How to Be a Servant Leader in a Democratic Retailer

Servant Leadership 1

HOW TO BE A SERVANT LEADER IN A DEMOCRATIC RETAILER

LEAN AGILE SCOTLAND 2019

Presentation by: NATASHA AH-FAT Partner & Delivery Lead/Agile Coach Servant Leadership 2 ABOUT ME

● Tash ● London (Chinese/Mauritian/British) ● Wanderlust ● Curiosity and Learning ● Sporty ● Loves animals ● Helper/Fixer ○ Partner & Delivery Lead/Agile Coach ○ People Manager

Who am I - (I’m not a fan of selfies) - and how I’m trying to be a better servant leader…. This session is a case study with personal insights on how my organisation went through agile and lean transformation. Specifically, I’ll talk about how we want to encourage a servant leadership style so that our employees can make a difference to their own and other people’s lives. I’ll touch upon how servant leadership links closely to our unique democratic principles, which have been around for over a century. Servant Leadership 3 ABOUT THE SESSION ● 101 on Servant Leadership and Motivation

● Brief History...Experimental Beginnings ○ Insight: Ultimate purpose

● Our Agility Challenges & Responses ○ Insight: Developing a growth mindset ○ Insight: Becoming a Jedi…

● Reflections

We’ll cover servant leadership/motivation briefly to get on the same page. I work for John Lewis Partnership - a UK retailer, famous for Christmas adverts and the heart of UK department stores. I’ll talk about how my organisation has been around for over 100 years, and how our founder, John Spedan Lewis started showing servant leadership traits, decades before servant leadership was even coined a common term… and what our ultimate purpose is Next we’ll move onto the challenges UK retailers have been facing over the past 5+ years, and why in IT, we decided it was the right opportunity for us to evolve and start our organisational agile and lean transformation - with that, I’ll touch upon our journey of developing servant leaders, and give insights on our lessons/tips End on final reflections - note, the slides are informational too (so will have some busy slides; there are speaker notes in the slides, which will be shared) Servant Leadership 4 101 ON SERVANT LEADERSHIP & MOTIVATION Servant Leadership 5 WHAT IS LEADERSHIP?

1. Think of a popular leader - why do you think they’re successful?

2. Think of a person who’s personally inspired/helped you

3. Which was harder to think of? Why?

Recognise that the people who make a difference to us are those who care Anyone can be a leader - “Leadership is an action, not a position” Donald H. McGannon

I also run a Servant Leadership workshop, which is full of games to land key concepts, but I like to start with these questions:

Which was harder to think of? A popular leader, or someone who’s personally inspired you - why do you think that is?

I ask these questions to

● Recognize that the people who make a difference to us are those who care ● Because anyone can be a leader ● A leader is someone you want to follow ● Leadership is also an action, and not a position ● To recognize that satisfaction and value comes from serving others ● A leader is someone you want to follow and someone who cares Servant Leadership WHAT IS SERVANT LEADERSHIP?

“The servant-leader is servant first...it begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first”

Robert K. Greenleaf

Instead of the people working to serve the leader, the leader exists to serve the people

CONTEXT: Robert K. Greenleaf (1904–1990) was the founder of the modern Servant leadership movement and the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership. The phrase “servant leadership” was coined by Robert K. Greenleaf in The Servant as Leader, an essay that he first published in 1970. Instead of the people working to serve the leader, the leader exists to serve the people. Servant Leadership TRAITS OF A SERVANT LEADER

Success comes from the shoulders of the ‘people’ and not simply the ‘leaders’

● In my organisation, within Tech and Change, Building a Community and Commitment to the Growth of People is so important, and it’s part of our organisational agility transformation programme ● Sharing our learnings to develop and grow ourselves and others are skills and behaviours we strongly advocate - we do this for example, through communities of interest, communities of practise/profession ~~ CONTEXT:

