The Case For Shepherding
How does Shepherding fit into the Greenleaf servant-leadership philosophy?
Recently a leader asked me how the shepherding principles I teach align to Robert K. Greenleaf's philosophy encapsulated in his essay, The Servant as Leader.
Larry C. Spears describes some of the most important servant leader traites in his article, Ten Characteristics of Effective, Caring Leaders. Characteristics he cites include: listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to the growth of people, and building community.
The shepehrding framework strengthens and extends Greenleaf’s work. It does this in 3 ways: building on his solid foundation, engaging authentically to reach others, and commiting to leading by example while inviting others to follow.
Shepherding Framework
A simple contruct individuals can use to begin and enhance their servant leadership journey.
Standing on the shoulders of giants
First, I have benefited by Robert Greenleaf's accomplishments in guiding leaders to think differently about their responsiblities to employees and organizations. Coining the term servant leadership and bringing it to the business world was a remarkable feat.
Taking the well-worn path
Sadly, I wish I had known about Greenleaf earlier. I didn't learn of his work until having built some poor habits and on the road to becoming a leader obsessed with my own personal aspirations.
Early on, I didn't care about the people I worked with. My chief desire was to motivate everyone on my team to get their work done and not make mistakes.
Then, my entire approach emulated leaders with the most impressive titles. I used their map with the hopes of increasing my status. I reasoned all I had to do was follow their script and the next title would come making me an influential leader.
Being promoted 5 times in 7 years, I was doing well and on my way too. More responsiblity, more assignments, more learning, and more money. More. More. More.
What I began to recognize is while I was respected for the work my team delivered, people around me didn't much like my approach. I primarily used process to drive compliance and when that didn't work I would escalate and apply whatever amount of pressure I needed to get things done. It worked too! That became my way. Just "get it done". We did.
Back then, I wanted to be the smartest person in the room. I felt if work was going to get done correctly, the way had to come out of my own mind. I didn't ask many questions either. I had trouble accepting ideas from others, and seldom changed my mind even when they might have been better than my own. When people offered suggestions, immediately a rebuttal would formulate telling me my way was best. I needed a transformation badly. Ugh!
There was hope for me
I wasn't completely hopeless. I truly liked people. Somewhere along the line my ambition grew too large and my values didn’t have space to work. My practices were out of alignment with what my heart was telling me. Feelings of regret began to build for I felt something wasn't right, but didn't know the cause.
How can we fix something broken when we don’t know what caused it?
Increasing career pressures and life changes forced me to look into the future. I didn't like what I saw when I imagined my life if I maintained my current course.
What would I become?
So I made a decision to do something different. I decided to change my mind about my responsiblity in leading others. My transformation resulted in a new personal mantra and guiding principle.
“The work matters. People doing the work matter most”
My work today
I introduce the ideas of servant leadership to the grass roots. Modeling servant leader practices myself and living consistent with my values cultivates the permission to lead. I’ve been rejuvinated by watching others give their talents, skills, and abilities when invited.
I am humbled and partner with those brave enough to adopt the servant leadership model. Soon, I believe the servant leadership movement will become the differentiator between organizations of the past and those thriving tomorrow.
When we invoke the heart of others and put their minds to work we create a sustainable path towards agilty for the organization and healthier environments to do our best work.
When we call out the best residing inside our people, most respond by using their creative energy helping the firm adapt, grow, and thrive. They do this because the organization becomes an extension of themselves.
We see their protective response makes perfect sense; we protect what we care for. And when we we care enough, we might even make sacrifices to see the organization live on after we pass. Working for a purpose and a cause we deeply care about is what most of us want.
Shepherd Leadership strengthens the fabric of the organization because it values the hearts of others.
Our value comes from who we are, not what we do. The principals Greenleaf and others outline are an effective path towards helping humans work together.
I continue to get great value from studying, thinking, and applying those principles. My work aligns with many well-known authors including James Hunter, Max De Pree, James Autry, and Warren Bennis. My intention is to further the work and strengthen the movement. I don’t think we can limit ourselves to a small handful of voices. We need yours too.
We know the way to lead best is to do it and show the way. We don’t expect perfection, but value getting better with practice. We commit to walking in the light we know and inviting others to join us.
What I discovered along my journey is that one must be authentic in how we execute and live the Servant-Leader life.
Showing the way means serving the team by positioning ourselves where we are needed most. This might be up front, behind, above, or below. They key is we remain close enough to be felt.
People will not follow a leader they don't trust. I teach my team trust is foundation of connection. My focus in teaching leadership comes down to strengthening human connections.
Building the brightest future
Last, I am deeply committed to building leaders of the future. We need compassionate leaders equipped to make difficult decisions.
Those willing to sacrifice their personal ambitions for those they choose to serve should be a prerequisit to leading. Those are the leaders I yearn to follow. That is the kind of leader I am becoming. When we begin from serving first, then in leading we only have to be ourselves.
The identify of servant leader is inclusive. They leave their environment better than when they found it.
Action follows identity and helping people connect with what's most important works.
Authentic living removes the toil of pretending. I experience success creating stronger teams because I model trust enhancing behaviors. My approach illustrates how being genuine earns us opportunity to connect and over time, permission to lead.
As I continue to grow, my intention is to further the work of those that have helped transform my thinking into a leader others want to follow. My practice in developing others is called shepherding. It is also how I show caring to others. Equipping and encouraging people to lead in the way they were designed is central to my purpose.
Conclusion
My art is opening the eyes of others to lead from their hearts. The outcome is creating more leaders others want to follow. My hope is one day Robert Greenleaf will hear these words and smile knowing that he was worth following.
