The other day in a Personality Dimensions workshop, we asked people what their greatest strength that they bring to their team is. And we were both shocked and impressed with one person’s response. She said her strength is that she has a serving heart. Everybody took pause during this comment because it stood out as unique, genuine and yet so powerful. It was an incredibly strong statement.
It got us thinking again about our belief in the importance of servant leadership while leading in today’s world. Our belief is that if you’re a leader of people, the first question you should ask yourself every single morning is, “what can I do to help my team feel and be their best today?”
You will notice that this single question actually has two components. The first is asking people what they need to feel their best and is focusing on their ability to show up and be their authentic self while reflecting high levels of psychological safety where they know their ideas, voice and their creativity is not only welcome but sought out. The second part of that question is focusing on what people need to be their best. To be their best, they might need training, knowledge, resources, information, tools and support so that they can work hard to be able to contribute to a positive result by the end of the day.
And isn’t that what we all want? To make a difference through our efforts. To make a difference with other people.
That serving heart is a lesson to all of us to be a catalyst to help people show up and unlock their true potential by encouraging them to feel and be their best. An important factor of this is to reconsider the Golden Rule. The Golden Rule has always stated, treat other people the way you want to be treated. But a serving heart teaches us to treat other people the way they want to be treated because the way you want to be treated may not be right for them.
A Team Human Conversation
Fight workplace zombies in your organization and join Team Human! Gather a group of fellow workplace zombie hunters to discuss our most recent blog post. Use the questions below to kick start your conversation.
How have you and your team demonstrated a serving heart in the past week?
What can you do to encourage and support a serving heart approach within your team?
What do you need to feel and be your best each and every day?
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