Building Community - making a conscious effort in playing my part to contribute to the success of others Commitment to the Growth of People - intentionally nurturing others and view them in their strengths Foresight - understanding that every action has its consequences Stewardship - being responsible for the things/tasks given to me Persuasion - ability to influence and inspire others Conceptualisation - ability to dream dreams that are ideal, unique, image-driven, forward-looking and for the common good Listening - listening intently to the words, actions and feelings of others Empathy - choosing to understand and feel with the people around you Healing - reconciling, restoring and re-establishing relationships Awareness - being aware of self, surroundings and situations Servant Leadership MOTIVATION & INTENT BASED ENVIRONMENTS

AUTONOMY MASTERY PURPOSE

Through empowerment and autonomy, people are inspired to rise to the occasion Whilst being served and as people grow, they are more likely themselves to become servants With purpose, people thoughtfully contribute towards it, proud to be part of something bigger than themselves

When thinking about a servant leadership style, we first ensure that other people’s highest priority needs are being served. Greenleaf says that the best test, and most difficult to carry out are the following: ● Through empowerment and autonomy, people are inspired to rise to the occasion.. ● Do those served grow as persons? Do they whilst being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous… more likely themselves to become servants? ● By understanding a vision/goals, people will thoughtfully contribute towards it, feeling valued and proud to be part of something bigger than themselves

As Greenleaf wrote, servant leadership is a long-term concept and it’s a transformative theory that might change the way people treat leadership, servitude and authority. Later, I’ll share how we’re helping our employees to feel engaged and motivated (through talking a bit about autonomy, mastery and purpose). But first… a bit of history.

~~ CONTEXT: Motivation 1.0 - survival, basic needs, Motivation 2.0 - reward/punishment, Motivation 3.0 - intrinsic (internal, naturally satisfying)

Dan Pink - author of six books about work, business, and behavioral science https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SfmmuC9IWs We do our best work when driven by intrinsic motivation — motivation from inside us, rather than imposed externally like rewards or punishments. And the 3 facets he highlights that help intrinsic motivation are: Autonomy, mastery, purpose

David Marquet - wrote Turn the ship around. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqmdLcyES_Q Build an intent-based environment - if people understand the goal and can think for themselves, they will rise to the occasion and feel valued He highlights that working this way is difficult - and goes against some of our natural instincts (perhaps a more command/control style, which we may have experienced, and somehow been rewarded for in the past) Servant Leadership 9 A BRIEF HISTORY… EXPERIMENTAL BEGINNINGS Servant Leadership 10

[Photo is Oxford Street Branch, London in 1885] ● John Spedan Lewis (our founder of the Partnership) was born in 1885, he was son of John Lewis Snr - a draper who owned a small shop in Oxford St (London) ○ JL Snr was a local draper apprentice at 14, and moved to London at 20 to work in a shop, becoming the youngest silk buyer in the capital ● At 19, Spedan entered his father’s business ● Aged 21 he was given a quarter share of the Oxford St shop (his younger brother Oswald also got a quarter share when he turned 21) ● John Lewis Snr had a simple trading policy: Wide assortment, low margins, fair dealing - no advertising! Servant Leadership 11

John Lewis Partnership is attributed to one man and his lifelong experiment for social justice and business ingenuity

Spedan was building a sense of community, and encouraging collaborative, trusting relationships with his employees

● In 1905, Spedan had been in business for about a year but had already started forming some very good ideas about what working in business was going to involve ● During this time, John Lewis Snr bought control of Peter Jones, which was now an impressive establishment in Sloane Square; John Spedan Lewis shortly became director ○ Very inclusive individuals, the two younger Lewis’s encouraged staff to take an interest in sport and they started a staff magazine - Byron weekly, building a sense of community and trusting, collaborative relationships ● In 1909 Spedan had a riding accident on his way into work and during a long (2 year) convalescence, Spedan thought deeply about his future and business ○ Dreamt up the idea of the Partnership, obsessed with fairness ○ He was eager to share his profits with his staff and distribute profits to employees as shares in proportion to their pay ● His Father’s response was somewhat negative... Servant Leadership 12

