1. The Greenleaf Seminar The Key Practices of Servant-Leaders
Presented by
Dr. Kent M. Keith
2009 Mid-America Community Action Association Conference
© Copyright Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership 2009

2. Key Practices of Servant-Leaders
Self-Awareness
Listening
Changing the pyramid
Developing your colleagues
Coaching, not controlling
Unleashing the energy and intelligence of others
Foresight

3. Self-Awareness One’s own strengths and weaknesses
Emotional intelligence
Primal Leadership (Goleman)
The impact of one’s words and deeds
Reflection

4. Exercise for Two: Self Awareness
Answer this question: How do your strengths, weaknesses, and emotional reactions affect others? Think of a few specific examples.
Pick a person near you and share your answer or the specific examples that you are comfortable sharing.

5. Listening Key to understanding how to meet the needs of others
Servant-leaders don’t begin with the answer but with questions
Starbucks and Howard Behar
PieperPower – Suzuki - Yunus

6. Changing the Pyramid
In the traditional pyramid, the workforce is focused on the boss, not the customer
Blanchard: Servant-leader articulates a vision, then inverts the pyramid
Dr. Sample: work for those who work for you!
A pyramid is lonely at the top: need a team

7. Developing Your Colleagues
Greenleaf’s business ethic: the work exists for the person as much as the person exists for the work
TDIndustries Mission Statement
Schneider Corporation Vision Statement
Peter Drucker’s story about the president who developed managers

8. Coaching, not Controlling
The traditional focus on “control”
Servant leaders coach and mentor
Chester Barnard: authority rests in the hands of the receiver of the signal
Meg Wheatley: Organizations are not machines but dynamic living systems in which relationships count

9. Unleashing the energy and intelligence of others
Empowerment = allowing people to use their energy and intelligence
Ken Melrose at Toro
People need experience being “unleashed” so they can take leadership when needed
Everyone is there—why not engage everyone to the fullest?

10. Foresight
Greenleaf said foresight is the central ethic of leadership, the “lead” that the leader has
Not predicting specific events, but the underlying trends, issues, opportunities
Arie de Geus: example of forecasting when the rivers will swell and flood the valleys
Good to Great: A& P vs. Kroger
Max DePree: momentum

11. One result: Trust Trust is essential to leading any organization
You can build trust when you make it clear in word and deed that you care about your colleagues and customers
The key practices build trust because you are paying attention to your customers and colleagues and are getting them what they need

12. What does your organization look like?

13. Exercise: Implementing the Key Practices
Draw your organization
Mark yourself and three colleagues
Given your organizational structure, how could you best implement the key practices of servant-leaders?

14. Discussion
What do you find most interesting about the key practices of servant-leaders?
What do you think are the benefits of servant leadership?
What do you think are the barriers to being a servant-leader?

15. Thank you!