Learn more about Essential Communication Skills for Professionals: www.alexanderlyon.com/free-resources

I worked for a servant leader when I first entered the HR function at General Electric. She had my back in every situation. I knew I could approach her and request resources for my personal and professional development. I knew she valued my point of view and she continuously encourage me to find my voice and add it to the conversations. She was collaborative in her approach to leadership and leading the Learning and Development team. Her actions demonstrated that she had a deep sense of responsibility to the people on her team. Finally, she set up as her successor when she moved to next role. That is the ultimate testament to her servant leadership.

@alexanderlyon

2 ай бұрын

Great example. Thank you for sharing.

The best servant leader I had (never thought of him as a 'servant' leader before!) was a boss who saw that I was doing a great job, and when I kept asking for permission to stay later for special activities (for elderly & disabled, to do some evening activities, dinners, etc) and make it up by coming in later when mornings were slow, he said, "you know, you don't have to ever ask me that again. You are doing great. I don't care what hours you work. As long as they add up to 40 every Friday, you do whatever you need to do!" That freedom and trust empowered me to do the best job I could do. I actually left the job each day energized, not wanting to leave! Later, 2 future bosses were the opposite; strict, not trusting those below them, forcing me into their mold even though they didn't even understand my job. Selfish leaders.

Servant leadership is definitely needed because it models the behavior you want to see in your employees. There is no doubt that it is a great way to look at others. It really has the ability to impact others in a significant way!

@BallersLife3

Жыл бұрын

I'm loving it so far. What brought me here is the Bible because Jesus tells us to be a leader is to be a servant so I wanted to learn more about being a servant leader

Had a few servant leaders on my journey. Truly blessings to be around 🙏

I think this is important to learn. The best thing i seen One of my boss do was climb into a hole he needed me too dig. He said that if I wanted loyal people to work for me, I should always show them that I'm not too good to do the work I'm having them do. He said that he wasn't asking us to do anything he wasn't willing to do himself.

Thanks for this, I have been a servant leader for 20 years and you aptly captured it.

I have been in food industry for over 40 years. Have seen the good the bad, and ugly. Best book- the flight of the buffalo, great to leaders take charge at different times. LOVE, THANKS AGAIN... Believe and Achieve Your goals.

@alexanderlyon

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks for posting, Troy. The food industry is tough! I'll look that book up right now. :-)

Coach, I am a fan of John Maxwell but enjoy your ‘reachableness’ more. Servant Leadership can be demonstrated by catching people doing good. Catch everyone doing good. Go out of your way to catch people doing good. It’s a habit that is contagious. It is a habit that lets those around you know that you are always looking for good. They get to relax just a little bit because you won’t be looking for bad. It exercises gratitude, which only grows through exercise. And gratitude creates Oxytocin. Who doesn’t need more Oxytocin in their lives? Great new set. Thanks for staying in the lead. Chris

@alexanderlyon

6 жыл бұрын

John Maxwell is great. He has a way of saying things that stick. Thank you for your encouragement, Chris. 😀

My favorite way to lead, thank you

Jesus is the greatest example and teacher of this.good vid by the way

Thank you for your very clear instruction with every video. I appreciate your wisdom.

Great video Alex. Servant leadership are the roots with which great leadership can grow and flourish!

@alexanderlyon

4 жыл бұрын

Yes! Greed, Joe.

Jesus Christ requires servant leadership because he taught us to wash the feet of those who follow us. I also like the thought of the Air Force core value which is "service before self". Great video.

The best way I do this is open and prepare material for my crew so they don't have to stop to do it, I also can ask the slower workers to do this prep or split the responsibility between myself and another slower worker.

better explanation then my textbook. Thanks!

@alexanderlyon

4 жыл бұрын

Glad it was helpful, Jagger.

Really great video. Loved the simplicity and the way it was explained! Thank you!

@alexanderlyon

3 жыл бұрын

Glad it was helpful, Dereck.

I am looking for a short SL video to share with a diverse group of local government councillors. I happened upon yours! Nice! My experiences are many. I had a "boss" who was a servant leader. I remembered forgetting my passport when I was in his car driving to Disney with my family members. Fear and embarrassment gripped me. Eventually, I told him. He drove back to get the passport and missed the Disney experience with us. Whew! I was able to grow in leaps and bounds as a result of the opportunities he made possible for me.

@alexanderlyon

5 жыл бұрын

Wow. Great example!

