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#9 in our list of the Top 10 Characteristics of an Agile Organization is about the leadership: being both a Servant and Leader, also known as Servant Leadership.
- How can you be both a servant and a leader?
- And why is this so important to a successful Agile organization?
Watch this 3-minute video for some of my ideas and 4 of the 10 characteristics of a Servant Leader from Robert Greenleaf. Or, see my full hour-long Servant Leadership webinar for a more in-depth look at this #9 characteristic of an Agile organization.
In case you are wondering about the overall list, Ryan and I started brainstorming about the “Top 10 Characteristics of an Agile Organization” after Rally was recently named one of the Best Places to Work in America by Outside magazine. See Ryan’s previous coverage of #10 Work/Life Balance. Up next is #8 Sustainable and Successful, in honor of the upcoming Earth Day.
About the Author: Jean Tabaka is a wine enthusiast, author and Agile Fellow at Rally Software Development. Subscribe today to get free updates by email or RSS.
Jean, I am so refreshed that there are others who follow the Greenleaf model. I was exposed to him in leadership classes many years ago, and have embraced that concept unknowingly for years. It has been the model for my view on leadership and so-called management for years. Thank you for sharing this with the Agile community.
Thank you Ruthann. Last week, I spoke about Servant Leadership at a gathering within a Silicon Valley company. The 10 characteristics of Servant Leadership defined by Robert Greenleaf really resonated with the attendees. Why? Their CEO had just been interviewed 2 weeks earlier by the New York Times Sunday Business section. And the topic? His leadership style and how it had changed over the years. It was a great one-two punch!
When I was talking with this group, I reminded them of something that has struck me personally about Greenleaf’s Servant Leadership. It isn’t just about leaders. I asked them to think about how these virtues and attributes could be useful in aspiring to be a true “servant team member.” This seemed to really resonate with them.
Jean herself demonstrates one aspect of servant leadership better than anyone I know. When she is with a customer, she is TOTALLY focused on the customer and his/her problem (the Rally folks joke that she shuts off all her biological functions for a day…) The total devotion touches customers big time. The implied message “I am your servant” resonates. It elevates the commercial transaction to the level of a relationship.
Israel
Israel, you are far too kind! And, I am not sure how to comment on suggestions that there might be an 11th, biological component to Servant Leadership! :- )
I do know that when I teach Certified ScrumMaster classes, I very much emphasize this servant role of the ScrumMaster. I often tell the story of a group I once worked with to complete planning for their next release. The release planning meeting had over 100 attendees from 14 different organizations. I was the facilitator for the 2-day meeting. To keep everything running smoothly FOR THEM, I declared up front that I was there to serve them. If there was ANYTHING they needed at anytime, I invited them to find me, tug me on the sleeve and say, “Jean, I need you to serve me.” Some laughter rippled through the room. This sounded ridiculous. However, I can tell you that indeed over the course of the two days, several people came to me, gave me a big smile, and then tugged me on the sleeve saying, “Jean, I need you to serve me!”
This was a very different experience for them compared to how planning had been done in the past. In another post, I will tell you about the time I “served” another group by not allowing the executive sponsor to make a decision on her own. She wanted to speed up the meeting and avoid a conflict. She wasn’t happy with me when I insisted the group be allowed to have the conflict and create their recommendations for how to best move forward. :- )
Jean, I don’t know that it is “biological.” I think it is primarily a matter of your values (plural) coming across loud and clear.
Israel
Can I get a copy of the presentation – “Servant and Leader – Top 10 Characteristics of an Agile Organization”. I couldn’t find it here.
Thanks,
Sreek
Hi Sreek,
Send me your email and I will send you a link to a PDF file of the slides. My email is jtabaka@rallydev.com. Thanks for asking for the slides!
I appreciated the embedded video interview. Well done. Servant leadership is so powerful. Do you think that this kind of leadership can survive in this kind of environment of downsizing and budget cuts? Jann
I read two books early in my career as an IT manager that had tremendous influence on my leadership style – “The Servant Leaders Club” and “Zapp! The Lightening of Empowerment” (W.C. Byham). Practicing servant leadership soon earned me the reputation of someone who knew how to manage “difficult employees”. I quickly learned that there’s rarely such a thing. Most often they were great people who, in the words of Byham, were simply “sapped” and needed to be “zapped.” Maybe that’s why I was so primed to accept Agile! Thanks for the article.
Jean, I couldn’t agree with you more. From personal experience, I just couldn’t do enough for a manager who was empowering. Also from reading great insight by Dale Carnegie, Napoleon Hill, and John Maxwell, a Servant Leader is the best vantage position as: (1) you get the best out of people, (2) obtain buy-in throughout the delivery cycle, (3) provide better guidance by enabling and giving ownership (vs micro-managing), and most of all (4) build synergies in direct and matrix teams.
I have also requested your deck as well, and suggest you post on Slide Share.
Good work, luck, and… Life is Good!
Abe
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