The Servant Leader

My friend and fellow leadership coach, Alan Wick, wrote so well this week about the ‘servant leader’ concept of leadership that I want to share it with you.

Alan describes out how the ‘servant leader’ engages and develops others – a leadership world away from the ‘hero leader’ of old.

He believes the Queen epitomised the ‘servant leader’ and picks out some of the specific characteristics of this style that she exemplified.

I’ve copied his text here, verbatim.

“Service

Two years after the war ended, five years before ascending to the throne, on her 21st birthday Elizabeth gave a famous speech where she pledged to the British people that, regardless of what happens in the future, she would dedicate her life to serving them.

And that’s exactly what she did until the very end.

For the next seven decades, she worked almost every day, going up and down the country, doing the unglamorous job of monarchy; attending endless openings of local supermarkets, community swimming pools, libraries and exhibitions like the one above.

Honouring others

Albert Einstein once said, “I speak to everyone the same way, whether he is a garbage man or the president of the university.” This simple statement perfectly encapsulates the concept of purposefully honouring others before yourself.

The Queen demonstrated genuine respect for all people. Respect defines the underlying attitude of a servant leader.

Empowering others

“It’s amazing what you can achieve if you don’t care who gets the credit.”

This quote by former President Harry S. Truman exemplifies how leaders achieve their greatest success – through the empowerment of the people surrounding them. Again, she did that frequently, most recently crediting Paddington Bear!

Listening

Listening receptively to what is being said and unsaid. Listening also encompasses hearing one’s own inner voice.

Listening, coupled with periods of reflection, is essential to the growth and well-being of the servant leader. As so many people have said, and as I experienced, she was genuinely interested in others.

Empathy

The servant leader strives to understand and empathise with others. People are accepted and recognised for their special and unique spirits. The Queen met countless people in her lifetime; over and over again they, (as can I), attested to ‘feeling seen and heard’.

Awareness

General awareness, and especially self-awareness, strengthens the servant leader. Awareness lends itself to being able to view most situations from a more integrated, holistic position. Again, the Queen demonstrated this throughout her life, none more so than her inspirational speech during the COVID pandemic.

She also consistently demonstrated:

Duty

Doing things she’d rather not do, because it needed to be done and there’s no better candidate than yourself, so you do it anyway.

Stoicism

It can’t be easy being Queen, but her mantra was famously, “Never complain, never explain”. She never allowed her personal feelings to get in the way of the job.

Moderation

Even though she was one of the richest women in the world, one never got the feeling from her that she was that fussed about luxury. Yes, she lived in a palace (and a castle), but that was only for stately reasons.

Though she dressed nicely, they were handmade dresses made by a dressmaker nobody had ever heard of, they weren’t flashy designer labels.

Impartiality

She always served whatever political party was in power to the best of her abilities, whatever her personal preferences might have been.

Continuity

She reigned for 70 years. This means she was on the throne before most living Britons were born, reassuringly so.

Whatever your views are on the monarchy, Queen Elizabeth II was an outstanding leader, from whom we can all learn a huge amount.“

I agree we can. Thank you, Alan, for your thoughts and clarity.

And now, dear reader, if you’d like my help in developing or changing your leadership style, contact me and we’ll book a time to speak. I’ve helped others – maybe I can help you.