Servant Leadership: The Good and the Bad of It

Servant Leadership

Servant Leadership is a popular leadership style that is often commonly talked about whenever leadership is discussed. A servant leader is not a servant; it is not that literal. Servant leaders are those that lead with their followers at the forefront of their mind. They are about trusting and helping their followers to develop and overcome their problems. A servant leaders is a selfless leader who thinks about others and is not just thinking about themselves. They are thought to be charismatic and also humble. These sound like great qualities for a leader, right? Who wouldn't want to follow a leader who thinks of others and full of humility? But is there a downside to servant leaders?

Of course! Not every leadership style is perfect. One of the biggest criticisms of servant leaders are that they are not practical in a business role. Critics point out that this leadership style conflicts with the role a manager should hold in a company. Managers traditionally are thought to be authoritative and more focused on end goals then their employees. A leader who is focused on their employees might not be able to motivate and show authority the way businesses traditionally view their employees.

Though this criticism is valid, it is also very narrow in perspective. Yes, a leader should be able to motivate and have authority, but who is to say a humble and caring leader isn't one who can lead effectively? The type of leadership that is effective is going to be dependent on the followers. Personally, an empathetic leader who puts my needs and feelings as a priority is a leader I respond to the best. Will this be true for everyone? No, of course not. Criticism often biased and based on a personal opinion.

Moral of the story? All leadership styles have positives and negatives and the most important part of if leadership is successful or not is if the follower respond positively to that leader's style.

Emotional Intelligence: Is it important?

Emotional intelligence is being able to control, understand and perceive emotions of one's self and the people around them. I have always found that if this is not an area a person excels in, it can be a very hard thing to master. The real question is how emotional intelligence relates to leadership and to answer that, a person really has to understand leadership to begin with.

Everyone talks about the qualities of a leader and what the need. Often in those qualities is empathy and the ability to influence and drive people towards a common purpose. Both of these qualities require emotional intelligence. A good leader should be able to understand their followers' emotions and respond in an appropriate manner. A leader who is lacking in this skill will most likely not be popular among their followers. It is also key for the leader to be able to control their own emotions in dealing with situations. People look to a leader for strength and guidance. If a leader is incapable of controlling their emotions under situations of pressure or difficulties they might not be that great of a leader. 

It can be argued that emotional intelligence itself is a quality of a good leader. This of the leaders in our society: The President for example. In situations of crisis they speak to us as a pillar of strength and understanding. Though they make it clear how they feel and how the country feels, they keep their poise and are able to maintain their leadership despite their emotions and the many emotions of the people around them.

Coaching vs. Mentoring

Coaching and mentoring are two relationships that are often confused with each other. They are also two things commonly discussed in pharmacy school. We are told by professors, colleagues and even key note speakers for professionalism events that having a mentor is extremely helpful.

I have had both mentoring and coaching relationships and here is how they have stacked up...

 

Coaches are there to direct. They tell you what to do and how to do it the best you can. I played field hockey when I was younger and a coach relationship was more of a one sided relationship. My coach gave me advice on my abilities and helped to teach me the things they knew. It was more instructive and less personal.

When it came to people I have mentored and people who have mentored me there was more of a collaborative relationship. As opposed to my coach telling me how to do things the right way, my mentor listened and helped me make decisions for myself. Mentoring is mutually beneficial and more about listening and helping impart wisdom than directly telling a person how to do things. 

I have had benefits from both mentoring and coaching relationships. Both have their place in life.

Ways Leaders Lead

There are many ways that Leaders choose to lead. Each style has merit and could play to the leaders strengths. 

 

This image names some traditional leadership styles. Each plays to a person's strengths.

Someone who has Democratic type of leadership wants others to feel like they can be part of the leadership decisions. It allows for the people who follow to have a say in what goes on. Someone who leads in a Democratic style is looking for the input of people around them and wants their input. 

Someone who takes a Coaching style they are good at helping their followers grow in their roles. People in this style are good at bringing out the best in the people around them.

Someone with a Coercive leadership style is good at getting people to believe in their vision. This style is good at getting things done when they need to be. This leader would have to be good at getting people to truly believe in their visions and ways of doing things. This style would not be successful most of the time. It does not allow for contributions of the team. 

These are just a few of the many leadership styles. They give you a sense of how each on could work for some situations and fail in others. An important part of being a leader is know which style will work with your team and in your situation. If your team is in the middle of an emergent situation then you make not want to use a democratic style because it would take up time to come to a consensus within the group, but a coercive style would allows for things to get done quickly. Each styles has its strengths and weaknesses.

