I am often asked what the biggest hurdle for implementation of Servant Leadership in an organisation is.
Of course, we must first get through the first hurdle of leadership-buy-in for the concept itself. This task is made difficult by the amount of myths that exist around the topic. However, once we get through this hurdle, there are still serious mistakes organisations make while driving its implementation.
Traditionally L&D or Leadership Development organisations focus on building skills. More mature L&D organisations move up to preparing employees for specific roles. While these two are essential, the problem is when we stop at these. My experience is that if we approach Servant Leadership at a skill level or if we use it only to prepare leaders for their leadership roles, the program is likely to fail and at best will have limited impact. Servant Leadership needs to be addressed at a culture level. This is where the challenge comes in. L&D or Leadership Development organisations think that culture is not within their scope and generally stay away from interventions that build culture. That is why there is a strong case for integrating other Organisational Transformation efforts with the Servant Leadership drive.
One of the ways this can be done is to ensure that all other systems and processes like Performance Management, Rewards and Recognition, Feedback mechanism, Goal setting, Learning Policy, Career Frameworks etc are all aligned to this principle.
A more important aspect of this integration is to ensure that the implementation of Servant Leadership is not left to the L&D and/or Leadership development functions within the organisation. It has to be made into a people’s movement.
This is best achieved by creating passionate champions within the organisation who will go out of their way, who know the impact of the program, who speak up for the philosophy, who have experienced an impactful change in themselves, and who are more than willing to invest their time in teaching this philosophy to others. Such Champions need encouragement and enablement.
This is where a structured Certification process becomes necessary.
UST is one such organisation that has embraced this philosophy and is successful in its implementation at a culture level through a network of dedicated Champions from businesses. This group of Champions go through a strenuous but deeply fulfilling Certification process and become Certified Servant Leadership Champions (CSLC). It is through such CSLCs that UST is able to make this a culture, a fact that has been acknowledged by external auditors like Top Employers Institute (TEI).
Certified Servant Leadership Champions (CSLC) see a sea shift in their own leadership and life philosophy. Many see significant transformations take place in their personal lives. The CSLCs are also well equipped to take the message of Servant Leadership across the organisation, thereby making UST be successful in employee centricity and organisational results.
Come and consider being certified in this philosophy and become a champion of a cause that will benefit organisations and can create a better world.
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Dr. Madana Kumar, PhD is the Servant Leadership Evangelist at UST. You can connect with him here or contact him here.