In last blog, we reviewed the underpinnings of servant leadership, and listed the key characteristics. This time, we will provide a bit more information about each one. Please note that this is not meant to be exhaustive but instead, a way to expose you to the idea of servant leadership principles. If you are interested in exploring this further, please send me an email directly.

Here is a brief expansion of the 10 characteristics of servant leadership:

Listening
You'll have a better understanding of their world when you deliberately choose to listen instead of speak. You will also learn key words to use when responding to them as you carefully hear their perspective. Acknowledge what they are saying from time to time once they have finished speaking. Make eye contact (if in person), and make sure to do nothing else that could distract (if by phone). Avoid coming up with a solution and don’t compare their situation to any of your own. Remember, "Listening is so much like loving it's hard to tell the difference."

Compassion
Servant leaders care about other’s suffering and try to help. This can sometimes just mean showing patience while the employee or co-worker is trying to work through their situation. This is about being available, being there for others and even making it known that you are ready to help when needed. Ask them how you can help.

Healing
This characteristic relates to the emotional health and "wholeness" of people, and involves supporting them both physically and mentally. First, make sure that your people have the knowledge, support and resources they need to do their jobs effectively. Next, make sure that they have a healthy workplace. Then take steps to help them be happy and engaged in their roles.

Self-Awareness
Self-awareness is the ability to look at yourself, think deeply about your emotions and behavior, and consider how they affect the people around you and align with your core values. You become more self-aware the more you keep at the front of your mind the Thought Tuning™ process (which uses your Core Values).

Persuasion
It is attempting to elicit an individual or group to think or do something they would presumably not think or do without your influence. The key here is using influence rather than authority. This is different than manipulation in that persuasion aims to serve while manipulation aims to take. A cousin of persuasion is inspiration, so consider how your energy level and enthusiasm resonates to the rest of your team.

Conceptualization
This is the idea of seeing the forest without focusing too much on one tree. This is the difference between thinking (and acting) strategically vs. tactically. It is a lateral mindset over a linear mindset. Before you take a step on the road, look down that road and determine the best path. Estimate risk, and create a mitigation plan. This is lateral thinking. Contrast this to linear thinking where you start out on the road and only address issues as they arrive, stopping the journey to fix the immediate problem without knowing what might occur next.

Foresight
If conceptualization is in the right hand, foresight is in the left. Foresight is when you can predict what's likely to happen in the future by learning from past experiences, identifying what's happening now and understanding the consequences of your decisions. This is where you learn to trust your intuition. If your instinct is telling you that something is wrong, listen to it! This is also where you can draw on the experience of your team and fellow workers. Be willing to ask for their input.

Accountability
Accountability is about taking responsibility for the actions and performance of your team, and their role in the organization. Whether you're a formal leader or not, you have responsibility for what happens in your department or company. Show others that you have the courage to report, explain and be answerable for resulting consequences of the team.

Commitment to the Growth of People
Servant leaders are committed to the personal and professional development of everyone on their teams, without showing favoritism. Help them understand their own personal goals and be willing to assist their progress reaching them. This means being selfless with your time and available when asked for help.

Building Community

The last characteristic is building a sense of community within your organization. Provide opportunities to interact with everyone on the team as well as with those in other departments. Select members to organize social events such as team lunches and external activities. Encourage people to chat informally away from their desks, and dedicate the first few minutes of meetings to non-work-related conversations. Encourage people to take responsibility for their work, and remind them how what they do contributes to the success and overall objectives of the organization.

Shawn Sommerkamp is a motivational speaker and Executive Coach with 20+ years of Fortune 100 leadership experience. He founded Motivationeer™ to coach Christian professionals how to use their career to glorify God and support local church growth.