Episode 63: Servant Leadership: The Leadership Philosophy That Changes Everything | 12MinuteLeadership

Servant leadership is sometimes misunderstood as soft leadership—being nice, avoiding accountability, or putting people ahead of results. But true servant leadership requires strength. It means holding high standards while being equally committed to helping people grow into those standards.

In this episode, Elise breaks down what servant leadership actually looks like—and why it can be one of the most powerful leadership philosophies for building both strong people and strong organizations.

You'll learn:

• Why servant leadership is anything but “soft” leadership
• The question that changes how you lead and develop others
• Why great leaders measure success by the growth of the people around them
• How accountability can be an expression of genuine care
• Why servant leaders remove barriers instead of blaming their teams
• The value of investing in leadership development before there's a crisis
• How succession planning reveals a leader's mindset
• Why your greatest leadership legacy may be the people you develop

Reflection question: If someone described your leadership, would they talk primarily about your accomplishments—or about how they became better because they worked with you? Listen now, and share this episode with another leader who wants to build a culture where people and performance thrive together.

Transcript

Quick Leadership Podcast Kickoff

Speaker 0:02

Welcome to the 12 Minute Leadership Podcast, where in 12 minutes or less, I'll share small things that you can put into immediate practice that will make a big difference in your leadership effectiveness. I'm your host, Elise Boggs Morales, leadership professor, consultant, and coach. For the last 17 years, I have helped thousands of leaders level up their influence and achieve remarkable results. If you want to trade compliance for true commitment and create your dream team, you are in the right place. Get ready for a quick hit of practical wisdom to increase your team's engagement, inspire top performance, and retain your best talent. Ready to level up your influence and get better results? 12 minutes starts now. Hi everyone, Elise here. Welcome back to the podcast. Last week I had the privilege of interviewing one of my coaching clients, Aaron Reynolds. He shared some great insights and wisdom about organizational growth and cultivating a people-centered culture as a competitive advantage.

Why Servant Leadership Matters

Speaker 1:10

Underneath all of the success is his leadership philosophy grounded in servant leadership, which I want to dig deeper into as the focus of the podcast today. As results-driven leaders, servant leadership can wrongly be interpreted as weak, yet it is anything but it takes tremendous strength to operate as a servant leader. And I also know from first-hand experience how impactful this style of leadership can be. I got introduced to this philosophy in grad school when we read Robert Greenleaf's book on the topic. At the time, I was working for a nonprofit overseeing about 300 unpaid volunteers. I decided to test out this philosophy with those I led, and the results were that these volunteers ended up outperforming the paid staff. If you spent any time around leadership development, you've probably heard about it, but what does servant leadership actually mean?

The Question That Changes Everything

Speaker 2:06

Servant leadership isn't simply about being nice or avoiding accountability, and it certainly isn't about putting everyone else's needs ahead of the organization's goals. In my experience, servant leadership is actually one of the most strategic leadership philosophies a leader can adopt. At its core, servant leadership asks a fundamentally different question. Most leaders asked, How do I get the best performance from my people? Servant leaders ask, how do I help my people become their very best? That one shift changes everything. It also starts with a different definition of success.

Redefining Success As People Growth

Speaker 2:45

One of the reasons servant leadership is so powerful is because it changes how leaders define success. Many leaders, especially early in their careers, measure success by their own performance. Did I hit my goals? Did I deliver results? Did I get promoted? Those things matter. But servant leaders begin measuring success differently. They ask, are the people around me growing because they work with me? That's a very different scorecard. As an executive coach, I've had the opportunity to work with hundreds of leaders over the years. And one thing I've noticed is this. The leaders people remember most aren't necessarily the smartest people in the room. They're the ones who made everyone else better. Think about the leaders who have had the greatest impact on your own life. Chances are they believed in you, challenged you, developed you, created opportunities for you. That's servant leadership. Servant leadership is also not

High Standards With Real Care

Speaker 3:45

soft leadership. One of the biggest misconceptions I hear is that servant leadership means lowering expectations. Nothing could be further from the truth. Servant leaders often have incredibly high standards. The difference is they're just as committed to developing people as they are to achieving results. They don't lower the bar, they help people reach it. I've often said that accountability isn't the opposite of care. It's one expression of care. When we truly care about someone, we don't leave them where they are. We help them grow. That means having difficult conversations, giving honest feedback, holding people accountable. Not because we're trying to control them, but because we believe they're capable of more. That's what servant leaders do. If you've been listening to the podcast for a while, you've heard me use the phrase calling up versus calling out when developing people. This is in alignment with servant leadership.

Removing Barriers For Your Team

Speaker 4:43

Another thing that servant leaders do is remove obstacles instead of becoming one. One of my favorite questions to ask leaders is this what's getting in your team's way? Notice that's different from asking, what's wrong with my team? Servant leaders spend less time blaming people and more time removing barriers. Maybe people lack clarity, maybe they haven't been trained, maybe priorities are constantly shifting, maybe they're afraid to make mistakes. Servant leaders ask, what can I do to create an environment where my people can succeed? That doesn't mean doing the work for them. It means creating the conditions where great work becomes possible.

Investing In Leadership Early

Speaker 5:25

Servant leaders also invest before they need to. One thing Aaron shared during our interview was the intentional investment they make in leadership development. I loved that. Too many organizations wait until someone is promoted before they begin developing them. Or worse, they wait until someone is struggling. The best organizations invest before there's a crisis. They don't see leadership development as an expense. They see it as one of their greatest competitive advantages. I've seen this over and over again with clients. Technical expertise gets organizations in the game. Leadership determines whether they stay there. And at some point, your competitive advantage is no longer your product or your service or your engineering expertise. It's your people and the leaders who develop those people. Servant

Succession Mindset And Lasting Legacy

Speaker 6:15

leaders also think long-term. They make decisions with future generations in mind. They ask, who am I preparing to lead after me? Who am I developing? What opportunities can I create? One of the things I love about succession planning is that it reveals a leader's mindset. Some leaders protect their position, others prepare their replacement. The irony is the leaders who intentionally develop successors usually become even more valuable to the organization because organizations trust leaders who create more leaders. So here's a reflection and three questions I want to leave you with. First, who on your team is growing because of your leadership? Second, what's one obstacle you could remove this week that would help your team succeed? And finally, if someone described your leadership, would they talk primarily about your accomplishments or about how they became better because they worked with you? That's a sobering question. I'm doing a lot of succession and coaching for retirement right now, and what I am reminded of is that at the end of our careers, people won't remember every project we completed. They'll remember how we made them feel, what we believed about them, and whether we helped them become more than they thought they could be. So in closing, remember this. Culture doesn't begin with perks, it doesn't begin with mission statements, it doesn't even begin with strategy. It begins with leadership. Servant leadership creates cultures where people feel valued, challenged, developed, and inspired to do their best work. Servant leadership isn't thinking less of yourself, it's thinking more about the growth of others. And perhaps the greatest legacy you'll leave as a leader won't be what you built. It will be the people you built along the way.

Reflection Questions And Next Steps

Speaker 8:07

Next week we'll continue this series on creating cultures people want to be a part of. I hope you enjoyed today's episode. Share it with another leader who needs it. I'll see you next time. Like what you heard on today's episode and want to go deeper? Subscribe to this podcast so you never miss an episode. You can also pick up my book, Lead Anyone, on Amazon. Then, go to my website to check out ways that we can support your leadership goals. From executive retreats to customized training and coaching, my team of experts will help you level up your leadership and accelerate your results. Go to www.eliseboggs.com for more info.