Servant Leadership: Serve to Be Great

As I was walking through Logan Airport on one of my many monthly commutes to/from various places throughout the US, a billboard advertisement caught my eye for one reason or another.  It could be because it was 11:30 PM and I was doing everything to keep my eyes open long enough to find the nearest open Dunkin’ Donuts. Anyways, the billboard simply stated, “Arrive Curious, Leave Inspired” and in the background it showed many nice scenes of Boston to visit. In full disclosure, I do not remember the company or organization that was the advertiser, but I couldn’t get the phrase out of my head.  It made me think about how I try to handle each and every situation this way.  Sometimes I am more successful than at other times. I mean, if we weren’t curious, why would we go to most of the destinations where we end up?  

I want to share with you my experience with the Leadership Institute Master Class (LIMC), Class of 2015.  My curiosity for this amazing experience started in 2011.  A former Mass Bay Chapter president met me for lunch at a little Mexican restaurant in Dallas, Texas, immediately after his first LIMC session.  I happened to be there because I was just about to attend my first Leadership Institute Meeting (LIM) and of course wanted some comfort food.  However, instead I listened to a person who had a new appreciation for Project Management and Leadership.  He also had a new appreciation for how much he was learning about himself, and how the program enabled him to find out about so many other cultures and parts of the world!  To say I was curious at this point would be an understatement!  Due to various circumstances and timing of everything, I ended up having to wait until 2014 just to apply to be a part of the experience.

When I was accepted to be in the Class of 2015, I was amazed at how nervous I was at first.  I didn’t think I would be, but I immediately thought maybe I was under or overqualified for this type of class, or wanted to make a name for myself and only had a short few months to “rid the world of project management disaster!”  Slowly, this nervousness led to being curious about the whole process.  I reassured myself that I was qualified and ready to attend (and that I had no chance to rid the world of project management disaster in the remaining two months)!!!

When I arrived, I immediately met those same people that I was told about back in 2011.  Right away I felt connected in a way I hadn’t felt before.  I was curious again, but now a completely different type of curious.  I wanted to learn.  I wanted to ask questions.  Most importantly, I wanted to listen to everyone and soak everything in as much as I could!  I was in a place where their language was the same as mine.  It didn’t matter whether it was spoken in one of the17 different dialects in our class of 34 people from around the world.  

Over the next 12 months, my curiosity never wavered.  We had numerous phone calls, webinar sessions, weekend discussions, and three amazing in-person classroom type sessions.  I left with a lot of different feelings.  While I was sad it was over,   I was happy that I had met so many new friends and colleagues.

But, what stays with me each and every day is that I “Left Inspired”.  I knew there was never going to be a chance I could even possibly try to rid the world of project management disasters on my own, but with effort my new friends and colleagues would be putting up a heck of a fight!  Who knew a Mexican restaurant lunch, an application, and a walk through Logan Airport looking at a billboard in order to stay awake would have opened up so many thoughts and realizations!  

I leave you with one thought… go into every situation, whether at home, work, or through your project management organization with the Curiosity and open mindedness that is required to Leave Inspired.  You will be amazed at where it can lead!

On the 9th of October 2012, a schoolgirl was hit by three bullets, fired by a gunman on a school bus upon calling her name. One of the bullets was very devastating and put her into a coma under intensive care for a long time. She had to travel outside her country for medication in rehabilitation centers. The reason of this tragic attack were her posts in social media encouraging children, especially girls, to continue their education and about the challenges she was facing  in her country. The posts of Malala Yousafzai have been drawing the attention of society, institutions and international press. The attack increased awareness, attention and several awards were organized in her name.  Since then, several campaigns have been conducted. Government officials in her country started actions to develop the education system. And, Malala was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize of 2014 -  the youngest winner of this prize at the age of 17. In the announcement of the prize it is stated that “Despite her youth, Malala Yousafzai has already fought for several years for the rights of girls to education, and has shown by example that children and young people, too, can contribute to improving their own situations. This she has done under the most dangerous circumstances. Through her heroic struggle she has become a leading spokesperson for girls' rights to education.”

