreover weekly, and purposefully engage, you’ll find that your institution becomes a beardown community. And 1 of nan first steps toward building a coagulated organization is communication.

3. They Are Humble

Servant leaders are humble. They understand that putting others first is foundational to their company’s success. This is why immoderate of nan top-level CEOs of Fortune 500 companies make it a constituent to person an open-door policy.

An open-door argumentation shows your squad that you’re approachable and that you worth their input. It’s besides a measurement of building trust—something basal to immoderate beardown relationship.

While an open-door argumentation is 1 measurement to show your squad that you’re humble, it’s not nan only way.

You tin besides exemplary humility by being susceptible and creating an situation wherever it’s okay to make mistakes. After all, erstwhile your squad sees your fail-forward, they’ll beryllium much apt to return risks and innovate.

4. They Are Visionaries

Servant leaders ever look toward nan future. They spot nan imaginable successful their squad and their company, and they’re ever trying to find ways to thief their squad members turn and develop.

Much for illustration being humble, these leaders let themselves and their squad to grow. And they understand that maturation tin only hap erstwhile group consciousness for illustration they person support to advancement without nan load of perfection.

One of nan champion ways to foster a growth mindset successful your squad is to springiness them opportunities to agelong themselves. This tin beryllium done done cross-training aliases letting them lead a task connected their own.

People request abstraction to dream of “what if” and “what could be.”

So, if you want your institution to advancement forward, effort giving them nan reigns and let them to explore—even if they make a fewer mistakes on nan way.

5. They Appreciate Feedback

Servant leaders clasp feedback. They don’t squirm aliases debar confrontation. If anything, they crave divergence. This is because they cognize that feedback, whether affirmative aliases negative, is basal to growth.

To beryllium truthful, it’s not easy to ever perceive what group deliberation of you and your leadership. But it’s important to retrieve that proceeding your team’s thoughts and ideas is simply a gift. It’s a instrumentality that gives you nan chance to amended and build your activity skills.

One of nan champion ways to get started pinch feedback is to simply inquire your squad to stock immoderate ideas pinch you. You tin create an anonymous Google Form, group up a proposal container location successful nan office, aliases moreover nonstop retired your Calendly nexus and promote group to book one-on-one clip pinch you.

There are galore ways to collect feedback, but nan astir important portion is that you return nan clip to perceive and past enactment connected what you hear. After all, it’s not conscionable astir being a bully listener.

Your squad wants to consciousness heard, and that intends putting their suggestions into action.

6. They Lead by Example

Servant leaders lead by example. They locomotion nan talk, and they don’t inquire their squad to do thing they wouldn’t beryllium consenting to do themselves.

Remember: The champion leaders aren’t perfect—they’re conscionable authentic.

If you want your squad to respect you, beryllium transparent and honorable pinch them and show them what it looks for illustration to scope nan upland apical moreover erstwhile nan travel is arduous.

This doesn’t mean that you request to stock each of your individual specifications pinch your squad aliases beryllium an unfastened book astatine each times. But it does mean that you should beryllium authentic and susceptible erstwhile appropriate. Doing truthful will thief build spot and respect betwixt you and your team.

7. They Don’t Micromanage

Servant leaders are awesome astatine delegating. They cognize that they can’t do everything connected their own, and they’re not acrophobic to inquire for help.

When they’re faced pinch a problem that isn’t successful their wheelhouse, they’re speedy to delegate it to personification connected their squad who is amended equipped to grip it. This is why servant activity isn’t astir getting nan praise. If anything, it’s astir giving your squad nan opportunity to shine.

So, if you’re a leader who is utilized to micromanaging, it’s clip to fto spell and springiness your squad nan chance to measurement up and show you what they’re made of. Not only will they admit nan state to effort caller things and fig things retired independently, but they’ll besides bring that assurance to nan agency erstwhile they tackle nan adjacent project.

8. They Are Always Learning

Servant leaders don’t person each nan answers. And successful galore ways, they don’t moreover try.

Great leaders understand that it’s not astir knowing everything. It’s astir being funny and having a willingness to learn.

One of nan champion ways to foster a emotion of learning successful your squad is to create an situation wherever it’s encouraged. This tin beryllium done by sending retired articles, books, aliases podcasts that you deliberation would liking them.

Another thought is giving everyone an yearly rank to Coursera, LinkedIn Learning, aliases Skillshare.

When you prioritize learning, your squad will consciousness comfortable asking much questions and facing nan workday pinch a teachable attitude.

However, a civilization of learning has to commencement pinch you. Once labor spot you investing successful your education, they’ll beryllium much apt to travel your lead.

9. They Focus connected nan Long Game.

Servant leaders are focused connected nan agelong game. They cognize that greatness doesn’t hap overnight and that occurrence is simply a marathon, not a sprint.

This intends that they’re ever looking for ways to amended their team’s skillset and thief them turn successful their careers. Whether it’s investing successful their education, sending them to conferences, aliases connecting them pinch a mentor, they are ever reasoning astir really they tin thief their squad scope their afloat potential.

Servant leaders understand that erstwhile their squad succeeds, nan institution succeeds.

Final Thoughts

Servant activity is truthful overmuch much than giving orders and being nan boss. It’s astir putting your squad first, listening to their needs, and helping them grow.

By embodying these 9 servant activity characteristics, you tin go a amended leader for your squad and thief your business scope caller heights.

Featured photograph credit: Mapbox via unsplash.com