Pharmacists and Doctors and Nurses.. OH MY

A growing trend in the health care world is working on interprofessional health care teams. The goal is to work together to optimize the patients care and outcome. However, working on and interprofessional team is not always a cake walk. The teams consists of different people from different backgrounds who are most likely going to look at the patient through different eyes. To work on an interprofessional team, all professions must understand each other's strengths and weaknesses and have respect for what the other brings to the table.

As part of a Leadership retreat I attended Pharmacy, Nursing and PT students gathered to work together on patient cases. 

We started the day with writing any preconceived notions we had about each others professions. We learned that as professions we did not truly understand what each other REALLY did in our jobs. When we learned the expertise each profession on the team possessed, we were able to gain more respect for each other. 

When we worked on the patient cases it was now easy to see who would be responsible for each aspect of the case. A few main things we highlighted: We knew the nurses would be administering the patients medications and would have the most interaction with friends and family. We knew the pharmacists would be the patients advocate for receiving, taking and understanding their medications. We knew PT would help with rehabilitation of patients physically and with assessment of their home.

We were able to see that as a team, understanding how each profession could help the patient separately would benefit with the patients overall care.

That day we learned important strategies to working well on an interprofessional team. There needs to be communication, respect and organization of each profession's responsibilities and skills for the team to work well. 

The best way of communication was being open and honest. Each profession needs to have respect and listen when needed. Communication was key that day in the Leadership retreat and applies to similar situations in all settings. 

Here are the Pharmacy LEADERS Track members after the interprofessional Leadership Retreat.

Leadership Without the Stress...

Leadership involves a lot of time and a lot of commitment. Especially as a student and a leader the stress can be enough to make you want to rip your hair out. Half the time I think I must look like this:

So how do you manage everything on your plate, get it all done on time, and keep from going crazy all at once? For me it meant organizing my time.

When I started college, like most, I had NO idea how to study. Studying in high school meant looking over my notes the night before the exam. Now I was in college and the material as twice as hard and three times as much. On top of this, I was in leadership roles that involved even more of my time that I realized I didn't have. That isn't even factoring in having a life, going to the gym, being with people I love and eating. I had to find a way to manage my time and not crumble under the stress of every day life. 

That is when I became best friends with my calendar. In order to manage my time I needed to see everything that needed to be done and by when. I think keeping an accurate calendar is KEY to time management. By first noting when the item was assigned and then when it was due I got a picture of how long I had to do it..... 

And this is where the check lists come in. Make short term goals! make midpoint goals. Say you have to write a paper for a class, study for an exam and finish a leadership projection all the same day: plan it out. My keys to reducing stress and managing my time include a few easy steps...

1. Prioritize - which tasks can be completed earlier than the due date: start your study guide as you learn! Do the project first because it doesn't matter if you finish it early.

2. Make a schedule: If I know I have an multiple things to do on the same day I schedule the days leading up. I may chose to write my paper a day at a time: research day 1 and 2, outline day 3, write days 4-7. 

3. Study in short bursts instead of cramming: set out 1-2 hour blocks of time to study the material each day leading up to the exam. By learning 1 or 2 sections a day and reviewing the night before exam you cut out the cramming.

4. Delegate: part of being a leader is knowing that you can't always be the person to do everything. You leading people for a reason and those people can help! I put being a perfectionist aside and learned to trust everyone around me to get the job done.

5. Schedule some time for yourself: It may seem like in the midst of 100 things to do that you don't have time for you, but you definitely do! I always give myself a few hours to do things for myself. I will give time to go to the gym, read a book, or just watch TV. Maybe I'll leave time to go to dinner with a friend, or call my mom. 

There is no foul proof way to manage time, but finding the strategy best for yourself cuts down the stress and keeps a balance. Dividing the things you need to do into smaller tasks makes it less daunting and more manageable. 

Leaders vs. Managers

Or are they just the same thing...

A big common misconception in the professional world is that managers are by definition leaders. I have learned through Pharmacy School and my outside involvement that they are in fact VERY different roles. What makes them different you ask? Let's list it out..

Managers

Managers are in charge of a group of people. They tend to be more task oriented. There goal and end game tends to be more transactional. Managers do things to get them right. They are more about the money and getting their team to do things the right way to do them. 

Leaders

Leaders do many things: inspire, lead change, honesty, confidence, humility, creative, charismatic, have passion, build relationships and many other things. Leaders have people who chose to follow them. These followers make the leaders mission valid and supported. A leader is concerned about fostering the growth of people and not just about the bottom line.

I have had many bosses and I have had bosses who were strictly managers and others that truly are leaders. They CAN over lap, but they are NOT mutually exclusive. Both leaders and managers are important to have in order to get things accomplished. The big thing is that there is a distinction between the two. A person who displays leadership may be more likely to be promoted to manager roles because of their abilities.