Malala’s  thoughts and actions have created a global inspiration for the rights of children and  women and impacted the lives of many people. The conditions presenting Malala as a leader were more about her life experience than her education. Since the trust and support to Malala has increased after the tragic attack, many people followed and joined her in her journey to reach her goals.

Each one of us takes follower and leader roles at the same time in indifferent contexts. In Malala’s case, I define the leader as the one  followed to achieve a common goal while walking beside you while you reach for the same goal. Leadership can be defined simply as the set of competencies which influence others to follow.  These competencies may differ based on culture and context (family, school, company, club, region, country, etc), however, trustworthiness and initiative-taking are the fundamental assets to initiate the leadership journey. Without these, the journey does not start. But these are not sufficient for you to be accepted as leader. You need to influence and inspire others to reach for the goal, which requires another set of competencies on top of fundamental competencies. Engaging others, listening, strategic thinking, making sound decisions, managing cultural diversity, being open to criticism and feedback, coaching followers, and cultivating new leaders are some of those competencies.

There is an ongoing debate about whether  you can only be born as leader and if you are not, you can not become a leader later on. I can accept that genetic heritage impacts our behaviours very much and also our leadership journey. However, I believe that we can develop the leader inside us by learning, which mostly occurs through experiences, rather than in classrooms or through reading books. Leaders are not born as leaders. The leader appears while responding to personal and community challenges, taking initiatives, responding to failures, and demonstrating self criticism and ambition for development.

Learning of leadership through experience is not only about developing new competencies, it is also about putting old habits behind us and overcoming  knee-jerk reactions and poor assumptions.

The fastest way to develop/unleash the leader in you is to experience by taking initiatives to achieve a common vision, maintaining relationships with diverse cultures, improving self awareness and being trustworthy.

Today, one of the top global challenges,according to the report of World Economic Forum, is the lack of leadership, The issue is not about the weak competency of the leaders, it is that competent people do not (or can not) take the initiative to lead us.

Each of us could be leading or coming across leadership opportunities in different environments to solve problems and to achieve common goals.  You can only be a greater leader through experience. We should not miss those leadership opportunities to increase impact and to learn to be a better leader. So, “Take The Jump!” We need great leaders!

I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy holiday season: Happy Seoul Lantern Festival, Happy Diwali, Happy Chanukah, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa and Happy Chinese Lantern Festival! It is amazing to celebrate the festival of candles/lights around the world in the months of Nov thru Feb!!

Recently I have been thinking about how to convey the concept and philosophy about servant leadership to the millennial, a generation both of my kids belong to. So, I thought about sharing real life stories.

I have always been fascinated with great storytellers because I feel the world has incredible people, projects, places and stories throughout history! Before I learn how to tell a good story, I would like to share the real life stories from amazing Benjamin Zander and Adam Leipzig.

They are awesome leaders who are best listeners, persuasive, extraordinary, and passionate. They are masters in their chosen fields and they exhibit extraordinary servant leadership qualities!! They light up people’s lives.

Benjamin Zander: Work (how to get an A)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTKEBygQic0

Maestro Zander is famous for his pre-concert talks, his master classes and his leadership. Zander leads the Boston Philharmonic and its Youth Orchestra and he often transforms his students magically on stage. He teaches students to be aware (working on the bar, instead of the notes). He gives an A to all his students (the relationship transforms when the students lives up to their own imagination). He builds communities. He has the foresight and the vision of the great composers. He constantly challenges musicians to dream great dreams and deliver breath-taking performances. Zander gives imaginative ideas for the orchestra to outperform.

I love the fact he encourages students to celebrate when a mistake is made – he pulls the spirit up and says “how fascinating!” He explains the growth mindset and the importance of vision.

An orchestra changes with the different conductors working on them. The conductor does not make a sound. He depends his power when he makes other people powerful. He awakens other people’s possibilities.Shining, sparkling and dazzled eyes are indicators. It’s a totally different world!

Adam Leipzing: Seeing beyond the Horizon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27DEFWa7VY0&feature=youtu.be

Leipzing teaches us to listen to the audience/clients (and use the science to hear audience and listen with "big ears"), to be outward facing (it’s about you and stewardship), to strive for excellence (to be persistent), to have a vision to see beyond the horizon, find the path forward and align the organization to lead hugely successful entertainment projects. I hope you find lots of values from the powerful stories he tells. You will never look at the penguins the same way :-)

What fabulous examples of outstanding servant leaders who heal people, bring out people’s potential and greatest work. Imagine the infinite possibilities when we have more servant leaders at their best! The world would be a beautiful and fantastic place.

