The Seven Characteristics of Servant Leadership

Servant leadership can help foster trust, accountability, growth and inclusion among workers. This will lead to increased productivity and happier customers and will help your business flourish.

The results of servant leadership are exponential: by leading as a servant, you multiply success and satisfaction — personal and professional, for you and your colleagues — above and beyond the limits of traditional leadership outcomes.

Servant Leaders, whose vision is to make people better in various ways, naturally exhibit many ideals in their day-to-day leadership of their people. Here are seven important elements of servant leadership:

• Strong character. A servant leader maintains integrity, makes decisions based on ethics and principles, displays humility, and seeks to serve a higher purpose in the organization.

• Puts people first. Successful servant leaders demonstrate care and concern for others and help employees meet their goals while encouraging personal growth.

• Excellent communicator. Communication skills are integral to any business leader, but especially a servant leader. Make a point of listening to and speaking with workers and inviting their feedback.

• Strong collaborator. Servant leadership means keeping an eye on the future and anticipating anything that might impact the organization. Maintain a positive vision and take decisive action when necessary.

• Has foresight. The servant leader must be a visionary, able to imagine possibilities and anticipate the future, with the courage to take action when necessary.

• Strategic thinker. Servant leaders must be comfortable navigating complex environments and be adaptable to change.

• Leader with moral authority. It is critical to establish trust and confidence in your workplace. Establish employees’ trust and confidence by adhering to quality standards, accepting and delegating responsibility, and fostering a culture that makes room for accountability.

Servant leadership is not a leadership style or technique as such. Rather it's a way of behaving that you adopt over the longer term. It has the potential to inspire high employee accountability and loyalty, management must still exhibit leadership qualities. Ultimately, servant  leadership does not allow for much control over employees, so managers must be confident in the abilities of both their team members and themselves.