Excellent video and explanation of servant leadership

One day at my uncle's house, the kitchen outlet sink got completely blocked. We had ignored it for about a week until when the dirty waters could nolonger go. One morning before going to work, my uncle who was a doctor decided to unblock the sink. He did not bother call any one of us (two adult males under his care in his house). Having unblocked the sink without even the gloves, he called me and requested that I go pour out the dirty smelly stuff. He washed his hands, took his breakfast and on his way out for work, he remembered to wish me a good day. That level of humility puzzles me and is in my memory todate. Ordinarily I would have expected him to instruct me with a loud voice to unblock the kitchen sink, including some harsh words. I think this is one other example of servant leadership 🙏

@alexanderlyon

2 жыл бұрын

Great example, Sylivin. Thank you for sharing that.

Thank you for so much Truth. 🍃 May you continue to empower others. 🌸

@alexanderlyon

6 жыл бұрын

Thank you, Vilma. Good to hear from you. :-)

@vilmabock478

6 жыл бұрын

Communication Coach Alex Lyon 🌸 Thank you for your response. 🌸🍃🌸 It is such a privilege to receive your wisdom and insight. I am aware of how much people in leadership pay to listen to a professional of your caliber. I am new at leading a small Bible study and your instructions have helped me sooooooooo much. 😊 "The words of the wise require reflection." Prov. 1:6. Thank you! 🎈

Alex, the majority of people in my community today call their leaders, Boss, which is exactly what you just mentioned, Traditional leaders. They haven't realize the difference between servant leadership and Traditional leadership.

Thank you for this!

@alexanderlyon

3 жыл бұрын

My pleasure, Alexa.

Excellent Message

@alexanderlyon

6 жыл бұрын

Thank you, Sudhakar. I appreciate that.

I was in service line, I am a servant leadership all the time, and I put a bit of bureaucracy and democratic skill.

Thank you for sharing.

@alexanderlyon

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for listening!

My manager exemplifies servent leadership for me. From very small things such as whenever I fall sick he makes soup for me to things like letting me work with liberty and showing active concern about my development by suggesting me readings, coaching me to be a better manager, I think he is just awesome.

@alexanderlyon

5 жыл бұрын

It's great to have a manager like that. Thank you for posting the specific examples. That's very helpful.

@siowjianru

4 жыл бұрын

or he has a great crush on u

@ryugo7713

Жыл бұрын

@@siowjianru the soup making is sus

I was waiting for your new video..

@alexanderlyon

6 жыл бұрын

Hi, Shabab. You mean this video above? I took some time to make a free course. That took some time, longer than I thought it would. The link is pinned as the first comment. But, I have lots more videos planned and some that are already recorded (but not yet edited).

Well said

God bless :)

Many thanks Akex, awesome

@alexanderlyon

Жыл бұрын

My pleasure, Sisay.

Where have you been?

@alexanderlyon

6 жыл бұрын

I'm back! I explained what I was going to be doing in the video titled 100+ videos and More Coming Soon. It's been hard to teach college full time, make a free course, and keep posting weekly youtube videos. But, I'm catching up. Let me know if you have any video ideas for me. I'll put them on the list.

Mr Alex. Thank for a great lecture. Perhaps, you forgot the biggest and oldest servant leader. You forgot the Abu Bakar (632-634 AD) and Umar (634-644 AD; ruling over 2,200,000 square miles area) who remained rulers (Caliphs) . Both were companions of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). These are classic examples of servant leaders when the entire world only knew about Traditional leaders like rulers of the Roman Empire and others at that time. The third example in that era was Umar Bin Abdul Aziz who ruled for only two years around 730-732 AD. Believe it or not, their life and style will be mind-boggling for you. You would forget about Gandhi and Nelson Mandela (no doubt both are the great leaders).

How are you able to separate emotions when leading ?

@alexanderlyon

4 жыл бұрын

Interesting questions. I may not entirely understand the question but do you mean put certain emotions aside (like fear or anger or compassion) to move forward and lead effectively? If that is the question, I don't know how to answer it. There's been some research that is about better understanding our own emotions and the emotions of others but I haven't been exposed to any writings/research on separating emotions. But, it's an interesting question.

Better than my text books

@alexanderlyon

3 жыл бұрын

I'm glad it was helpful.

Servants actually usually lived upstairs in Victorian England.