Conceptualisation - ability to dream dreams that are ideal, unique, image-driven, forward-looking and for the common good Listening, Empathy, Healing and Awareness

● In 1914, Spedan convinced John Lewis Snr to hand over full managerial control of Peter Jones (chairman and nominal MD), although, PJs was performing badly ● This left Spedan free to put his forward-thinking ideas into practise (but his father still made him work in the Oxford St shop until 5pm!) ○ He thought of creating a Limited Liability Company, so he could share the risk, put capital into the business and grow - though not necessarily philanthropic, he merely believed in fairness and humanity. ● One of Spedan’s first moves was to set up staff committees - elected dept representatives had regular meetings with him in the absence of their managers to discuss issues and improvements (still in operation today) ○ A voice for the shop floor, this democratic movement was the start of a Partnership for all - the beginnings of what we now call Partner Voice / Forum - listening, empathy, healing and awareness Servant Leadership 13

“[I] Realised this had been due to his trying, constantly, to give very good value to people who wished to exchange money for his merchandise...the business would have grown further had he done the same for those who wished to exchange their work for his money”

● Spedan had a serious disagreement with his father in 1916 that was to shape the future of JLP. He withdrew from active participation in the Oxford Street shop and swapped his quarter-share of the business for his father's controlling holding in the capital of Peter Jones Limited ● Spedan had become increasingly uneasy that he, his brother and father were receiving more income from the family business than all employees put together ○ Of his father Spedan says “[I] Realised this had been due to his trying, constantly, to give very good value to people who wished to exchange money for his merchandise...the business would have grown further had he done the same for those who wished to exchange their work for his money” ● Had Spedan started to unpick intrinsic motivation? ○ Pay people well, and give them purpose and meaning in their jobs to ensure it’s worthwhile and satisfying? Servant Leadership 14

Servant leadership involves demonstrating integrity, leading by example, collaborating with others to make decisions and creating a positive company culture

● Over the next few years he made further changes at Peter Jones, giving the staff three week's holiday (unheard of in 1916), and starting The Gazette (a company magazine still in operation today, over 100 years later. One of the most popular regular pieces is where Partners write letters - openly asking our ‘leaders’ difficult questions, sending in suggestions for improvements and sometimes, letters of gratitude!) ● In 1919 he set up a staff council (the forerunner of today's Partnership, Divisional and Branch Councils) ● In 1920 PJ finally started turning profit. It marked Spedan's first formal distribution of Partnership benefit - Success comes from the shoulders of the ‘people’ and not simply the ‘leaders’ ● From 10 April 1920 The Gazette began to refer to the staff as Partners ● After the war and a national slump in 1925, PJ turned around again. With business doing well in both shops, a year later Spedan introduced the Partnership to Oxford Street ● [In 1950 he completed the move to employee-ownership and transferred control to the employees ● In 1955 he retired as Chairman ● In 1960 he left £100k to his successor - Miller - to help the company]

Servant leadership involves demonstrating integrity, leading by example, collaborating with others to make decisions and creating a positive company culture - according to Robert Greenleaf’s teachings Servant Leadership 15 INSIGHT: ULTIMATE PURPOSE Servant Leadership 17

Spedan wanted to leave clear guidelines on his ‘experiment in industrial democracy’

Spedan really wanted to push the Partnership brand as 'a better form of business' - He even drew up a 268 page constitution, revolutionary at the time, perhaps even seen as Command and Control. However, it’s probably reasonable that Spedan wanted to leave some clear guidelines on his ‘experiment in industrial democracy’, so that his vision of values, culture and ideals would live on through his successors - and there would be a lifelong company Purpose based on co-ownership. ~~ CONTEXT: Not many companies have a written constitution. Ours does, for two reasons.

The first is historical JLP exists today because of the extraordinary vision and ideals of its Founder, John Spedan Lewis, who signed away his personal ownership rights in a growing retail company to allow future generations of employees to take forward his 'experiment in industrial democracy'. Not unreasonably, he wanted to leave some clear guidelines for his successors, so that the values which had motivated him would not be eroded with the passage of time.

