Authentic/
Servant Leadership
Style
Thank you for taking the Leadership Styles Questionnaire. Authentic/Servant Leadership is a growing leadership style in many organizations. It is centered in humility, ethics, and interpersonal coaching. These leaders go before others, they take on the difficult task, and lead by example. We admire these kinds of leaders because their influence benefits those around them. However, these leaders may lose their effectiveness with those who are more results oriented.
Strengths
You consistently position yourself as someone FOR your team, willing to do whatever it takes for them to succeed, leading them to feel cared for.
You model teamwork, empathy, and service, which will often be reflected by your team.
By being vulnerable with your team, readily admitting mistakes and shortcomings, you invite your team to open up and be honest with one another. This can reinforce teamwork and prevent mistakes as team members work with one another to overcome weaknesses.
Blindspots
By always being the one to do the dirty work, sometimes you pull yourself away from the most important work to simply do the urgent.
As you care for the needs of the team, you can become buried in the minutiae of care for each individual which may prevent you from caring for the team as a whole. You can miss the forest for the trees.
By emphasizing care so much, you can pendulum-swing too far to that side and become unwilling to have honest and challenging conversations with your team. This in turn stagnates their growth and prevents them from truly succeeding.
Resources
Servant Leadership by Robert Greenleaf
Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek
Win The Heart by Mark Miller