Servan-Leader: The Power of Positive Words

A leader, in general, has a great deal of power within their hands. They can influence those who follow them so easily sometimes, and just as easy influence those who may only be on the outside of their group they lead.

It's important that a Servant-Leader strive to speak the truth with compassion. Without such, we will find ourselves no longer the servant we should be. We must use words to lift up others, make them better than they are. Through positive reinforcement, we build self-confidence in others, and make them stronger team members, and push them further towards being better leaders themselves.

The greatest accomplishment that a Servant-Leader can reach for, is to create a Legacy of Leadership. They groom someone to replace themselves, and set them up to create even bigger success than they have achieved. Imagine, if you will, how successful a group, team or company is, and what it says when they say, "Hey, isn't that the team where we got all those good group-leaders from that Bobby-Joe put together?"

It really wasn't that Bobby-Joe did something more magical than encourage and build people of quality who were confident to lead others. That, is truly a Legacy of Leadership.

Remember to never dress down someone in public, but always give praise for things well done in the public forum. Corrections are always done gently, in private. By doing this, you create more trust with your team. They know if there's a mistake, you're not going to broadcast it as an example to others, but you will help them correct it in a way they will learn from it, and not feel as though they're being beaten with a verbal whip.

Always work to use a calm and steady tone with others, even when you want to raise your voice. This goes a long way to help keep arguments from cropping up. It's just hard to argue with someone who won't keep pace with the level of your voice. More than that, it gives you the opportunity to defuse things before they blow up. Besides, it will give you the chance to offer up alternative suggestions, and help you to steer the conversation to less turbulent waters so meetings don't become unproductive.

By using Positive Words in the way we speak, we build others up. We reinforce their self-esteem, we make them stronger and better and more focused team members. And when we use Positive Words as a matter of course, they become our Culture. If that's the way we do things, it becomes ingraned in us and we carry it out beyond our team, to everything we touch. When we do things the "right" way, people take note, and want to know why we're ...just a little different.

It's good to be different that way.