Leadership is About Service: Authority versus Influence

What is leadership?  Are you a leader because you have a position or title of authority?  True leadership is far more than any title.  Someone can be granted a title from those above them in the hierarchy, but authority and influence to be able to lead is earned from those that work with you.  In doing my doctoral work at Liberty, we often heard about servant leadership and there was often a biblical derivative of the term.  As I’ve been in leadership for a long time, I’ve realized that I was in leadership long before I ever had the title of Principal or School Administrator or Coach or anything else.  My purpose was always to help people and serve as best I could.  Even without a title, I was a leader in many respects.  

 

Leadership is ultimately about service and helping others achieve their goals and helping the team to be successful.  Personal success is derived from the success of the team and from taking care of others.  Part of being in school administration or leadership is understanding the dynamics of micropolitical leadership.  The most influential leaders in a school aren't necessarily administrators.  Many times the most powerful leaders are teacher-leaders, mentors, and those within the staff that have earned the trust and respect of the staff through their service and helping others.  Many times when a principal says something, it’s viewed as a top-down directive and there is a level of compliance that comes with it.  However, the same thing echoed by a teacher-leader or leader inherently chosen by the group can be far more powerful and have far more influence.  This is one of the reasons that leaders must understand this dynamic and be able to use it for the good of the team.  Not only have the teacher-leaders and your best teachers earned the respect of the staff, they’ve also always put what is in the best interest of students at the forefront of every decision they make.  They always put students and the team first, not what’s easiest or most convenient for the adults in the building.  Those two things make their leadership more powerful than you can imagine within an organization.  While someone with a title might be the head of the organization, the leader from within that has proven servant leadership is the heart of the team. 

 

In relating this to the world of athletics, we watched Michael Jordan do this for the Bulls for many years.  Phil Jackson might have been the coach, but Jordan was the catalyst that pushed everyone around him to another level of performance.  In an interview for “The Last Dance”, Jordan explicitly said that he never asked a teammate to do more than he did or was willing to do himself.  He could’ve loafed through practices and turn it on for games, but he challenged his teammates 100% in practice because he knew that was the competition they needed in practice to be able to perform at a championship level.  We recently saw the Tampa Bay Buccaneers win the Super Bowl with Bruce Arians as the coach, but Tom Brady was the heart of that team that helped take them to the top level.  There was talent on that team prior to Brady’s arrival, but the heart of the team makes everyone else believe that they can win and they push the team constantly to perform at their standard of excellence.  To these great leaders, it’s about service and helping others to be their very best.

Leadership is about service to others. Leadership is a choice, a decision to put others ahead of yourself with a goal of helping them be successful. Leadership is more than a title or position, it's about influence and the willingness to help others achieve their goals. Great leaders build trust, are committed to people and processes, and are dedicated to selfless service.

 

Servant Leadership = Heart to Serve + Called to Lead + Courage to Serve

 

Many people don’t go into leadership for several reasons:  they’re content and happy with what they are doing, they don’t want to take on many of the challenges and responsibilities, they don’t want to feel like they are over their peers, they don’t want to have to do the corrective side with personnel, etc. Servant Leadership can be a powerful force once a person discovers their heart to serve, answers their call to lead, and summons their courage to engage.  These aren’t easy things for many potential leaders to face for some reason.  Servant leaders realize that it’s not necessarily being in charge of people as much as it’s about taking care of people within your charge.  There’s a bigger purpose to the work that leaders take on in helping others to be their best.  Leaders understand that their work isn’t always popular, but it’s always necessary to help the team be successful. Servant leaders understand that their customers are their allies and employees are the greatest resource they have.  They understand success comes from people and not programs.  They realize that what people/customers are actually "buying" from us in education is trust that we will always do what's in the best interest of students and that we will give 110% to see our students be safe and successful.  The way you view leadership ultimately shapes your attitude and actions!