Servant Leadership and Agile
Can you be a leader without being a boss?
Yes.
Robert Greenleaf first introduced the idea of servant leadership in the 1970s. It is not a new concept, but we believe it is often overlooked or forgotten, especially in today’s world where the terms “ boss,” “manager,” and “leader” are used indiscriminately to position people above others (Even in “Agile” tribes… right?).
Greenleaf suggests that the idealized form of servant leadership means that the lead person must first serve those they lead. The best leaders must put the needs of those around them before their own instead of focusing solely on their short-term interests.
Servant leadership is a philosophy and set of practices that enrich people’s lives, build better organizations, and ultimately create a more just, inclusive, and caring world. At the core of servant leadership, philosophy is the belief that the only true source of power for leaders is the power given to them by their followers. Therefore, servant leaders are well aware that their effectiveness depends on their ability to serve others.
So why don’t we talk more about servant leadership? Because, although service to others is its essence, it is not something you can do alone; It requires the active collaboration of others. Servant leadership is fundamentally a collective effort… Shared responsibility.
What are the characteristics of the servant leader?
Of course, natural charisma can help a leader become great. But other traits make an effective leader, and the best leaders have all of those characteristics:
- The ability to inspire and serve.
- A genuine willingness to be humble and helpful without ego.
- A real concern for the well-being of their team.
These are some of the characteristics that define a servant leader:
- Serve first: The servant leader does not demand prestige or power. Instead, he sees his role as existing to serve the other members of his team.
- Put people first: As they see service as the ultimate goal, servant leaders tend to put the needs and well-being of the people they accompany above all else.
- Empower others: Servant leaders often delegate tasks and decision-making to other team members, trusting that those people can perform those tasks effectively.
- Develop others: One of the defining characteristics of a servant leader is to help develop other team members so that he can serve them more effectively, which means investing time in allowing them to grow professionally and personally.
In short: Someone who puts his team first and earns their respect that way. Use your influence to serve others. Use that influence further so that others have the same power of persuasion. He puts the needs of his team before his own. And they do it to get the best work out of their people by inspiring them to greatness.
How does it help in the collaboration of Agile teams?
The main idea of each and every one of the team members having knowledge and skills of servant leadership is to guarantee that all the members of that team have what they need to increase more and better value continually. Can you imagine all the team members, attentive and with shared responsibility for their impediments and dependencies? Always helping each other to remove any barrier or obstacle?
This sounds great in theory, but how does it work in practice? Servant leaders are constantly checking in with team members and asking if there is anything they need to be successful. They help create teams where everyone feels heard and appreciated for their contributions. Each member feels empowered to do their best work, not just for themselves but for the entire team.
This type of leadership does not come naturally to most people; it can be very uncomfortable at first. But once you get used to it, figuring out what your teammates need and always helping them, you understand what collaboration is all about in agile teams.
And it is not accessible if you are accustomed to traditional structures of hierarchy and control, or worse still, you are afraid that you will lose your status by serving. Most leaders have mixed feelings about serving. On the one hand, it feels good to be helpful and know that someone has been helped. But on the other hand, traditional leaders say that serving makes them lose power and influence. Leaders also don’t want to lose the status of being a leader if they are seen “helping” with the same kinds of tasks that anyone else can. Leaders may also feel that they should focus on their work rather than helping others. “When people think that their status may be undermined, it is impossible to create real collaboration in a team. It tells us that collaboration has to do with the community. It is about challenging you to work in a group. It’s about recognizing the role other people play in the quality and productivity of your work life.
Agile teams are, at their core, collaborative teams. Agile is based on collaboration and collective effort, focusing on shared goals and high performance.
The members of a real Agile team, far from the fake Agile, understand, practice, share, and internalize that Agile helps them:
- To work together towards shared goals.
- To give and receive feedback effectively.
-To create an environment of trust and respect.
-To use conflicts constructively, to improve everything.
Final words
In my 12 years walking Agile, I’ve learned that when you bring a group of people together to work on a product or service, it’s not enough for everyone to be “in the same room” or “same Zoom room.” You have to ensure that interaction will allow the incremental construction of that product or service. Ways to collaborate effectively and foster communication and transparency among team members.
This only happens when the team is constantly alert to what they need or require to increase value. That is, meeting the team’s needs comes before their own or the egos of their leaders.
Together (Servant Leadership and Agile), these two concepts can make your team or organization a powerful incremental value-producing force.
