“仆人式”領導，“主人般”員工

尉艷娟

人物簡介

蘇珊娜·馬德森（Susanne Madsen），項目領導力學院聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人，國際知名項目領導力顧問、教練、培訓師，英國項目管理協(xié)會（APM）成員。2012年成立自己的公司（Susanne Madsen International Ltd.）之前，蘇珊娜·馬德森有20余年的企業(yè)項目管理實踐經(jīng)驗。曾出版圖書《項目管理訓練手冊》（The Project Management Coaching Workbook）、《項目管理中的領導力》（The Power of Project Leadership）。

觀點精要

“仆人式”領導者把被領導者的需求放在首位，他們是“給予者（givers）”，通過賦能其他人來實現(xiàn)客戶愿景。

“仆人式”領導者能夠以身作則（lead by example），在他們眼中，領導者這個職位是一種責任，是不可濫用的特權(quán)。

“仆人式”領導風格日益流行的原因有三： 一是“千禧一代”開始步入職場，他們期待參與，討厭被告知怎么做。二是傳統(tǒng)的“命令&控制”式領導風格不適用于管理知識型員工，因為團隊成員可能比領導者更了解工作內(nèi)容，因此領導者的角色不是下命令而是幫助團隊成員運用好并拓展他們的知識。三是VUCA時代，我們面臨的環(huán)境易變、不確定、復雜、模糊，領導者不可能知曉所有問題的答案，領導者越來越依靠團隊成員去共同發(fā)現(xiàn)答案，去創(chuàng)新，去交付更好的成果。

“仆人式”領導者要“陰陽結(jié)合”、溫暖與力量并存。

“仆人式”領導者具有高情商、良好的傾聽技巧和指導他人的能力?！捌腿耸健鳖I導者能夠站在他人的角度想問題，給予成員實現(xiàn)目標所需的支持，讓他們參與決策，并在團隊中建立社區(qū)意識。傾聽、支持和維持穩(wěn)定的能力可以用“陰”元素來代表。領導者利用這一要素來建立團隊的信心，并培養(yǎng)團隊缺乏的技能。

“仆人式”領導者還需要有“陽”的一面，這意味著他們要具有很強的方向感和成果驅(qū)動力。一個高績效的團隊并不一定是最舒適的地方，因為它不斷面臨著改進和創(chuàng)新的挑戰(zhàn)?！捌腿耸健鳖I導者設定高標準，也會提出苛刻的問題，不斷挑戰(zhàn)團隊盡其所能實現(xiàn)目標。

“仆人式”領導風格下，團隊成員參與合作程度更高、目標感更強、熱情高漲。

“仆人式”領導力不僅僅是一種領導風格，更是一種方法和態(tài)度?！捌腿耸健鳖I導者需要根據(jù)不同的情境來調(diào)整領導過程中使用“陰”和“陽”元素的程度。

實施“仆人式”領導力最大的障礙是領導者的自我（ego），還有一個障礙是傳統(tǒng)的組織文化。

“仆人式”領導力與其他領導力不沖突，可互補。

Interview Characteristics of Servant Leaders

Q1. What is “servant leadership” by definition？ Would you please offer a description of a perfect “servant leader”？

Susanne Madsen： Servant leadership means that the leader puts the needs of those they are leading before their own needs. Rather than serving themselves and being steered by self-enhancement values， servant leaders are driven by self-transcendent values linked to growth， contribution and connection. They gain satisfaction from empowering others， from contributing to a cause greater than themselves， from continuously learning， and from knowing that they are doing the right thing. They have an honest approach to their work and tend to be transparent and open. When things go well， they look out of the window and let others take credit. When things go wrong， they look in the mirror and take responsibility.

Servant leaders dont play favourites or engage in dishonest politics. Rather than being interested in power， money or prestige for themselves， they have a desire to serve their team and clients and enable others to make a difference. They have a clear view of what their clients needs are， and they seek to fulfil them with utmost care and judgment. We could say that servant leaders are givers who seek to empower people to contribute to the clients bigger vision. They naturally lead by example and recognize that being a leader is a privilege and a responsibility that must never be abused or taken advantage of.