The second reason looks forward Spedan Lewis was committed to establishing 'a better form of business', and the challenge for Partners of today is to prove that a business which is not driven by the demands of outside shareholders and which sets high standards of behaviour can flourish in the competitive conditions of the third millennium. Indeed, we aim to demonstrate that adhering to these Principles and Rules enables us over the long term to outperform companies with conventional ownership structures. Servant Leadership 17 PRINCIPLE 1

The Partnership’s ultimate purpose is the happiness of all its members, through their worthwhile and satisfying employment in a successful business. Because the Partnership is owned in trust for its members, they share the responsibilities of ownership as well as its rewards – profit, knowledge and power.

Greenleaf teaches that by collaborating on a shared goal and through serving others, we increase our chances of improved happiness, clear purpose and better employee-leader relations.

“Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality” Warren Bennis

The Constitution states that 'the happiness of its members' is the Partnership's ultimate purpose, recognising that such happiness depends on having a satisfying job in a successful business.

It establishes a system of 'rights and responsibilities', which places on all Partners the obligation to work for the improvement of our business – in the knowledge that we share the rewards of success.

Our principle 1 (ultimate purpose) is lined closely to Greenleaf’s teachings about collaborating on a shared goal we increase chances of improved happiness and employee relations (also linked to Pink’s motivation - Purpose), Servant Leadership 18 OUR AGILITY CHALLENGES & RESPONSES

Now, I’ll touch upon the reasons we started to go through organisational agility and lean transformation a couple of years ago. This started in the JL IT Delivery function, with significant investment and senior sponsorship. I’ll talk through our responses to some of the challenges and give you some key takeaways. Servant Leadership 19

Retailers are operating under challenging conditions: Stores (Debenhams/HoF) are closing as shopping habits move away from buying in store (as customers are wanting more exciting store experiences), so we have to think creatively about how we increase footfall - although this means ecommerce is growing, more of our competitors are also building their online presence, so this is becoming increasingly competitive. We need to focus on what differentiates us, in areas we have intellectual property. We’ve heard in recent results that near on continuous discounting from Oct last year has also put pressure on our sales. Technology is also fast paced and continuously developing, so we need to do more to stay ahead of the curve - to deliver new tech solutions as they emerge to stay cutting edge. And lastly, our economic climate is uncertain with Brexit looming, which is putting a huge strain on the UK retail sector. Servant Leadership 20

We’ve been doing a lot to respond to this. We’ve invested significantly in unlocking our Partner’s potential through Empowered Leadership training for all our People Managers. We have ownership of our learning and are encouraged to have a relentless focus on it moving forward.

We’re focusing on our Partners, who are at the heart of our business, and staying true to our ultimate purpose - we’re getting behind our Partners (understanding who is the Partner behind the badge) with new Values, and ensuring we differentiate on service/products.

And amongst all these challenges, we recognised that this means we need to change our mindset - work smarter, leaner and in a more agile way (you’ll see how the ‘mindset’ principles are linked closely to the agile manifesto and principles). Our response to this in JL/Group IT delivery was to land organisational agility and transformation via a programme called DoF Servant Leadership 23 DELIVERING OUR FUTURE: FROM 2017

WHY DOF?

● Large scale, foundational ‘super tanker’ solutions - done ● Up to 800 individuals were working across c80 IT projects (<200 Partners) - our portfolio was set to grow. We needed to retain and develop talent ● Pressure on £capital; need to respond to changing customer demand = opportunity to evolve.

WHAT IS DOF?

● Vision - IT Delivery to deliver demand, recognising that the majority of our portfolio will need to respond to change faster and deliver value quickly ● Opportunity to empower and equip Partners with skills, thus also improving Partner Experience and unlocking Partner Potential.

Back to our response to OA and transformation...

