Applying Servant Leadership in Today's Schools

Mary Culver

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781317930280
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

This book illustrates how the ideal of servant leadership can be applied in your school today. With real-life scenarios, discussions, and self assessments, this book gives practical suggestions to help you develop into a caring and effective servant leader.

Why We Can’t Lead Alone

 

As I walk my dog through the high desert each morning, I realize that I am his pack leader and notice that although he is faster than I am, I am leading the walk. He runs along, trying to sniff out his trail, while all along checking over his shoulder to see which direction I have chosen. Could he be mistaken for leading just because he is in front? Not if you measure leadership by moving people toward a common goal. The dog trusts me to make his walk interesting while allowing him to be a dog. I don’t try to be a dog along with him; I don’t have to, he recognizes me as his leader and wants to move in my direction.

This made me think about the concept of “leadership from behind.” Why is it that we expect the leader to be in front of the followers? Because of definition? This defines a “leader” only in conventional terms. When we examine the true essence of leadership, we see that the best leadership comes from removing obstacles to the group from reaching its desired goal. Again, a lesson observed while walking the dog through the desert illustrates this. If you observe a group of people moving gingerly through the prickly desert foliage, you will notice that the leader might bravely bushwhack the trail, yet the followers hang back, cautious of following too close. Why? If you’ve ever had a thorny branch snap back into place in your face as the leader pushes it aside, you will understand why. However, if the leader holds the branch and allows the followers to pass through safely, the group follows much more quickly, even though the leader is no longer in front of the group. Moving the group safely, efficiently, and together toward the right destination is more important than pretending the leader has to be the one in front.

This concept is far from new. Greenleaf introduced the term “servant leadership” nearly 40 years ago, although the idea was thousands of years old then. Why have authors such as Senge, Wheatley, Covey, McGee, Goleman, Bennis, Collins, and so many more, taken up the call for leaders to be servants first? The answer might not be in the newness of the concept, but rather the unusualness of its practice. Our Founding Father, George Washington, ceremonially surrendered his sword to Congress after defeating the British and securing the treaty to end the Revolutionary War. This act of giving up power was uncommon for the circumstances. In fact you’d have to search eons of history to find other examples of powerful military leaders holding complete control of their country freely giving up that power. Further distinguishing his exemplary service, General Washington, himself, swung a pick to dig the trenches necessary to defeat Cornwallis at Yorktown. There was no shame in working alongside his troops, but rather a badge of honor to be found in his leadership example. Washington’s loyalty was not to his own prestige, and not even to his army. His loyalty was to his country and the ideals of freedom it promised to so many. His leadership was that of a servant to his country, yet he is truly revered as one of the greatest leaders of history.

Just as with George Washington, it is not in our desire to make a name for ourselves that makes us great. It is the good we do for our organization that will make a lasting impact. The volumes of literature that have flooded the market for several decades continues to shine a light on the higher nature of leadership, however all too often, those in leadership positions take on the role of dictators. Do they set out to do so, or do the burdens of leadership and hassles of management grind down their noble ideals into a quick and dirty “get-it-done” attitude? The truth might be both. This work will give you strategies that will develop and maintain your pure ideals throughout your leadership tenure. We will explore what it means to “lead from behind” and the necessity of accepting a humble approach to leading a school.

Buzz words such as “servant leadership” become so widespread in leadership that we might become immune to the power behind the thought that went into making them so common. Before diving into the application of this book, a brief review of the elements of servant leadership is appropriate, as it is the essence of leading from behind.

Robert Greenleaf marked the difference between “servant-first” and “leader-first” leaders in his 1970 essay, The Servant as Leader. The “servant-first” leader seeks to ensure the needs of others are met, whereas the “leader-first” leader strives for personal power and possessions. Greenleaf clarifies elements of servant leadership in his revised The Servant as Leader (1991) book as listening, empathy, healing (of self and others), awareness (of others, situations, and self), persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to growth of others, and building community (pp. 9–20). These behaviors create the practice of principled leadership, the kind of leadership capable of transcending human misery by enabling creativity to blossom.

The concepts of flattened hierarchies and shared leadership might frighten those leader-first leaders but fascinate those who enter leadership with a burning desire to serve. Max De Pree (1989) describes his ideal management process, participative management, as a belief in the potential of people. “Participative management guarantees that decisions will not be arbitrary, secret, or closed to questioning. Participative management is not democratic. Having a say differs from having a vote” (p. 25). He further elaborates that participation is “the opportunity and responsibility to have a say in your job, to have influence over the management of organizational resources based on your own competence and your willingness to accept problem ownership. No one person is the ‘expert’ at everything” (p. 48). Jim Collins (2001) echoes this point in his description of “Level 5” leaders who are “a study in duality: modest and willful, humble and fearless” (p. 22). He consistently found that leaders capable of taking their organizations “from good to great” directed their self-worth away from their own egos and focused their aspirations toward the success of their companies (p. 21). A “Level 4” leader might have the glitz to be a great personality, but producing a great program requires the dedicated humility of a “Level 5” leader (p. 27).

It is possible to practice leadership with very little experience or training, however, it develops through maturation. If maturation in a skill were not necessary, the genius Mozart would have written The Marriage of Figaro at age 12 instead of 30. The cycle of study, application, and self-reflection results in continual refinement of a skill; armchair quarterbacking is also an effective application for this process. This is why we analyze others’ attempts to lead, and build our leadership plans from their mistakes and victories.

The goal of this book is to help you develop conviction in the ideal of servant leadership through careful illustration of how it applies specifically to school administration. Scenarios of real life school administrators will become your practice ground for analyzing their behaviors for elements of servant leadership. That analysis, in turn, will become the foundation of your own action plan for continual development as the caring, sharing, serving leader you want to be.