Q2. What are the typical qualities of “servant leaders”？

Susanne Madsen： One of the qualities of servant leaders is a high amount of emotional intelligence， good listening skills and the ability to coach. Servant leaders acknowledge other peoples perspectives， give them the support they need to meet their goals， involve them in decisions that affect them， and build a sense of community within the team. The ability to listen， support and maintain stability can be symbolised by the feminine “yin” element. Leaders use this element to build the teams confidence and to develop skills that are lacking. They encourage collaboration and provide a safe environment for team members to work together and come up with their own solutions.“Yin” leaders are also good at praising people for a job well done and will often ask what type of help the individual needs. This style is enabling and is concerned with making it possible for others to flourish， lead and contribute.

But servant leadership is not only characterised by supportive “yin”. Its also important that leaders can access their challenging “yang” side. “Yang” symbolises the masculine element， which is challenging， demanding and factual. Servant leadership is not about being nice all the time. Its about serving the client and developing a high-performing team to enable that. Interestingly， a high-performing team isnt necessarily the most comfortable place to be because its constantly being challenged to improve and innovate. “Yang” leaders have a strong sense of direction and are results-driven. They set a high standard， ask difficult questions and challenge the team to deliver to the best of its ability.

You could say that “yin” is a predominantly heartbased approach， whereas “yang” is a rational and head-based approach. When these two elements are combined， we find servant leaders who use equal amounts of warmth and strength； they involve people in the decisions that affect them and they ask questions that empower and stimulate creative and innovative thinking. They challenge the team to reach a high standard and they provide them with the support required to do so. The outcome is a higher level of engagement， more trust， stronger relationship and increased innovation.

Reasons for Popularity of Servant Leadership

Q3. Why do you think “servant leadership” is getting increasingly popular？

Susanne Madsen： With new generations entering the workforce， there is an increasing demand for leaders to involve teams in the work they are doing and to help people grow and find purpose in their work. Millennials dont just want to be told what to do. Instead， they want to be involved. A traditional“command & control” management style works well in a setting where the manager holds all the knowledge and is instructing a team of unskilled workers. But in our era of knowledge workers， team members often understand the subject matter better than the leader. The leaders role is therefore not one of giving orders but one， which helps team members apply the knowledge they already have and expand upon it.

The need for engagement and involvement is further accentuated because we now live in a VUCA world. As our environment is volatile， uncertain， complex and ambiguous， one leader simply cannot hold all the answers. Leaders rely to a larger and larger extent on the team to find the answers， to innovate and to deliver great outcomes.

Performance of Team Members under Servant Leadership

Q4. When the leader is leading in a serving manner， will the employees act like masters with more enthusiasm for work？ How should employees act so that “servant leadership” can reach the desired results？

Susanne Madsen： Under servant leadership， the employees or team members level of engagement， collaboration， sense of purpose and enthusiasm grows. Thats because they feel listened to and because they have real influence on their work rather than simply being told what to do. On the other hand， team members must actively step into the challenge， act responsibly and recognize that they are working with a leader who is doing the best they can with the resources they have.

Q5. Is “servant leadership” applicable to all projectoriented industries？

Susanne Madsen： Yes， I would say so. But leadership always needs to be adapted to the situation at hand and to the person who is being led. Servant leadership is an approach and an attitude more than just a leadership style. A servant leader needs to adjust his or her level of “yin” and “yang” to suit the environment.

Application of Servant Leadership

Q6. What are the major barriers in applying “servant leadership”？ What should we pay special attention to in applying “servant leadership”？

Susanne Madsen： The biggest barrier is perhaps a leaders own ego， that part of our personality， which is tempted to serve itself. Some people have a big need for significance and may fulfil this need by using situations， colleagues and subordinates as a means to gain greater power， money and recognition. Im sure we have all experienced people who primarily cared about their own advancement and who made decisions that would see them progress within the organization. When people take out as much as they can from their surroundings， they dont serve anyone other than the greedy part within themselves.

Another barrier could be an old-fashioned organisational culture where leaders are expected to make all the decisions and where the challenging“yang” element is favoured over the feminine “yin”element. In such organisational cultures， servant leaders may need to initially move quietly and let their results and stellar team performances pave the way.

Q7. “Servant leadership” is NOT contradictable to other leadership styles such as “balanced leadership”， right？

Susanne Madsen： Thats right. Servant leadership is an approach， which compliments several leadership styles. You might for instance find a servant leader who makes use of a coaching style， a visionary style and a democratic style. You will also find similarities between servant leadership and transformational leadership.