● The programme of work for skills capability build was called Delivering our Future, in recognition that UK retailers are operating in ever challenging and changing times ● In addition, over the past 5-6 years, my organisation invested heavily in major ‘super tanker’ programmes to deliver strategic, foundational platforms and solutions, but we were slow to deliver value, and respond to our customers changing needs. Not to mention, they were a nightmare to run, were over-complicated and over-engineered ● DOF empowered Delivery Partners in JL and Group IT with skills the necessary skills to deliver key projects, in the most effective way, to realise value quickly ● What is DoF? An agile/lean skills training programme and new People management structure to increase consistency and Partner capability ● It was developed in 2017, and put into action in 2018, this year becoming a way of life - BAU

~~ CONTEXT: ● At John Lewis, there was a compelling case for progressing with ‘Delivering our Future’. Waitrose developed their own version of DoF (but it was mostly in the ecommerce side of the business, the majority of their portfolio was mode 1 - predictable engagements, as opposed to mode 2 exploratory engagements ref. Gartner report) ● Over the last 5 years the John Lewis & Group IT delivery engine was built for scale and control, with the need to put in place large-scale foundational solutions to enable the core components of business strategy (e.g. OCCO, Online, Pioneer, Programme Q) ● In 2017, at any given time, around 700 to 800 individuals worked across 60-80 projects in John Lewis & Group IT Delivery, of which c200 are Partners. The remainder came from a variety of third parties that provide scalability for generic roles. We wanted to retain and develop talent as our portfolio grew (in the mode 2 space) ● The pressure on capital, combined with the need to respond more quickly to changing customer demand created an opportunity to evolve the IT delivery engine ● The vision for Partnership IT Delivery is to have a “Bi-modal” framework (organisation and systems of work) that supports two delivery models: Mode 1 and Mode 2 - Gartner definition: https://www.gartner.com/en/information-technology/glossary/bimodal Servant Leadership 22 INSIGHT: DEVELOPING A GROWTH MINDSET Servant Leadership 23

Coach Practitioners 24 were selected upon application and an assessment

Late 2017, all Delivery Partners were given a choice to express an interest in becoming a Delivery Lead or Product Engineer. It was important that Partners understood these new roles would share the same skills, and therefore, they would be changing job roles. Partners would need to go on a 12 month learning journey, developing their lean/agile skills. Skills were the same across the two roles, with an emphasis on different skills depending on the role. This encouraged T-shaped thinking and empathy and at the heart of the skills wheel was continuous learning and co-ownership (being an evangelist of collaboration, innovation and experimentation. Individually, and collectively owning and driving outcomes).

Partners were split into 6 waves of training. Starting with 2 days of basic agile training, then 4 days of Build camp. They moved on to Fundamentals training (built predominantly by Coach Practitioners) - topics focus mostly on an introduction into the what and why, and then Partners carry on their continuous learning via individual choice (concentrating more on the how). Servant Leadership 27

SERVANT LEADERSHIP AGILE DELIVERY LEADERSHIP EMPOWERED LEADERSHIP

Part of my responsibility as a People Manager is to develop skills capabilities and behaviours of our employees to become servant leaders, moving away from traditional command and control styles - particularly for our Delivery Leads. A large chunk of last years’ overall IT training budget was ringfenced for delivery employees alone, catering for c200 permanent staff (95% of Partners expressed an interest in developing new skills and working in a more agile/lean way).

After the 2 day initial training and build camp, Partners met with their People Manager and Practise Lead to re-assess their skills on the DoF skills wheel, and set objectives and learning plans. Two Fundamentals courses were built to cover the topic servant leadership. In addition, the Partnership launched an Empowered Leadership initiative for people managers.

Partners were encouraged to develop their learning, and share their learning journeys through communities and different forums. People Managers re-assessed each Partner at their 6 month journey to ensure they were on target for their skills development. The questions here were, can I place the Partner in any DL/PE assignment in the portfolio, and have they developed a growth mindset?

