Servant Leadership

There are many leadership philosophies. Democratic. Authoritarian. My philosophy is Servant Leadership. The Servant Leader’s primary responsibility is to serve the team.

To Servant Leaders, the organizational chart is upside down:

Instructors and Student Experience teams are at the top. They are delivering the most direct value to students in our school. The primary goal of the Servant Leader is to ensure these teammates on the frontlines thrive. This aura trickles to the student body, which channels back to marketing and other department areas.

The Servant Leader’s primary focus:

• Listen to teammate concerns, needs, hopes
• Work ceaselessly to take action regarding their concerns, needs, hopes
• Collaborate consultatively, offering suggestions but ultimately trusting their final call
• Recognize, celebrate, and develop the gifts and talents of teammates
• Facilitate collaboration to minimize time and maximize people’s contributions
• Proactively ensure the team has support, training, and systems in place to be happy and productive, including minimizing bureaucratic and logistical work
• Ensure everybody feels proud and content with their work

In short: the primary role of the leader is to help teammates thrive.

Working with a servant leader should feel like a wind at your back, like there is always someone working to support your journey.