I've never lead anybody but I learned that I have a nack at if I now what has to be done I know how to deal with any questions problem etc, effectively start to finish no matter how long it takes and the workers that are doing the job will get nicely paid and bonuses too cuz a happy worker is a good worker happy worker will take the business seriously and put 110% in it 🚀 to the moon

Someone said I am such a servant leader so here I am, watching videos avout what it is haha.

Yes, exactly. Under their CARE. Not their THUMB. That gets really old.

@alexanderlyon

5 жыл бұрын

Agreed! Big difference.

Hi Alex Lyon, I want to find out how I can invite you to speak at our networking event - Servant Leader Networking for Officers and Directors is an online event. It lets you discover in less than 90 minutes, how you can start deploying new online models for getting new members, avid sponsors and recurring revenue. Who It’s For The Officers & Directors Servant Leader Networking Event is for you if: 1) You are a current or past OFFICER or DIRECTOR or MEMBER OF THE BOARD of your Chamber of Commerce, Business Association, Foundation or NGO. 2) You are looking to add more members and corporate sponsors and to add recurring revenue for your organization. 3) You are are a Corporate Officer seeking to know and sponsor servant leaders who are already conducting global online events.

Dr Ambedkar was the leader of untouchables in India and not Gandhi.

@alexanderlyon

6 жыл бұрын

I must confess, I'd not yet heard of Dr. Ambedkar but I just looked him up online and he sounds like an amazing leader. I appreciate that you mentioned his name so I could look him up. Thank you!

@suyashjagtap5719

6 жыл бұрын

He was the main architect of Indian constitution. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._R._Ambedkar

Mr. Gandhi is a wrong example of servant leader. Can you please give me one example of the services he has provided to people? Read Dr. Ambedkar to know the other side of Mr. Gandhi!

@alexanderlyon

3 жыл бұрын

We may have to agree to disagree.

great video but servant leadership looking at those three in todays world wont work. mainly for two reasons 1)the mistakes of youth are now recorded and are used to tarnish you. Ghandi was a racist who despised blacks in south africa. the fact that he inspired martin luther king who led the blacks in america it shows that every coin has 2 sides. Mandela was a royal (in africa its big thing) and a lawyer during apartheid. he was also a serial womaniser before he changed so it work today because the society doesnt believe people change nowadays. 2)it also wont work in mother teresa's case because people today are looking for faults by association. she would be blamed for what american priests are doing especially with competing religions in india.

Please say "Mahatma Gandhi". not only Gandhi

@alexanderlyon

3 жыл бұрын

As I understand it, Mahatma is an honorific title (which means "great" or "great soul") and not part of this name. He is certainly deserving of the title in my opinion. I've also read that he did not call himself this was not comfortable with the label as applied to himself. His name (again, as I understand it) was Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. In the US, he is frequently referred to as Gandhi but it is said with much respect. If I were doing a video on just him, I would surely explain this all in more detail but I'm not an expert on him. Nevertheless, I can't change a video once it is posted so I can't go back and insert another word. Once the video is posted, that's the way it stays. But, thank you for your comment. I appreciate it and respect that this is his titled and that he is deserving of it.

What you are talking about here I would just call leadership. What you call traditional leadership, where one puts oneself first, is just selfish domination under the guise of leadership and should be called just that and not be associated with leadership at all. 'Servant leadership' is an oxymoron and far too ambiguous for my liking. Ambiguous philosophies are easily co-opted and corrupted.

@alexanderlyon

4 жыл бұрын

Good point. Clearly, I didn't invent these different schools of thought and there's lots of writing on other approaches to leadership. I agree with you that servant leadership is really the way to go but there are lots of other points of view out there (e.g., Charismatic leadership, autocratic leadership, democratic leadership, situational leadership, etc.). There are dozens of established leadership theories/schools of thought. But, yeah, the traditional leader-first approach is not very credible in my mind. Thanks for contributing to the discussion.

@nevertethered6386

4 жыл бұрын

@@alexanderlyon No problem. Thanks for the reply. I stumbled upon your video after listening to a couple of Malcolm X speeches, to give a little context to my original comment. Both MLK and Malcolm X practised 'servant leadership' as you call it, albeit in different ways. IMO Malcolm's approach seemed alot more practical due to plain language making it harder to subvert which he claimed happened to MLK. Anyway, I get the sense your video was aimed more at leadership in business as opposed to revolution. It was interesting, none the less.

Servant leadership is definitely needed because it models the behavior you want to see in your employees. There is no doubt that it is a great way to look at others. It really has the ability to impact others in a significant way!

@alexanderlyon

3 жыл бұрын

Good point, Tommy.