Servant Leadership

Greg Hutchings"Agile 2012

"

August 15, 2012

We must be the change we seek Copyright 2012 Greg Hutchings

A bit about me… Greg Hutchings_"

Ò  I coach and train new product development teams for diverse clients including Michelin, Alcatel-Lucent & Schneider Electric

Ò  I live in Paris and have worked for Valtech there and around the world the past 6 years, gaining deep experience in scaling lean and agile distributed software development

Ò  I began my agile consulting career at Thought Works in the San Francisco office

Ò  I’ve been in team level to company wide leadership roles in both large and small organizations since the early 80’s, and am on the path to becoming a servant leader

Ò  My current professional mission – to help leaders and their teams to become more effective and happier, lean and agile as a means to this end

Ò  My highest pride and honor: parenting my 5 year old daughter Sophie to whom I would like to dedicate this session!

Session structure"

Ò  3:30 – 4:00– Lecture and setting stage: Servant Leadership (Merge) Ò  4:00 – 4:30 – Workshop: Introduce process, break into teams to think,

share and collect patterns and anti-patterns of leadership, build your ideal and to-avoid images of leaders (Diverge)

Ò  4:30 – 4:45– Tour tables and look at what each team has produced, 3

minutes a table, note top 3 + / - per table. Ò  Note the leadership patterns and anti-patterns from each table in the

session Ò  4:45 – 4:55 – Reflect on how these patterns and anti-patterns apply to

you and your own personal transformation (Diverge) as a servant leader. You are invited to share your observations and commitments.

Ò  4:55- 5:00 – Feedback, discussion, evaluation forms, close.

Servant first? Leader first?

Servant Leadership…"

Servant Leadership – Historical Origins"

375 B.C. Chanakya’s Arthashastra The [leader] shall consider as good, not what pleases himself but what pleases his subjects. The king [leader] shall consider as good, not what pleases himself but what pleases his subjects [followers]”. “The king [leader] is a paid servant and enjoys the resources of the state together with the people.”

First Century A.D., Jesus of Nazareth But the greatest among you shall be your servant (Matthew 23:11); The one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant. (Luke 22:26). Here I am among you as one who serves (Luke 22:27)

600 BCE Lao Tzu The greatest leader forgets himself and attends to the development of others. A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves. 563-480 BCE Gautama Buddha The Buddha is only a guide and teacher for beings who must tread the path of Nirvana themselves to attain the spirtual awakening called Bodhi and understand reality.

Servant Leaders – more recent examples"

Robert K. Greenleaf, (1904 – 1990) The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. But a servant leader also leads. “In short, the enemy is strong natural servants who have the potential to lead but do not lead, or who choose to follow a nonservant.”

John F. Kennedy, (1917-1963) “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.’ “And so my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.”

Mahatma Gandhi, (1869-1948) “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.’ “And so my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.”

Barack Obama, (1961 – present) "I am mindful that I might not be standing before you today, as President of the United States, had it not been for Gandhi and the message he shared with America and the world.” “He ended up doing so much and changed the world just by the power of his ethics.”

McGregor’s Theory X – Theory Y"

Managerial Grid Model – Robert R Blake and Jane Mouton"

Founded in the 50’s by Drs. Robert Blake and Jane Mouton, renowned social psychologists based at the University of Texas, Grid International has influenced leadership through this original and subsequently extended models, helping companies to build cultures and leaders that produce excellence. The Produce or Perish style is comparable to MacGregor’s Theory X and Team Style to his Theory Y.

Servant Leadership – Robert Greenleaf: 10 characteristics"

•  Listening •  Empathy •  Healing •  Awareness •  Persuasion •  Conceptualization •  Foresight •  Stewardship •  Commitment to the Growth of

People •  Building Community

First published in 1977, republished in 2002, original inspiration for many other authors and writers…

Listening This communication skill is essential for a servant leader and needs to be developed Verbal Listen actively to others and support them. Be silent, or ask only clarifying questions Body Language Pay attention to what remains unspoken. Seeing Going to Gemba, sitting with the team, silently observing and acknowledging without trying to influence or judge

Servant Leader Characteristics – Listening"

Servant Leader Characteristics – Empathy"

"The task of leadership is not to put greatness into humanity, but to elicit it, for the greatness is already there.“ - John Buchan

Ability to heal one’s self and others A servant leader may be able to help heal an individual or system through listening, empathy, understanding and creativity A servant leader helps people solve their problems and conflicts in relationships, and encourages the personal development of individuals and creation of trusting teams and culture In the “Catalyst example” from Practicing Leadership Agility by Bill Joiner and Michael Hamman’s workshop this Monday there was a great example of healing: Ed is able to retain Ray, VP of Manufacturing, by asking him to invent any job, and guiding him to plant manager role, instead of firing him or ignoring him.

Servant Leader Characteristics – Healing"

Awareness V iew s i tuat ions f rom an integrated and holistic position Based on - Improved General Awareness Improved Self Awareness Leads to – Improved understanding of ethics and Values Outcome - Aim to increase awareness among all team members

Servant Leader Characteristics – Awareness (Key Points)"

Servant Leader Characteristics – Persuasion (Key Points)"

Persuasion Focus on convincing rather than coercion, be open to best outcome and other’s ideas Based on - •  Trust •  Honesty •  Knowledge Not based on – •  Emotions •  Hierarchy in the Organization •  Power (Coercing compliance)

"People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. The leader leads, and the boss drives.“ - Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt

Servant Leader Characteristics – Conceptualization"

Conceptualization Being able to imagine a better future To communicate and spark excitement in this future vision A servant leader helps others to conceptualize, to encourage the belief in the possibility of change through sustained effort, and by carrying forward and helping to unify a common conceptual vision in a team Skill and the ability to teach systems thinking, innovation, and accelerated learning are important characteristics of an effective servant leader – stimulating aspiration, and not desperation!

