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California Youth Demand a Plan for More School Counselors

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"The servant-leader is a servant first. It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first." - Robert K. Greenleaf

If I took five minutes to talk to your team about their thoughts of you as a leader, what would they say? Would they say that you were a servant leader?

For as long as I can remember, I have had an extremely strong and uncommon desire to serve others. As I have grown and developed as a professional and leader, I have realized that my innate desire to serve has catapulted my career to astronomical heights; all because I have always followed my desire to serve first. A leader with a servant's heart is a truly invaluable asset, and everyone in a leadership position should seek to adopt this type of mentality.

Often times, we confuse leadership with dictatorship. A dictator barks out orders and does not take into account the wants and needs of others. A servant leader is the complete opposite. A servant leader works tirelessly to develop his or her people and is focused on what they can do for others.

I have compiled a few examples of what it means to be a servant leader, and most importantly, ways that you can establish a culture of servant leadership within your organization.

1. Let others see you serve and encourage them to join you. It is of the utmost importance that my employees and clients alike witness me in service. For example, this past holiday season I organized a book donation drive to provide books to the residents of one of my favorite charities, Martha's House, which is a local transitional facility for women who are reentering society post-incarceration. I donated copies of my own books and encouraged other authors and people on my team to do the same. Collectively, we donated over 50 books. I simultaneously gave back to the community while showing my team what it means to embody service.

2. Make sure they know that you care. We've all heard the famous quote, "They don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." It is crucial that leaders know and understand the message and meaning behind this quote. Being knowledgeable does not make you a good leader, being caring does. A leader who shows his or her team that they care will not have to worry about loyalty or poor customer service. Place the importance of taking care of your people above the importance of your bottom line. When you take care of your people, they will take care of your customers. Get creative with finding ways to show your team that you care. It could be something as small as a $5 gift card to their favorite store or offering a kind word when they have experienced a personal trauma.

3. Invest in your people. The biggest investment you can make in your people is your time. Your team wants to spend time with you. Giving your time is a surefire way to let them know how much you care. Spending quality time with your team will impact their job performance directly and will, therefore, have great impacts on your bottom line. Spend time connecting with them as often as you can. Talk to them about non-work related topics and show genuine interest in them as a person. You'd be surprised how much this will mean to your team.

4. Don't place restrictions on your willingness to serve. For a servant leader, no job is beneath their pay grade. A true servant leader is willing to clean toilets if necessary. If you are in leadership, do not make the mistake of feeling or thinking that you are above grunt work. Your team can sense this type of attitude, and it is off-putting. It also puts distance between you and your team. Never be afraid to roll up your sleeves and go to work.

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Servant Leadership: How To Put Your People Before Yourself

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"The servant-leader is a servant first. It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first." - Robert K. Greenleaf If I took five minutes to talk to your team about their thoughts of you as a leader, what would they say?

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Leadership Response to Lack of Career Readines

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Leadership Response to Lack of Career Readines

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Role of the School Counselor | American School Counselor Association (ASCA)

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Leadership Models to Strengthen Services

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Leadership Models to Strengthen Services

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https://www.emaze.com/@AOLZLWRFL/leadership-theories

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The more that you, as a leader, manage each of these areas, the higher your emotional intelligence. So, let's look at each element in more detail and examine how you can grow as a leader.

Emotional Intelligence in Leadership

1. Self-awareness

If you're self-aware, you always know how you feel, and you know how your emotions and your actions can affect the people around you. Being self-aware when you're in a leadership position also means having a clear picture of your strengths and weaknesses, and it means behaving with humility.

So, what can you do to improve your self-awareness?

Keep a journal. Journals help you improve your self-awareness. If you spend just a few minutes each day writing down your thoughts, this can move you to a higher degree of self-awareness.

2. Self-regulation

Leaders who regulate themselves effectively rarely verbally attack others, make rushed or emotional decisions, stereotype people, or compromise their values. Self-regulation is all about staying in control.

This element of emotional intelligence, according to Goleman, also covers a leader's flexibility and commitment to personal accountability.

So, how can you improve your ability to self-regulate?

Hold yourself accountable. If you tend to blame others when something goes wrong, stop. Make a commitment to admit to your mistakes and to face the consequences, whatever they are. You'll probably sleep better at night, and you'll quickly earn the respect of those around you.

Practice being calm. The next time you're in a challenging situation, be very aware of how you act. Do you relieve your stress by shouting at someone else? Practice deep-breathing exercises to calm yourself. Also, try to write down all of the negative things you want to say, and then rip it up and throw it away. Expressing these emotions on paper (and not showing them to anyone!) is better than speaking them aloud to your team. What's more, this helps you challenge your reactions to ensure that they're fair!

3. Motivation

Self-motivated leaders work consistently toward their goals, and they have extremely high standards for the quality of their work.

How can you improve your motivation?

Re-examine why you're doing your job. It's easy to forget what you really love about your career. So, take some time to remember why you wanted this job. If you're unhappy in your role and you're struggling to remember why you wanted it, try the Five Whys technique to find the root of the problem. Starting at the root often helps you look at your situation in a new way. And make sure that your goal statements are fresh and energizing. For more on this, see our article on Goal Setting.

4. Empathy

For leaders, having empathy is critical to managing a successful team or organization. Leaders with empathy have the ability to put themselves in someone else's situation. They help develop the people on their team, challenge others who are acting unfairly, give constructive feedback, and listen to those who need it.

If you want to earn the respect and loyalty of your team, then show them you care by being empathic.

How can you improve your empathy?

Respond to feelings. You ask your assistant to work late - again. And although he agrees, you can hear the disappointment in his voice. So, respond by addressing his feelings. Tell him you appreciate how willing he is to work extra hours, and that you're just as frustrated about working late. If possible, figure out a way for future late nights to be less of an issue (for example, give him Monday mornings off).

5. Social Skills

Leaders who do well in the social skills element of emotional intelligence are great communicators. They're just as open to hearing bad news as good news, and they're experts at getting their team to support them and be excited about a new mission or project.

Leaders who have good social skills are also good at managing change and resolving conflicts diplomatically. They're rarely satisfied with leaving things as they are, but they don't sit back and make everyone else do the work: they set an example with their own behavior.

So, how can you build social skills?

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Emotional Intelligence in Leadership - Learning How to Be More Aware

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Relating to others is vital in today's workplace. Learn how to build your emotional intelligence (EI) with this article.