This book is designed around four major levels of personal development: intrapersonal, interpersonal, intra-organizational, and inter organizational. The first stage of developing as a true leader is the intrapersonal level. This is the level where we learn to accept ourselves as we are, without any pretense or fear. This level of leadership development focuses on understanding ourselves and our own capacities and limitations. Too often, new leaders step into the role assuming they must know everything, or at least appear to do so. This creates a smoke screen that fools very few besides the actor, but successfully stymies further growth. Growth is rarely possible if a need for it is not perceived, therefore, a habit of continual reflection is necessary. This level is addressed in Chapter 2, Good-Bye to the King of the Hill, using school leadership vignettes to illustrate the necessity and desirability of shared leadership.

After we come to recognize and accept our relationship with ourselves, we can freely begin to truly develop relationships with others. This is the interpersonal level of personal development necessary in becoming a servant leader. The interpersonal relationships stage of leadership development builds naturally out of the first. Once an inner acceptance of personal limitations is acknowledged, the need for building supportive, trusting relationships with others can be examined. Developing trust is the cornerstone to effective leadership. It has become the mantra of modern leadership, but it is so often overlooked in the daily grind of management. Again, day-to-day schoolhouse events are used in Chapter 3, Learning to Play Nice, to demonstrate the development of interpersonal relationships necessary to build this critical element. Various meanings of “shared” leadership will be analyzed through scenarios that address what participative leadership can mean in a school setting.

As important as teamwork is to modern leadership, it is possible only after a leader develops accepting and respectful relationships within themselves and with those around them. The intra-organizational relationship is that of a team, working together through a group of individuals striving for the same goal. At this level, we see maturation of shared leadership. Respect for our own leadership abilities combine with the trusting relationships we’ve built with members of our organization. This creates trusting relationships among groups within the organization. Serving as the leader, we capitalize on our awareness of strengths and weaknesses within ourselves and others, through coordinating collaboration in our organization. In Chapter 4, It’s a Team Thing, we will analyze scenarios that illustrate how servant leadership could be used to maximize the potential of a school’s faculty and staff.

When we come to grips with our own capacities, nurture relationships with all members of our organization, and empower them to work as teams, we are ready for the next step. Now, we can be truly successful in developing relationships between our organization and those outside of our domain. Cooperation, collaboration, and balance between our organization and others are created with the same calm and assertive leadership that fostered this within our organization. This interorganizational level of leadership development uses the same skills that created strong, supportive, and trusting networks in our organization, except now we are interacting with a greater community of participants.

Parent involvement, cultural sensitivity, and district politics are just a few of the interorganizational relationships that greatly suffer when the first three levels are not in good shape. How can your school operate effectively in your community if doubt and mistrust color relationships within your school? Yet, when the school functions in harmony within itself, it stands ready to build effective interactions outside of itself. In Chapter 5, Kit and Caboodle, we will reflect on how others have developed interorganizational relationships.

Chapter 6, Follow the Leader, asks the question: “Who is the leader we should follow?”. Just as in the child’s game by the same name, that role changes, adding creativity and excitement to the game. In school leadership, we must understand when a self-directed system works best, and when it impedes the smooth operation of a school. Examples of both cases will be presented, with a special caution not to slip down the “dark side” of autocratic leadership once success has been experienced by using limited doses of that style.

Tips on Using This Book

This book is designed to emphasize reflection on the practice of others and actively compare that to your own leadership practice. If you want to flip through the book and read scenarios out of order, go for it. Each was selected to stimulate your curiosity and interest in applying concepts of servant leadership to the realities of running a school. For best developmental results, however, I suggest that you work through each level of leadership in order. The sequence of the book moves you through the analysis, reflection, and planning stages inherent in the maturation process, one level of relationship building at a time.

Each chapter is divided into sections based on key issues facing school leaders. These sections consist of three true-life scenarios that represent various levels of applied servant leadership. In fact, many examples demonstrate just the opposite approach to leadership. Reflection questions prior to each scenario provide a cognitive set to help you analyze each, which is done by completing a chart at the end of each set of scenarios. Often, when reflecting on the actions of others, we think to ourselves, “I would never do that,” or “That’s a great idea,” but we need to go further to make a viable plan to avoid or embrace the observed behavior. Each analysis chart has an area for you to jot down those ideas as they occur to you, so you can refer to them later in building an action plan. Following each analysis table, we will discuss what lessons in servant leadership we can draw from each set of scenarios.

At the end of each chapter you will reflect on your servant-leadership behaviors, and create a plan to polish and mature them. It is best if you actually write out your responses to each reflection question. This gives you a record of your progress, which might be used as part of your continual improvement process. Each chapter also provides you the opportunity to pull together an action plan to apply more servant leadership to your behavior. Finally, you will create a personalized assessment program to measure your progress on all your action plans developed in each chapter. This provides you, the reader, with a highly personal professional development plan for continually improving your application of servant leadership. No one will say this is easy; only that it is worth it, to you, and to your world.

Good-Bye to King of the Hill

The first level of development as a true servant leader occurs within the leader. A personal reflection of our abilities is necessary to accept the limitations to the term “leader.” To free ourselves from the abuse of power wielding, we must recognize that one person will never possess all the information necessary to make the best decisions, nor have all the skills necessary to run an organization by himself or herself. This realization is actually the root of our true power as a leader. It allows us to willingly seek input and collaboration with other stakeholders. Furthermore, we strengthen both the quality of our decisions and the buy-in of those who will carry out those decisions by seeking input. Acknowledging our personal limitations is probably the single most important step toward creating a safe, enjoyable, effective environment for collaborative leadership.

An Honest Look in the Mirror

Scenario 1

As you read this passage, focus on the following questions:

Why does success at one level of leadership not necessarily predict success at another level?

Ho...