Learning to Serve: Exploring Servant Leadership in Associations

A compass reminds us that effective leadership begins with clear direction and a commitment to help others find their way.

We have covered a lot of content in the last few months, especially looking at organizational and personal purpose. But how do we do this? How do we lead organizations steeped in their purpose and mission? I strive to do it through servant leadership.

I first heard the term “servant leadership” several years ago and liked it right away. I only had a sketchy understanding of what it meant. The term itself conjures the notion that one leads by helping or serving others. I like that. I have since embraced that principle, understanding that helping others to do well is the best way for me to succeed.

I have worked hard to understand how leadership and management differ. I spent so many years as part of a one- or two-person operation that the distinction didn’t matter. But when I started working with larger associations, the difference mattered a great deal.

Here are a few articles that do a very nice job of explaining and defining servant leadership and how it manifests in nonprofit organizations. Each takes a different approach: historical, practical, and experiential.

Servant Leadership: An Ideal for Nonprofit Organizations | Society for Nonprofits

This article from the Society for Nonprofits does a great job of describing the origin of servant leadership. It includes a list of 10 characteristics of servant leaders as defined by the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership. They include empathy, foresight, and stewardship. It also offers up 6 strategies for implementing a servant leadership approach in an organization.

Servant Leadership: A Technology Leadership Model for Associations | ASAE

This article posted to the ASAE website argues that today’s collaborative association management tools create the perfect environment for servant leadership. The author, Rupen Shah, describes a rather amusing model for a team of innovators called “Scrum.” In his words, the leader of the team “resolves all the impediments that get in the way of understanding the organization’s integration path, process, and system architectural runaways.”

Is Servant Leadership the Right Approach for Nonprofit Leaders? | Joan Garry Consulting

The author of this article, Joan Garry, describes her work with nonprofits and the value she found by taking a servant leadership approach. Her writing style and approach to the topic is delightful.

To me, being a servant leader is helping others to be their best selves. I am not there yet. I still have much to learn. I also need to unlearn all of the command and control lessons I learned as a child and in the military. Reviewing these articles has been a good refresh for me. I am challenging myself this month to put others first. In that way I hope to grow as a servant leader. If you’re exploring this idea too, maybe choose one way to put someone else first this week and see what shifts.

ChatGPT provided light editorial input on this article.