You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the
teeth may be the best thing in the world for you. - Walt Disney

Adversity.  This word has been simmering in my head lately for a number of reasons both personally and professionally.  What does it mean?  What does it feel like for me when I handle it?  What do others do when they are handling adversity?  Does it make a difference if you are handling it at work or at home?  Why do some handle adversity one way while others do it differently and in some cases completely the opposite?  

A recent example happened last weekend in our office.  One person was rushed to a hospital on Friday night.  At first, we were unaware of the specific details, but we were told of the purported severity.  While, thankfully, there was no terminal danger it was thought to be serious enough that they would be out of work for at least a few weeks.  

It was amazing to watch the whole company jump into action.  Plans were discussed on how to take over their work while they were gone.  A handful of the team discussed how they would take over the travel for him during his absence.  Others talked about how they would be able to help out his family at home.  In the matter of minutes, there was a plan in place instilling a feeling of calmness in the group for the better part of 24 hours after the initial news.  

Over the next 48 hours we waited and hoped all would be OK.  In this situation, while the person had dangerous symptoms, it turned out to be nothing more serious than a scare..  As I write this article, the person is back at work and doing just fine.  

The steps we took to handle adversity were to take in the initial scare, determine the actions required, and then be satisfied with the actions to attain a sense of calmness and peace.

This type of situation is not uncommon, nor is the way we handled it.  In fact, I am sure if you replaced the health aspect of the story with some other situation at work, you would come up with similar steps for your group.  I did some research on the word adversity and what I discovered fascinated and encouraged me.  Nowadays it means misfortune or difficulties.  However, the origin of the word comes from the Latin word “advertere” which means turn toward.  

We all have been shown various ways to handle adversity and have leaned toward our favored approach to handling it.  As its etymology suggests, we should embrace adversity as leaders and project managers in our community; expect it and leverage it to turn perceived trouble into team or family strength.  As the inspiring author of The Seven Habits of Successful People advises:  

Just as we develop our physical muscles through overcoming opposition
 - such as lifting weights - we develop our character muscles by
overcoming challenges and adversity. -Stephen Covey

We all possess expertise we could share to help others gain from our knowledge and experience. How do you improve the lot of others by giving freely of knowledge capital? How do you “increase the size of the pie” so many more can have a slice?

I observed just such sharing recently during a workshop designed to drive out the requirements of business users. The presenter was long in the tooth and grey of the hair too. His words were inspiring while simple - all of them derived from a most basic diagram of seven boxes with a few words in each and some lines drawn between them. He explained what the boxes meant and how they applied to the business in simple terms, using words like “things”, “items” and “relationships” to guide a full day and half workshop with the help of a scribe who captured all the lively conversation as everyone followed interesting threads to their most logical conclusions.

The business users were drawn into the realm of data-driven design without ever knowing it - and they probably still don’t know they received a gift that day. They left armed with new knowledge, terms and skills, not to mention the benefit of over thirty years of experience passed to them in Vulcan mind-meld fashion in less than ten hours.

Why did the presenter do this? Was he trying to impress someone? Was he trying to display like a male peacock his multi-coloured feathers of knowledge? Was he trying hard to win business for his firm by pulling knowledge from his business associates or using it to further his career? Was he trying to increase the stock value of his company for the next quarterly report?

No. His reasons were much more altruistic than these. He simply wanted to share knowledge and use his experience to ensure nothing was missed in the definition of business need. He merely wanted to let his colleagues understand the process so they could contribute in ways they would come to understand would help them and those around them in the short and long term.

This method of helping others will serve you well once you are comfortable speaking from a base of knowledge and experience, proven results, and a sincere desire to, as they say, pay it forward.

You’ve had mentors and coaches, you have admired those who have inspired you to reach greater heights. When you are comfortable with yourself, when you know from observation that others need help in areas you know like the back of your hand - become a mentor, a coach… a servant leader. Give of yourself.  Give to others.

“You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.”

- Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet