Have you ever worked for a manager who treated you like a resource? Do you know the type of manager who is more interested in delivering results rather than developing her team? This is an alert that such managers do not build trust or develop their teams.  People are pushed to their limits, even to burn out, and team performance is not sustainable. But there are good news: there is a better and more sustainable way to lead – It is called “servant leadership”.

Servant leadership is not about being the boss, it is about serving and developing people on their needs to make the team successful. It is leadership at its best, where the focus is on empowering and developing people. This leadership approach has outcomes for building trust, collaboration, and personal growth.  Then team performance can be improved and be sustainable over the long term.

Why is servant leadership so important?  Because communication and building trust are the keys to unlocking the team’s potential.  Servant leaders first look at the needs of their people.  They listen, support, and guide their teams to greatness. They do not give orders and commands. Servant leaders make people and relationships their priority.  Therefore, their teams are more engaged, creative, and ready to deliver their best performance.

Do you want to learn how servant leadership works?  In this article, we dive into how servant leadership can transform your team, enhance performance, and create lasting results.  The goal is to make you think about how changing your leadership style can achieve tremendous results and unlock your team’s performance.

Trust is the “glue” for any high-performance team.  Without trust, there is no real collaboration or sustained success. Poor leadership traits, such as a lack of accountability and transparency, can sabotage trust.  When leaders and managers do not deliver their promises, avoid their responsibilities, or communicate openly, they create an environment of doubt and disengagement. The result is then a demotivated team that struggles to achieve its goals.

There is a better way to lead. Servant leadership offers the solution for transforming your team by building trust. You must focus on the team’s needs rather than your ego and bring only results. Servant leadership builds trust naturally.  It is about being there for your team, owning their mistakes, and leading with integrity.

The Impact of Poor Leadership on Team Performance

Poor leadership has negative effects on team performance.  A leader who lacks accountability or is between half-truths fosters an environment of confusion and frustration. Team members start to feel alone, unsupported, and frustrated. Then they lose motivation and engagement. Research shows that leaders who fail to take ownership or refuse to be transparent, negatively impact their team performance and effectiveness significantly. 

When trust is missing, the team is suffering.  There is a lack of accountability and team members feel disengaged. They ask themselves “Why do I have to work hard when the leader would not take the responsibility?”. A lack of transparency is coming and people work in silos, unsure of what is going on, and collaboration is suffering. Leaders who are neglecting team members’ needs lead to high turnover. Talented employees look for other teams and leaders who value them.

How Servant Leadership Fosters Trust

On the other side, servant leadership does the opposite by fostering trust and driving engagement.  Servant leaders prioritize the needs of the team and create an open culture in their teams. Instead of being based on power and authority, servant leaders empower their teams. Instead of hiding mistakes, they own them, setting an example of accountability and leading by example. 

Here are some strategies for how servant leaders can build trust:

1. Make team members’ needs your priority: Leaders focus on what their team needs and people feel valued.  This builds loyalty and collaboration.
2. Show accountability: When leaders own their mistakes and their successes, they are modeling the accountability that they expect from their team.
3. Demonstrate transparency: Leaders who share information openly and explain the “why” behind the decisions, build the team’s trust in leadership.
4. Listening to concerns and ideas: Servant leaders listen more than they talk. By active listening and taking into consideration team input, they reinforce the culture of collaboration.
5. Empower your team members: Leaders build confidence and accountability by giving people autonomy to make decisions.

Actionable Tips for Leaders to Build Trust

Switching from poor leadership habits to trust-building behavior seems difficult but in reality, it is not.  Leaders who want to change need to act intentionally.  They need to follow some practical tips and steps:

