How Great Leaders Serve The Team

The best leaders are those who truly learn to serve others.

They learn how to put employees first.

They learn how to flip the hierarchy.

Even though the hierarchy of most organizations flows from the many to the few, the best leaders know that their job is to reverse that hierarchy and help the many do their best work.

Decades of research have examined various leadership models—transformational leadership, servant leadership, authentic leadership, and so on—but while they differ in the details, almost all are united in their assertion that leadership isn’t just about being in charge but also about serving those in charge.

But for all that is said and written about leaders as servants, there are very few words about exactly how that is done. There’s a difference between taking care of your people and being taken advantage of by your people. So, in this article, we’ll outline different ways great leaders serve their team, not by giving up their power but by using it to empower their team.

Remove What’s Blocking Their Progress

GreatAn outdated management model assumes that leaders serve the team first by removing obstacles to their progress. There’s an outdated model of management that assumes the primary role of a manager or team leader’s primary role is to monitor performance, allocate resources, and ensure that objectives are met. 

However, in the modern workplace, merely monitoring performance doesn’t ensure goals are met. We work in the most collaborative era in the history of work, and that means much of an individual’s or team’s success is going to depend on outside factors.

That means it’s the leader’s job to watch out for those outside factors and work to eliminate any that are blocking the team.

That does mean leaders need to monitor performance, but it also means that merely giving individual feedback on performance isn’t enough. It means fighting for extra resources at times or building relationships with other teams or clients whose work is also needed to achieve the objective. 

Sometimes, it even means fighting internally up the hierarchy to get the resources or permission the team needs. It’s not about merely tracking progress; it’s about seeing down the road and removing the obstacles that block progress.

Invest in Growth and Development

The second way that great leaders serve the team is to invest in growth and development. This investment is usually above and beyond whatever training and development opportunities are available by default. 

Great leaders make sure their people are aware of what development opportunities are available but also fight for their people to be a part of them. In addition, great leaders create their own development opportunities, either by starting small things like book clubs or large things like finding the budget to attend conferences and workshops together.

Growth and development also mean having regular conversations about individual team members’ career ambitions and co-creating plans to get them there. Sometimes, that even means having very honest conversations about how a one-star team member’s future lies somewhere outside the organization and still finding ways to help them develop the skills and find the opportunities needed to get there. 

Great leaders know every team is temporary. So, the best teams leave each team member ready to thrive on new teams as well. And the same extends to organizations. The way to become a great place to work is to also be a great place to have worked as well.

Encourage Candor and Risk-taking

The third way that great leaders serve the team is to encourage candor and risk-taking. Teams function best when there is diversity of thought and also freedom felt by each individual to express that diversity of thought. 

This idea was first popularized by researcher Amy Edmondson, who coined the term “psychological safety” to describe a team climate marked by the freedom to express oneself and take risks. Great leaders make psychological safety part of their team’s climate.

When teams feel psychological safety, they speak up more during brainstorming and decision meetings and speak up much more when they disagree with the consensus. 

As a result, the team explores more possibilities and makes better-informed decisions. When a team feels psychological safety, members of the team are skilled in debating ideas but doing so with mutual trust and respect. 

This keeps the disagreement task focused and prevents it from devolving into personal conflict. When a team feels psychological safety, individual members of the team know they can try slightly different approaches to getting their work done. If they risk and win, they discover a better way to work. 

If they risk and fail, they know that there are lessons to be learned, and their leaders will help them turn failure into a learning opportunity. When that happens, everyone wins.

Foster Common Understanding

The fourth way great leaders serve their team is to foster a common understanding. Common understanding is the extent to which the members of a team know each other’s knowledge, skills, and abilities. 

They know their roles and responsibilities and have clear expectations—both what’s expected from them and what’s expected from everybody else on the team. They know who is working on what and when it’s approximately going to be delivered. 

They know when anyone on the team faces roadblocks and how to help.

However, common understanding goes beyond just clarity of roles and responsibilities. Team members don’t just know the project; they know the people. They know each other’s work preferences and styles. They know each other’s work rhythms. 

They know how to communicate best with each member of the team. As a result, collaboration soars, and the team is able to achieve much more. This happens because great leaders take the time to get the team together for more than just reviewing tasks and delegating assignments. 

They take the time to let members of the team get to truly know each other—time that can feel wasted at first. But eventually, the return on that investment of time pays off in common understanding and enhanced collaboration.

Remind Them Why They’re Working

The final way great leaders serve the team is to remind them why they’re working. Constantly. Great leaders keep purpose and mission at the center of their focus and remind the entire team how the effort they’re putting in serves that great purpose. 

This doesn’t necessarily mean that leaders can recite the company mission or vision statement at a whim (although that might help). Instead, it means that leaders can connect that mission statement to the day-to-day tasks the team is involved in.

Leaders answer the question of “why?” with “who” is served by the work that they do.

The “who” could be customers, stakeholders, society, or someone else. But it is always a real person who really gets help from the work being done. We know from research on “prosocial motivation” that humans are strongly motivated by a desire to help others. 

We know from the experiences of teams and companies large and small that when you put a specific “who” at the center of the work, you get a more motivated and engaged worker. So great leaders often become great storytellers, collecting and telling the stories of how the team is helping make others’ lives (or work) better.

There is a lot more to servant leadership than just these five simple actions. But what all five of these actions have in common is that they’re not about just blindly giving up power and turning all decisions and authority over to the team. That may work in some contexts. 

But more often, great leaders use the power given to them (by the organizational chart and by the consent of their team) to serve their team by providing for them what they can’t get on their own. Great leaders are servant leaders, not just servants. They know that because they’re in charge, they can better serve the people in their charge and help them do their best work ever.

Promote Autonomy and Accountability

Leaders create a culture of accountability and autonomy. Team members should be free to make their own decisions within their scope. When you get your team to take action, you can find better and more innovative solutions to the problems. 

Your team will take pride and ownership of their decisions. Autonomy will boost their confidence and motivate them to perform better. At the same time, accountability will give them a sense of responsibility and commitment to the goals.

They will feel more focused, able to meet deadlines, and deliver quality results.

A healthy balance of accountability and autonomy creates a positive environment where everyone feels trusted and supported, and the main focus remains on goal achievement.

Create Opportunities for Recognition

Employee recognition is a very powerful tool for motivating and engaging employees. When people are acknowledged, and their contributions are recognized, they feel more valued. They feel they are part of a powerful organization and are motivated to perform their best.

Leaders can create such a culture by celebrating team achievements. Even a small thank-you note goes a long way. They can also offer formal awards, team shout-outs, or private words of appreciation.

One key strategy to follow here is to create a peer-to-peer recognition system. In this system, the team members highlight each other’s efforts.

Each recognition is personalized and genuine, so the people are acknowledged for their actual efforts.

Lead by Example

Leaders set the tone in an organization, and since actions speak louder than words, leaders model the behaviors and values they wish to see as part of their organization.

So, they have to show greater patience and resilience during adversity. If they are accountable, take responsibility for their mistakes, and prioritize the concern and well-being of others, it creates a positive culture of mutual respect and trust. Team members are likely to mimic such behaviors.

Wrap Up

Leadership is much more than authority. It’s about caring about and serving your team. You have to work on ways to inspire and empower the team. 

That is the true essence of leadership. When you keep the needs of your team at the forefront, you motivate your people and unlock their full potential. This can be your stepping stone to lasting success for your team and organization.