Transcripted Summary
In this chapter and the following few chapters, we will deep dive into each of the qualities mentioned in the previous chapter.
Just as a reminder, those are: servanthood, charisma, communication, coaching, respect, gratitude and decisiveness.
Other than that, you will also learn some tips and scenarios in which leaders can find themselves in, as well as for new leaders - how to tackle such situations when you come across them.
Servanthood, in literal terms, means you are a servant leader when you focus on the needs of others before you consider your own.
A true leader will put their team's priorities above theirs to ensure success of the greater goal.
So, what are the key traits of servanthood?
The key traits are:
- Honor others before yourself
- Inspire vision before setting the course
- Choose ethics before profit
- Empower others before personal gain
- Privilege people before tasks
- Balance focus with flexibility before making decisions
- Serve with humility before all else
That led into an acronym - HAT. Humility, Appreciation and Trust.
As a leader, all three are vital, as humility helps the ability to consider others' opinions, act with self-awareness and lead from a spirit of generosity.
Appreciation is the key to maintaining, retaining and opening the door to a collaborative relationship.
Trust creates the stable foundation for employees and their organizations to adapt and thrive in times of continuous change.
Therefore, HAT is very important for a leader and especially for the team members, as this is what creates a safe space at the end of the day.
Implementation of HAT is therefore something all leaders should have as part of their personalities, as this will help them shine, lead a team successfully, give and gain respect, create a safe space, and even help retain members in the team.
Let's look at some example scenarios where servanthood plays an important role - training courses, which are offered at many companies.
Therefore, as a leader, you can support your team members by offering them to upskill.
You can have a conversation and see if the team members already have a course in mind or you can help find one.
Once a training course is agreed upon, you can ask them to block their diaries, hand over their tasks to the right member and take the course.
The result of this is that your team members can go away from their day-to-day tasks, learn, bring fresh ideas to the table, be creative and stay motivated.
You then have served your role pretty well.
Another example is aiming for an environment like, "Teamwork makes the dream work."
But, it is very important to understand the team needs rather than just delivering projects day in, day out.
For instance, when the team members are new to a project or a tool, you could facilitate a one-on-one session with stakeholders and the team members.
You could also serve as a proof check for some test cases, test scenarios, test plans, strategies or even code reviews.
The impact of this is that a leader is putting the team first and understanding them, which is very important for a leader.
"As a leader, you are responsible for ensuring that your team feels valued and respected in order to achieve any kind of success."
