Monday, April 21, 2008

Thought for the Week - 4/21/08

"Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results." - Andrew Carnegie

As we have stated many times in previous posts, the heart of Servant Leadership is an emphasis on others first, above or beyond self. In other words, it is the people, the team that matters. Great leaders learn the importance of finding way to involve the team in all aspects of goal setting and decision making.

This does not mean that as a Servant Leader you abdicate either your responsibility or accountability for leadership. Rather, Servant Leaders set the direction (the "whats"), provide the rationales (the "whys"), delegate implementation (the "hows") and then are available for support, encouragement and resources as necessary.

What are some effective ways in which you have found to empower others?

1 comment:

Jim Rowell said...

I believe a wonderful question to ask employees in order to empower them and demonstrate a committment to their success is, "What else do you need from me in order for to successfully do...."

As a servant leader when we ask this question to an employee we are stating three things:

1. As the leader I am owning the fact that I may not have explained the task or done everything i could to help you ne successful.

2. As the leader I am absolutely commited to your success and in fact I expect success.

3. As the leader I am not doing whatever the task is. I expect the employee to complete the task and I will provide any support that I can.