Servant Leadership Doesn’t Mean Being A Pushover

The servant leadership philosophy is one that’s gaining a lot of traction in the modern working world. The premise is simple: as a leader, your job is to support your subordinates. Instead of wielding power, these leaders earn authority. This dynamic creates a culture of trust, support and inclusion, while still driving results for the company. 

Executed correctly, a servant leadership approach is one that’s highly effective—with rippling benefits that supersede on-paper results. Not only do teams perform better, servant leaders attract and retain talent, which feeds back into the success of the team. Successful leaders are able to avoid many of the workplace conflicts and scuffles that might arise in a traditional management environment. 

Yet, servant leadership doesn’t always come naturally to managers. Approached the wrong way, it can turn people-pleasers into pushovers and create doubt where it should instead foster trust. Here’s how to approach becoming a servant leader the right way. 

Learn to lead from a support role

Too many leaders conflate the idea of being supportive with the idea of micromanaging. There’s no quicker way to lose employee trust and tank employee morale than to express confidence in them… then peek over their shoulder. Even if it’s passively, to offer support, micromanaging leaders are regarded as invasive. 

To effectively lead from a support role, managers need to establish clear communication and recognized mechanisms for support. Teach employees how to ask for help when they need it, while also teaching them how to serve themselves. Instead of micromanaging, servant leaders provide help when prompted—and that help takes the form of a collaborative solution that’s employee-led. 

Managers who support their employees become recognized as servant leaders, instead of micromanagers. Just make sure that your support remains passive, so employees can take the active role in learning how to solve their own problems. 

Silence your internal struggle to please everyone

It’s critical for leaders not to lose their identity as authority figures in their mission to provide support. Managers who are too afraid to push their employees willingly abdicate authority. While servant leadership is about transcending a power dynamic, people-pleasing ultimately creates an inverse dynamic, in which employees no longer respect their leader. 

Consider a situation in which an employee is tasked with a project they don’t want to do. Where an authoritative leader would delegate without regard to employee feelings, a servant leader needs to provide support and confident motivation. Servant leaders help address pain points, to help employees surmount difficult or undesirable tasks. The worst thing a servant leader can do is to do the work for their employee or give in to their resistance. 

The key here is empathy. People-pleasers need to tap into empathy to understand the emotions of their subordinates, while anchoring themselves in a leadership role. Servant leadership exists in the middle ground: where empathy meets authority. 

Learning is a continuous part of servant leadership

One of the traps prospective servant leaders fall into is the belief that they need to have all the answers. Managers often see their leadership role as intertwined with their expertise, and they might feel threatened when employee struggles fall outside of that expertise. Embracing servant leadership means embracing the concept of learning. 

Servant leaders need to be okay with saying, “I don’t have the answer, but we can figure it out together.” This simple statement shows that leaders are willing to better themselves alongside the people who report to them. This is especially important at the highest levels. Executive leaders shepherd the way to growth, and invite employees to follow them to higher heights. Good servants also foster the concept that not knowing is okay, so long as you’re willing to admit what you don’t know and seek to learn. 

The concept of continuous learning inherent in servant leadership also fosters a culture of openness and trust in the workplace. Employees are more willing to say “I need help” or ask for advice, as opposed to trying to cover up deficiencies or avoid upskilling. Successful leaders are stewards for personal growth, without coming off as inept managers.

Balance willingness to serve with willingness to lead

Leaders need to constantly remind themselves of the duality of servant leadership. On one hand, you exist to support the success of your subordinates; on the other, you need to be a leader they can turn to for direction. Skew too far one way and you become an authoritative leader; drop too far to the other and employees will lose confidence in you. Keep these extremes in mind as you seek to deliver the right balance of delegation and support. 

Ultimately, servant leadership starts within. True servant leaders have the confidence to lead and the empathy to support. Finding the balance is something every individual leader needs to do for themselves.