If not, Partners are put through more rigorous development plans and meet more regularly with people managers so they are held to account to actions they’ve agreed upon to build their skills, knowledge and behaviours. We try to focus on amplifying positives and use coaching styles to drive out clear actions for Partners to meet their goals. As a reflection, this is hard work, but very rewarding - ref personal achievements with Partners on their learning journeys

We also ensure assignment managers and sponsors are aligned to allow Partners time within their assignments for continuous learning and development. We believe that senior level support has been key to success. Servant Leadership 29 KEY TAKEAWAYS

● Continuous learning and mastery of skills can help secure future, motivated servant leaders

We put in place:

● Two new roles, with a shared skilled matrix ● Emphasis on sharing learning journeys through self-organising communities ● New Line Management Structure & Community ● Clear learning pathways and signposting ● Encourage Feedback and Reflection ● Coach Practitioners.

● Continuous learning and mastery of skills can help secure future servant leaders ○ In JL, continuous learning and feedback ensures our workforce is at the top of their skillset ○ Gladwell’s - 10 000 hours of practise - no one is born an expert ● Two new roles, with a shared skilled matrix ○ Encourages T-shaping, buddying/pairing and develops empathy. Clear levelling up, matched with clear Job descriptions ● Sharing learning journeys through self-organising communities ○ Builds relationships and collaboration, develops autonomy ● New Line Management Structure & Community ○ Focus on increasing Partner capabilities and consistency; support network - really helped me develop as a line/people manager. It’s ok to ask for help and guidance from peers! ● Clear learning pathways and signposting ○ Initial core training, fundamentals; individual choice develops a growth mindset. Careful not to ‘tell’ too much as this encourages a fixed mindset ● Encourage Feedback and Reflection ○ Builds self awareness, gratitude and experimentation ● Coach Practitioners ○ With skills and interest to teach, mentor, facilitate, coach and role model growth mindset. Does not work well if a coach is not practitioning

Growth Mindset - many Partners struggled by having a fixed mindset, but with perseverance, People managers meet at least monthly to ensure Partners have active personal development plans and objectives, and self-assessed DoF skills targets. Our aim is to signpost, not tell Partners how to develop their learning. We also encourage sharing of learning, to increase networks. Servant Leadership 26 INSIGHT: BECOMING A JEDI

These last few minutes we’ll be covering autonomy and democracy, and how we’re trying to develop Jedi masters!

(linked to a game I play in my Servant Leadership workshop on playing around with 4 different roles - Sith, Bounty hunter, Storm trooper or Jedi - varying high/low autonomy and high/low teamwork - we all want to be Jedi’s) Servant Leadership CONSERVATION OF RESPONSIBILITY

“Conservation [of responsibility] implies that there is a relatively fixed amount of responsibility to be assumed in any situation and that any amount of over-responsibility is offset by an equal amount of under-responsibility”

Roger Martin

The balance is dynamic, and changes over time Humans are bad at explicitly talking about transitions Over-responsibility leads to burnout/resentment; Under-responsibility can be unmotivating

CONTEXT:

READ The responsibility virus, Roger Martin

Or here’s a simple example to explain the concept - teenager v parent. Teenager has always relied on parent to clean, cook, tidy. Parent annoyed Teenager hasn’t put laundry away, washed the dishes properly etc; Parent starts to feel resentment, stress and frustration (has been over-responsible). Teenager feels annoyed or surprised by parents nagging, unmotivated or unclear about why they’re suddenly being asked to do these tasks, esp with exams coming up (under-responsible). In this stereo-typed example, there was no explicit conversation about the transition of responsibility. Has there been clear purpose (e.g. collective agreement on what they’re aiming for - like, a clean environment to live in that feels comfortable to everyone), mastery (e.g. what chores are the teenager/parent good at/feel willing or able to do), autonomy (e.g. agreement between who will do what, as long as it’s done within a timeframe or to certain quality….?). In short, an honest conversation that talks about why the Parent is looking to share some of the responsibility of chores (e.g. work load is increasing, so feeling burnt out - how can teenager help to achieve ‘purpose’. Teenager saying they’re feeling stressed as they have exams coming up and doesn’t have time during the week, but maybe can help in the weekends etc...)