• Act based on feedback: Leaders must be open to feedback, and follow up with actions.  This demonstrates to the team that leaders are willing to make changes based on their feedback.  This contributes to building credibility and trust.
• Admit your mistakes: Leaders who recognize their errors and mistakes set a powerful example for their teams.  They demonstrate vulnerability to their team, which builds sympathy and open communication.
• Share information openly: Leaders who share information with the team, create transparency and reduce team member anxiety.  This reduces suspicions, and rumors and encourages open communication.
• Celebrate success: Recognition of the team’s efforts and achievements is important to lift team members. This creates appreciation, a sense of belonging, and respect within the team.
• Invest in people’s growth: Leaders must offer opportunities for development and growth to the team members. Investment in the team’s long-term success is important to keep team members motivated and engaged.
• Lead by example: If you like that everybody in the team must be accountable, transparent, and engaged, you need to demonstrate these qualities first.  You have to lead by example and set the tone and team culture.
• Practice active listening: Encourage team members to share their concerns and new ideas.  You have to actively listen to them and demonstrate that you care about their opinion.  This shows respect and builds a deeper connection.

Servant leadership creates the perfect environment for team collaboration. Servant leaders focus on making their team members feel heard, valued, and supported. This encourages the team to collaborate, exchange ideas, brainstorm, and solve problems. When the leader is interested in helping the team to succeed, she fosters collaboration and team spirit.

How Servant Leaders Promote Collaboration

The first thing that a leader must focus on is to establish psychological safety in the team. Servant leaders must make it clear that every input and opinion is important and welcomed. When people feel safe to contribute and voice their ideas without fear of criticism, they are more willing to cooperate.

With the basis of the psychological safety established in the team, the leader must encourage open dialogue.  Communication in the team is key. A servant leader always encourages open conversations, and debates and allows team members to share their thoughts and concerns. Silos are broken and people get working together more efficiently. This encourages team members to feel empowered and take charge of the projects and initiatives. Team members are seeking collaboration with others and are willing to work more efficiently.  

When this open dialogue and empowerment of team members is broadened, cross-functional cooperation is improved.  Servant leaders understand and promote the value of cross-departmental cooperation. This promotes innovation and more creative and well-accepted solutions.

Finally, the servant leader is always aware of how team members are feeling. He celebrates team wins and recognizes efforts.  When a team works well together, a servant leader ensures that the hard work is recognized and celebrated. This reinforces the importance of teamwork and promotes team spirit.

Practical Steps to Boost Collaboration as a Servant Leader

The following are some practical steps to boost team collaboration as a servant leader:

1. Team-building activities: Relationships among team members is an important element of team success. Team members communicate, understand, and support each other better. Team building activities promote trust and break the limitations between team members.
2. Use collaborative tools: Technologies that promote collaboration, such as communication and project management tools, enforce collaboration. Applications like real-time communication can help streamline collaboration and workflow.
3. Establish mentoring: Leaders can promote a mentoring program among experienced and newer team members.  This supports the exchange of know-how and also builds bonds between older and newest team members. It helps the entire team to grow stronger.
4. Lead by example: Servant leaders walk the talk. They show the importance of collaboration in their actions by actively participating in cross-functional meetings. Leaders demonstrate a cross-functional collaboration spirit and constructively resolve conflicts.

The Benefits of Servant Leadership for Team Collaboration

Servant leadership has a significant impact on team collaboration.  Teams under servant leaders are more engaged, creative, and effective. The environment of trust and open communication fostered by servant leadership drives collaboration naturally.

Teams show higher engagement and satisfaction at work. When people feel that their contributions matter, they are more likely to contribute and stay engaged.  This promoted satisfaction and well-being. Team members are more creative and innovative.  A collaborative team is more likely to come up with innovative solutions because of the diverse perspectives shared during teamwork.

Problem-solving through teamwork and the exchange of ideas is also promoted. With more minds working together, problems are solved more effectively and efficiently. Therefore teams can remain proactive but also adaptable to challenges.  Teams that collaborate well are more flexible and better equipped to handle changes and challenges.  All these benefits from servant leadership contribute to the overall success of the organization.

Servant leaders prioritize the development and personal growth of team members. They focus on individual strengths and foster a culture of continuous learning. In contrast, traits of poor leadership, such as micromanagement, lack of feedback, and resistance to change, can hinder personal growth.

