Staff Management,  ”My Fair Lady” and George Bernard Shaw (GBS) all share a common theme: the power of expectation. If it’s good enough for Lerner and Loewe and GBS, maybe you should consider it.

Expectation Defined

In 1929, most banks in the USA were solvent. But their customers believed that they weren’t. The customers expected to lose their deposits. They rushed to withdraw them. The banks couldn’t meet the sudden demand. They became insolvent. Expectation created action. As George Bernard Shaw said, “The difference between a lady and a flower girl is not how she behaves. It’s how she’s treated.” (more…)

Servant Leadership has recently created a paradigm shift in management training. The concept of Servant Leadership was first introduced by Robert K. Greenleaf in 1970 in his book “The Servant As Leader.” Servant Leadership is based on the principle that serving employees is more beneficial than dictating or punishing employees.

This management training concept is gaining acceptance and has recently began being implemented in more and more organizations. Servant leaders desire is to serve employees in any way possible to motivate them to become better people, more autonomous, more productive, more confident and happier within their work environment. The end result of this motivation is a more productive workforce where employees want to be servant leaders as well.

Servant Leadership management training teaches the servant leader to devote his energy towards meeting and exceeding the needs of employees by encouraging their skills and providing guidance to help them overcome their shortcomings. This helps employees become happier and more productive within their work environment which ultimately makes them more likely to remain loyal to their company.

This management training concept will help leaders create an environment within the workforce that is more productive, less stressful and more devoted. Ultimately servant leadership will create an overall feeling of contentment within a workforce. Employees will feel as if their relationship with their leader is more of a partnership rather than a dictatorship.

Starbucks is one company that has adopted the management training concept of Servant Leadership. Starbucks is a hugely successful corporation and one of the major reasons for this is the fact that have created a friendly and inviting atmosphere for its customers largely by creating an environment in which their employees are happy. Starbucks success and growth has been enviable and much of their success can be credited to their adoption of servant leadership as their corporate philosophy.

Servant Leadership management training teaches leaders to work in a partnership with their employees, which motivates them to work in a partnership with the customers. This creates a work environment where information flows from the decision-makers unimpeded and helps create a better customer experience that could not be achieved without that flow.

Here are ten characteristics of Servant Leader management training that are considered essential to the development of servant leaders:

Listening: The servant leader should listen to others in an effort to identity the will of the group.

Empathy: The servant leader should accept and recognize coworkers for their unique spirits.

Healing: Successful servant leaders should recognize the emotional pains of others and help to make whole the individuals they come in contact with.

Awareness: Servant leaders should be self-aware as well as aware of pertinent issues, especially those involving ethics and values.

Persuasion: The servant leader should seek to convince individuals rather than coerce them. The ability to build a consensus is seen as an asset.

Conceptualization: Servant leaders should have the ability to see what may be coming in the future but maintain the balance of looking ahead while keeping up with the day-to-day.

Foresight: Successful servant leaders should know the likely consequence that a decision will have on the future.

Stewardship: Servant leaders should motivate all stakeholders within an institution to maintain their trust for the betterment of society.

Commitment: The servant leader should be committed to the individuals within an organization as well as the organization itself.

Community Building: In order to build a community, servant leaders should lead the way by demonstrating their unlimited liability for a community-related association.

Bill Jenkins – About the Author:

Bill Jenkins is the Executive Director of the Office of Institutional Advancement for Grand Canyon University. For more information about Grand Canyon University, visit http://www.gcu.edu

Training Resource: A Grander Goal tells the true story of how one man went beyond simply “doing a job” and changed the lives of poor, unemployed young men in Uganda.

To see real change and gain significant benefits from their strategies, leaders need to establish an environment of trust. Leaders who are trusted — even in times of great difficulty — are skilled communicators.

When leading in times of change and transition (and who isn’t?), remember communications fundamentals, including these:

• Communicate relentlessly. Communicate information, thoughts and ideas clearly — and frequently — in different media. Find many ways to share information; keep processes open and transparent.

• Listen. Good communicators are also good listeners. Allow people to air their gripes and complaints. Pay attention to what others are saying, thinking and feeling. What is said, and what is left unsaid.

• Explain. People are often skeptical of change. Share your thinking and the trade-offs you’ve weighed — not just the final decision or strategy.

• Articulate expectations. Clearly explaining why, how and when things need to happen will set expectations and create a healthy level of stress and pressure. It also establishes a mechanism for monitoring and addressing performance.

• Be visible. If you communicate well, you won’t be out of sight. Find ways to interact with all of your stakeholder groups.

• Confront problems and conflict. Don’t postpone dealing with challenging issues or conflict. By avoiding the difficult people or difficult issues, you can do great harm to yourself, your co-workers and your organization.

• Be honest and sincere. Communicate truthfully and honestly, follow through with what you say and avoid deception.

This article was adapted from the CCL publication Leading With Authenticity in Times of Transition.