Note: Individual Autonomy - making decisions for yourself, independent of the group Collective Autonomy - communities govern decisions collectively for the group Servant Leadership 33 TELL vs DELEGATE… AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN

● “True leadership must be for the benefit of the followers, not to enrich the leader” (John C. Maxwell) ● “Leadership is action not position” (Donald H. McGannon) ● You do not need a title or authority to be a leader

Now we’ll touch upon an example of encouraging self-awareness of one’s leadership style. I’ll share an experience of HIPPO (Highest Paid Person’s Opinion) culture in a team I’m currently working with and how I’m coaching Partners on how to break away from this. ~~ CONTEXT: https://management30.com/practice/delegation-poker/ Use Delegation Poker to clarify who’s responsible for what and to what level. This is a method where you can encourage employee engagement through controlled self-organization and clarified value and decision-making. The objective of Delegation Poker is to drive home the idea of delegating decisions and tasks to your team within a controlled environment. It also is a good collaboration game. Many teams play it without even totalling points and more than anything else it’s a conversation topic and a starting point for the discussion of who should do what. 1. Delegation is not a binary thing. There are plenty of “shades of gray” between 1. being a dictator and being an anarchist. 2. Delegation is a step-by-step process. You hand over accountability to other people in a controlled and gradual way. 3. Delegation is context-dependent. You want to delegate as much as possible but if you go too far chaos might unfold.

Understand that there is a scale for delegation….and different situations require different styles (e.g. launch that missile - maybe a Tell, rather than Agree?! But pick a team name might be Advise or Consult (for example, your company may not be liberal enough to have a rude team name).) Have an awareness of your natural style - can you experiment with flexing it? Can you use it in your teams to have explicit conversations about transition of responsibility Servant Leadership 29 KEY TAKEAWAYS

● By including others in debate more ideas can be generated, people feel more engaged and valued ● It’s ok to share responsibility ● Empathy - understand other people’s point of view to encourage stronger relationships ● Build self awareness - get feedback to develop oneself and experiment.

● By including others in debate more ideas can be generated, people feel more engaged and valued ● It’s ok to share responsibility - its ok that this might feel weird at first. You might have a struggle with your ego ● Self awareness - understand your own natural delegation style ● Empathy - understand other people’s point of view on the delegation scale

Since servant leadership listens to different opinions and encourages openness and discussion, it can improve innovation and experimentation. Through this, an organization can foster and gain competitive advantage over its competitors. Openness to ideas and opinion also means servant leadership encourages diversity within the workplace. A more democratic approach to opinions can guarantee employees don’t feel alienated. ~~ CONTEXT: To learn about teamwork and autonomy, try a game created by Blake McMillan & Jay Bartholomew. Full details: https://www.tastycupcakes.org/2019/01/21-jedi/

Also, for a Fun read - 16 traits of a Jedi, specifically Autonomy: https://instituteforjedirealiststudies.org/library/38-jb/16-traits-of-a-jedi Servant Leadership 30 REFLECTIONS Servant Leadership 31

“The vision of the Partnership was created wholly and solely to make the world a bit happier and bit more decent” John Spedan Lewis

1. Think of a popular leader - why do you think they’re successful? 2. Think of a person who’s personally inspired/helped you

For me, leadership is when someone can influence, inspire, and motivate action. Organisations have their own definition of what makes a good leader, though this can become outdated and sometimes the values and culture ends up straying away from what that the organisation is striving to achieve. Our founder may have been ahead of his time when he lay down some principles and of what he thought made great leaders (including democracy, co-ownership, happiness and worthwhile, satisfying employment) - and curiously, on the whole, his ideas describe servant leadership. Servant Leadership 32 THANK YOU

www.linkedin.com/in/natasha-ah-fat-1832123

[email protected]