Respect is a key element of leadership.\u00a0 That is, it will be extremely difficult for a leader to lead without earning the respect of his or her followers.\u00a0 Followers may do what the leader demands because they must in order to earn a paycheck, but their work will lack energy, and it will lack commitment.\u00a0 So how does a would-be leader earn this all-important respect?\u00a0 There are lots of different leadership styles that can bring respect to the leader, but there\u2019s one that I believe is the most certain and most gratifying path to respect.\u00a0 To learn more about that one leadership style, please read below.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t care if people don\u2019t like me as long as they respect me!\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n That has been a time-honored mantra among some leaders.\u00a0 Maybe you\u2019ve heard someone say it.\u00a0 Perhaps you\u2019ve even said it yourself, but I hope not because it\u2019s total, unadulterated BS.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s face it, as human beings, we want to be liked.\u00a0 You can try to deny it if you want to, but it\u2019s true.\u00a0 The desire to be liked and accepted is buried deep in our DNA and we couldn\u2019t get rid of it if we wanted to.\u00a0 Think about how it would feel to be in a position where you\u2019re surrounded by people who dislike you for eight hours every day.\u00a0 How long do you think you\u2019d last?\u00a0 So when I hear someone utter the above BS, I chalk it up to someone who is behaving like a jerk and trying to justify that behavior.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know about you, but I can\u2019t think of anyone I dislike and yet still respect.\u00a0 That doesn\u2019t mean we have to be best buddies, or that we can\u2019t disagree, or that we can\u2019t even annoy each other from time to time, but if your overall persona is not likeable . . . if I can\u2019t find something in you I find admirable, some character trait that I want to emulate, then I don\u2019t see how I can respect you.<\/p>\n So what leadership style is most likely to produce respect?\u00a0 I believe it is \u201cservant leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n Robert K. Greenleaf\u00a0 coined the phrase \u201cservant leadership\u201d in his 1970 essay, “The Servant as Leader,\u201d but the concept has been around for millennia.\u00a0 Perhaps you\u2019re familiar with the biblical admonition, \u201cHe who would be first must be last.\u201d\u00a0 The idea is that, whether you\u2019re a CEO or a department manager or a line supervisor, your job is to serve the people for whom you are responsible, not the other way around.\u00a0 Your job is to train, coach, mentor, discipline, support, and in all other ways work for the success of the people entrusted to you.\u00a0 And you know what?\u00a0 If you make all your people successful, guess who else is successful?<\/p>\n A servant leader is also focused on the \u201cgreater good.\u201d\u00a0 That means she places the welfare of her people above her own, and it means he places the best interest of the overall company above the parochial interests of his department.\u00a0 On the other hand, when a leader sacrifices people for his or her own selfish interests, trust and respect . . . and therefore the ability to lead . . . are gone.<\/p>\n And finally, the servant leader aims to spawn other servant leaders.\u00a0 By modeling the behavior and using appropriate training, a CEO should make servant leaders of his or her direct reports, who in turn teach servant leadership concepts to their direct reports, and so on until everyone in the organization with leadership responsibilities is carrying them out as a servant leader.<\/p>\n To me, servant leadership is a more authentic, comfortable, and ultimately rewarding leadership style than any alternatives.\u00a0 As human beings, we like to serve, don\u2019t we?\u00a0 That\u2019s why we volunteer our time to charitable organizations, that\u2019s why we help little old ladies cross the street, and why we help a complete stranger whose car is stuck.\u00a0 We like to serve because it makes us feel good about ourselves.\u00a0 We get a feel good rush that we can\u2019t get any other way.\u00a0 At the end of a long workday, don\u2019t you think you\u2019d feel pretty good about yourself knowing that you helped your people take a few more steps toward success rather than simply exercised your right as their boss to impose your will on them?<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t about being wishy-washy or soft or tolerant of poor performance.\u00a0 You can be a strict disciplinarian and a demanding boss without damaging the trust and respect of your people as long as they know your focus is on their success and on the greater good.\u00a0 After all, how can you dislike someone who is actively helping you succeed and who is willing to put your welfare above his or her own?<\/p>\n Serve well and serve often.<\/p>\n For more on servant leadership, visit the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership at www.greenleaf.org.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Respect is a key element of leadership.\u00a0 That is, it will be extremely difficult for a leader to lead without earning the respect of his or her followers.\u00a0 Followers may do what the leader demands because they must in order to earn a paycheck, but their work will lack energy, and it will lack commitment.\u00a0<\/p>\n