Developing team members is more than providing challenging tasks. It is about mentoring, guiding, and helping individuals reach their full potential. Leaders who adopt servant leadership focus on identifying strengths and encouraging team members to improve their strengths. When people feel supported, valued, and trusted, they are more likely to embrace growth opportunities.

Servant leaders promote continuous learning and growth for their team members. They create environments where team members are encouraged to learn new skills and pursue further education.  They encourage people to seek out opportunities to improve. This culture of growth does not happen by accident. Servant leaders offer training, certifications, and continuing education opportunities to any team member wishing to develop further. They align personally with organizational goals to improve performance and success.

Nurturing Personal Growth Through Servant Leadership

Servant leaders are focusing on individualized development plans. They assess team members’ motivation, personal goals, and needs for learning. They engage team members in an open dialogue to learn more about their aspirations and personal vision. Then they create a personalized skills development and growth strategy for each team member. Leaders ensure that skill development is aligned with individual strengths and career goals.

Mentoring and coaching play a central role in servant leadership.  Servant leaders are active mentors and coaches in any interaction with their team members. They offer support, guidance, and encouragement. This hands-on approach helps individuals feel more confident in their abilities and ready to take on new challenges. 

Another strategy to promote personal growth is through delegation.  Servant leaders understand that they cannot take all the responsibilities by themselves. They delegate challenging tasks to team members. This offers them opportunities to grow and learn new skills through experiences. This also fosters a sense of ownership and accountability.

Constructive feedback and defining areas for improvement support personal growth. Having as basis trust, the servant leader provides candor feedback for each team member. This feedback provides valuable insights for improving and developing continuously. 

Servant leadership fosters sustainable high performance by focusing on people’s growth and capabilities. Leaders are focusing on long-term goals and development plans for their teams. This encourages a supportive environment where team members can thrive both personally and professionally. Research shows when leaders are focusing on the personal growth of a team, performance improves over the long run. People are more engaged and they experience less burnout. 

Improved Performance through Team Dynamics

Servant leadership also strengthens team dynamics through collaboration and trust.  They empower their teams and the dynamics in the team structure improve.  This means that new knowledge is generated and shared across team members. Team members can solve problems quicker and more efficiently. When a team member is facing a challenge, the other team members are ready to support and resolve the issue together. Conflicts can be productive, as the team is getting stronger through debating and solving issues.

Enhanced Performance and Innovation

One of the key outcomes of servant leadership is also innovation. The team has trust and psychological safety as a basis, which leads to allowing experiments and mistakes. People are allowed to make mistakes and learn from them. This improves innovation and the generation and testing of new ideas. The culture of creativity thrives in such teams, leading to better problem-solving and more efficient solutions. These innovations contribute to the sustainable high performance of the team.

Higher Retention and Talent Satisfaction

People feel valued, heard, and respected in such an environment.  This leads to higher talent retention. People can balance and integrate their personal and professional lives better.  Any personal problems can be shared with the servant leader because there is trust in their relationship. This brings less stress and improves well-being. People feel that they can be productive in this environment and want to remain in the organization. Job satisfaction and loyalty increase dramatically. 

Let’s see the reality. Everybody has encountered a manager who micromanaged and never listened.  These are the traits of poor leadership, such as lack of trust, transparency, and communication, that kill the team’s performance and collaboration. There is also good news. Servant leadership offers the exact opposite – a proven way to build trust, foster team collaboration and drive high performance.

A servant leader uses solid communication skills. Such leaders do not just talk to their teams, they listen actively, encourage, and create team space where everybody can be heard. When leaders establish such open communication, trust flows and collaboration becomes second nature. The team thrives, innovating and solving problems efficiently and without conflicts.

And do not forget about leadership accountability.  Great servant leaders lead by example, taking ownership of team success and mistakes equally. This boosts team credibility, and the freedom to learn, take risks and grow without fear of blame. Then team is self-learning and motivated to keep improving. 

The key takeaway is that if you want to build a team with trust that performs well and sticks together, servant leadership is your preferred style. It is about more than just managing tasks, it is about developing people, strengthening trust, and leading with purpose. Ready to take the next step in building your high-performance team?

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