What is a servant leader? This is a leader-manager who understands that he is the one who serves his team and not the other way around. It is great to see and hear that more and more old-fashioned toxic working environments with their command-and-control antics are being thrown to the curb. Our newest part of the workforce is drawn to an employee centric company culture. Attaining GenZ and Millenial talent is tough. Retaining them is even tougher. It does not need to be that way though.

Servant leadership has a solid foundation in self-awareness of the leader. But how can you pursue it? The best tool in your servant leadership tool box is reflection and meditation. Know thyself is a phrase that you should make your mantra. Please find below a variety of questions we should ask ourselves frequently:

• What can I do to have my employee feedback meetings on time? Timely feedback reviews and making them a priority is key to team members feel that they are taken just as serious as an “important” customer, or project.
• How can I show that I really am listening to my conversation partner? Being present in any one-on-one or team meeting is one of the main commitments we must make to our employees. Body language and mimics and not having put your phone set to DND can be a major obstacle in creating great rapport.
• How should I prepare a meeting such that my team members can constructively partake in it? Is my meeting about a conversation for understanding, interpretation, exploration of opportunities, or for action? How does the meeting facilitator make sure the meeting is about the “is” condition and not about the “should-be’s”? How can I make sure we start and stop our meetings on time? Take time to prepare meetings. You get the results you prepared for.
• How do I as the leader get the respect of my team members? How do I get to know what they do every day and would I be able to do what they do? Respect is not owed it is earned. Earn your employee’s respect by meeting them at eye level – give them the best present you can give to a human being: your time and presence.
• What is my best method approach to getting buy-in and collaboration from my team members towards minor and major changes in the organization or the team? The solutions to your company’s problems reside in the heads of your team members. “All” you need to do is take the time and ask them and LISTEN to what they are saying.
• How do I make sure a yearly (best practice is quarterly) employee feedback meetings, one-on-one meetings, and department meetings are held periodically? Consistent communication is key to building positive momentum in your organization. No leader-manager has ever been accused of over-communicating.
• How do I provide constructive feedback to my team members? What is holding them back to perform? Remember that you cannot control performance, but you can position your people to their strengths so that they can manager their weaknesses. You are the quarterback of your team.
• How can I demonstrate to my employees that I appreciate each individual’s personal contribution to the team’s effort? You may reside in the corner office, but your employees still have a deeper relationship with you than you may realize. Leading people is all about relationship building – you do this with customers and vendors so please do this for your employees as well.
• When an employee says something, what is he/she really saying? What and how (also how much) something is said is often indicative of personal, process, product, or team issues. Watch out for what is being said when people no longer say anything.
• How can we best facilitate change – any change? How do we guide our employees through resistance, sorrow, exploration of opportunities, and finally the commitment to change? The direct path for change from point A to B is a leadership illusion. Communication is key for creating buy-in from your folks.

Here is my request to ponder the questions and finding answers for them. Only you can see the underlining issues. All business leaders are dealing with communication, prioritization, meeting preparation, job shadowing, servant leadership, and perhaps a few more challenges. No one is an exception to this, and I know that I am frequently challenged and reminded of my own short comings. Key to becoming a great leader-manager is the following realization: leadership is self-leadership. We owe creating a perspective and purposeful work to all the generations at work. GenZ and Millennials are just more selective where they decide to spend their working time. A more intentional workplace is also appreciated by GenX and BabyBoomers.

Ralf