The Measure of a Leader

In Robert Greenleaf’s book, The Servant Leader, he says, “are people better off after coming in contact with you?” is the measure of a servant leader. What a great way to explain servant leadership! It’s so simple, yet definitely causes you to reflect. You really have to be quite brave in answering this question and willing to be introspective as you examine your actions and motives in leading people.

Let’s examine three areas where we can have an impact on people by the way we lead. These are three areas where those who follow us can be affected for the better.

Are you willing to share the knowledge you have?

Many of us, especially if we’ve been doing our jobs for a long time, tend to get very possessive about what we know. The knowledge we have becomes “ours,” and we’re not willing to give it to anyone else. This practice is common and reflects the fear of losing our position if we give our knowledge out freely. Servant leaders take a bigger, more strategic position and realize that to add value to people, they must pass along the knowledge they have accumulated.

Can you give valuable, constructive feedback to people?

Feedback is performance information that helps you achieve results. Its purpose is to reinforce good performance, improve performance and prepare a foundation for joint problem-solving. The challenge for servant leaders is to use positive feedback as frequently as feedback for improvement; base feedback on facts; and be aware of feelings — making feedback motivating, not personal or punishing.

Are you a calming presence as a leader?

It doesn’t help our challenging situations if we appear stressed out or overreact to a situation. People will be looking to you as a “safe place” to assist them in working out what the problem and solution may be. That means we need to have confidence in our mission and purpose as well as a belief in the character and competence of the folks who report to us.

By assessing yourself in each of these areas and making any necessary changes in your leadership behavior, you can answer Greenleaf’s challenge — “are people better off after coming in contact with you?” — with a resounding yes!