Servant Leader Characteristics – Foresight"

Foresight Ability to foresee the likely outcome of a situation Based on – •  Knowledge •  Insight •  Experience •  Ability to identify patterns

Leads to - •  Learning about the past to

understand the current reality •  Identifying consequences about

the future •  Translating patterns to achieve

outcomes

Servant Leader Characteristics – Stewardship"

Stewardship •  Serving the Needs of the Team members •  Answers the Why of Servant Leadership •  The responsible overseeing and protection

of something considered worth caring for and preserving

•  Focus on Developing People

•  Focus on Trust •  Obligation to help and serve others •  Openness and Persuasion are more

important than control

“The first step to leadership is servant hood.“ - Robert Maxwell

Building Community •  Create conditions for strong

communities to grow within your organization

•  Develop trust in the larger ecosystem of customers, partners and competitors

•  Participate as active partner, facilitator, “all in” member of your communities

•  Understanding and furthering co-creation and synergy

•  Creating consciousness that we are part of a greater whole

Servant Leader Characteristics – Building Community"

Peter M. Senge, in his Afterword for Servant Leadership"

Ò  “There is a basic difference between learning and change. Learning requires change. (…) Change does not require learning”.

Ò  “Efforts to produce such learning inevitably fail for two reasons:” Ò  First, the approaches taken usually do not allow sufficient time for

capacity building. Typically, today, somebody in top management meets with a consultant, reads a book, gets excited about a new idea, and begins to talk about it. Next there is a 3 day training program, the program is “rolled out” across the organization, and everyone is expected to participate.”

Ò  “It takes deep commitment; it takes a willingness and a possibility to practice, to try out new approaches repeatedly, and to learn from experience.”

Ò  “by definition, three day training programs, by themselves, are only for learning what is not significant.”

Ò  “The second problem concerns whom most change programs are designed for. The real territory of change is always “in here”.”

Ò  “We ask, what capacities do we need that we do not now have.”

Workshop on Servant Leader patterns & anti-patterns"

We are going to break into small groups of 3-4 people, so 3 subgroups per table. We’ll each take turns listening (2 people) and speaking (1 person at a time, the other 2-3 people just listen). There will be 2 rounds and you will each have about 3 minutes each round to talk. First we’ll think about Leadership patterns. Ò  Think about a time that you worked for a Leader who you still

admire to this day, and who has had a lasting impact on your life. Describe how it was to work with the person, and what you liked about this person’s leadership. What were the key personal attributes or qualities of this leader?

Ò  Write one key word on each of up to 3 sticky 3”x5” cards, limit 3 key attributes per speaker, using a GREEN marker.

Ò  Rotate to the next person in the sub group when time is up.

Workshop on Servant Leader patterns & anti-patterns"

Now, in the same sub groups, we’ll think about Leadership anti-patterns. Ò  Think of the leader with whom you worked that was most

painful, stunting or limiting of your growth. Describe how it was to work with this person, and what you disliked most about this person’s leadership.

Ò  Write one word on each of up to 3 cards to sum up the most significant characteristic or quality of the person using a Red marker.

Ò  Rotate to the next person in the sub group when time is up.

Workshop on Servant Leader patterns & anti-patterns"

Merging at the table level and multi-voting. Ò  At each table, place all of the patterns on the Favorite Leader

silhouette, and all of the anti-patterns on the Least Favorite silhouette.

Ò  Use multi-voting, 10 votes each per Favorite and Least Favorite silhouettes, to prioritize the patterns and anti-patterns

Ò  Order the attributes from high to low

Favorite " Least Favorite "

Let’s tour the tables and see what others have done"

Ò  Note common and different attributes with each table. Ò  We’ll take some time to ask questions and discuss Ò  Think about what you may have missed at your table, there

may be some characteristics you hadn’t thought of that you would really like, or really dislike!

Taking it home"

Ò  Remember, “we must be the change we seek”

Ò  It is now time to focus on ourselves as leaders

Servant Leadership – Some questions to ask yourself"

•  Do team members believe that you want to hear their ideas and value them? •  Does your team believe that you have a strong awareness of what is going on

and why? •  Does everyone follow your direction because they want to, as opposed to

because they “have to”? •  Do others on your team communicate their ideas and vision for the organization

when you are around? •  Do people believe that you are committed to helping them develop and grow? •  Do people come to you when the chips are down, or when something traumatic

has happened in their lives? •  Does everyone have confidence in your ability to anticipate the future and its

consequences? •  Does the team believe you are leading the organization to make a real

difference in the world? •  Do people believe that you are willing to sacrifice your own self-interest for the

good of the team? •  Does everyone feel a strong sense of community in the group that you lead? •  Are the people in your group growing thanks to your leadership?

Commitments to change – homework!"

•  Returning to your table, take a few minutes to reflect on which of least favorite characteristics you see some of in yourself, which you would like to change.

•  Note one of your own leadership anti-patterns. You are welcome to share this, and if you dare, wear it for the rest of the conference!

•  Think about the favorite leadership patterns you have seen, and note at least one which you would like to develop more of in your future self as leader. Mark this one down– and share it – and if you dare, wear it!

Closing"

Ò  Is there anything you would like to share with the group from this workshop?

Ò  Please fill out the session feedback form, and complete the signup sheet if you haven’t already.

Ò  Thanks for spending this time with me.

Feedback is welcome and appreciated! Stay in touch, and safe travels! - Greg Hutchings

Thank you!

Servant Leadership

Greg Hutchings

gregoryhutchings@gmail.com Skype: gregoryhutchings