During my MBA studies, I really enjoyed my project management courses, especially those focused on leadership. As I had recently entered into a leadership position, I anticipated putting the theory learnt into practice, professionally.
From participating in the course ‘Managing Organizations and Leading People’, I had an opportunity to identify my main leadership style as Servant Leadership.
You may be wondering, what is servant leadership? Here is a definition from Robert K. Greenleaf, founder of the modern servant leadership movement and the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership:
“A servant-leader focuses primarily on the growth and well-being of people and the communities to which they belong. While traditional leadership generally involves the accumulation and exercise of power by one at the ‘top of the pyramid’ servant leadership is different. The servant-leader shares power, puts the need of others first and helps people develop and perform as highly as possible”
The entrepreneur website also summarizes servant leadership with the following points :
- Encourage diversity of thought
- Create a culture of trust
- Have an unselfish mindset
- Foster leadership in others
Implementation
Here are examples of how I implement there points into my day-to-day.
Encourage diversity of thought – This is usually accomplished through involving the full team in decisions. Although an individual employee may not have the final say, their opinion matters and is always taken into account. During each meeting, attendees have an opportunity to provide feedback. The same can be said for individual 1-1 meetings.
Create a culture of trust – While every day cannot be perfect and difficulty is inevitable, I never place blame on members of my team. As a leader, I am responsible for the actions of my team and take full ownership. Additionally, communication is very important. Communication from work and personal perspectives.
Have an unselfish mindset – Even before taking on a leadership position, I have always shown a tendency to want the best for individuals working on my team. I emphasize the answering of questions and the removal of impediments (as much as possible). Availability is also important to me, hence my open-door policy.
Foster leadership in others – A leadership team is created containing individuals who have had previous QA leadership experience or who are interested in garnering experience. They are mentored through taking on various tasks.
Summary
The above represent an aspect of my leadership process. If you would like to be notified of future leadership posts, please subscribe to my mailing list.
