Senior Vice President and General Manager, Telecom and Technology Business Unit at NCR Corporation.
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I had my first lesson about the remarkable difference between implicit leadership and servant leadership early in my career. My boss gave me this little assignment: Take over the worst-performing business unit in the company.
I was wide-eyed and just starting out at this level of leadership, but loved this kind of challenge. With help from my team, we jumped in with both feet. Within six months, the worst-performing BU had become the best — number one in the company. We’d done it, and I was so proud. Soon after, I went on maternity leave. When I returned, much of our great work had begun to fall by the wayside. Quality decisions weren’t getting made and the same team that had turned around a business in record time now seemed to be a bit rudderless. I realized that I was to blame. I had been making all the leadership decisions and I hadn’t prepared my team to take over in my absence. Needless to say, this taught me a lot. It was a great example of how not to be a servant leader, a leader who creates true empowerment and builds sustainable results.
Much has been written about servant leadership. To me, it’s about taking the traditional leadership model and turning it upside down, empowering the people closest to the customer to make the best decisions. Empower them, serve them, support strategic decisions based on their knowledge and experience — and watch for great results. I think of it in terms of a virtuous cycle: Team empowerment leads to loyalty and engagement, which creates a customer-first culture and delivers sustainable business performance and healthy team culture. It’s a common-sense approach that works. I’d like to share a few lessons I’ve learned and why I think this is so important.
Empowered Teams
My early experience quickly taught me that I had to empower my leadership team. I had to start thinking of them as “CEOs” of their own teams. This meant I had to hire the right talent, give them the authority to make big decisions and give them room to run. In the process, I learned that some leaders need more coaching and it’s important to give them this opportunity. If that doesn’t work, they may not be in the right position.
Empowerment comes with accountability. Your leaders must have the skills necessary to meet your goals. If not, it might be time for a change. It’s an uncomfortable position to be in, but it’s best for the employee and the team in the long run. Empowering others also gives you time to wear your own CEO hat and devote more time to the big picture. You’ll have time to plan strategic changes to further the business, as well as ensure a succession plan, which I believe is an obligation for leaders at all levels.
To keep a close pulse on our effectiveness as a team and as individuals, I have one-to-one meetings with all of my leaders, some weekly, but all at least bi-weekly. We also have frequent leadership meetings to constantly align on raising the bar and improving business outcomes.
Loyal, Engaged Teams
I believe an empowered team leads to a loyal team. If you care enough to let your people gain leadership experience, they won’t forget it. Of course, your everyday relationship with your team comes into play here. If they know you have their back when it counts, they will come through for you and the team. Your business results will reflect this.
It goes without saying that more empowerment and experience can lead to more career development. Just as I’ve had many opportunities to build or transform businesses in my career, I want to give others a chance to grow. I want to help create more servant leaders — for the good of my team and theirs. I believe this builds a culture of more productive, more creative, happier employees who deliver a superior customer experience and help you win in the marketplace.
Sustainable Performance
With an empowered, loyal team behind you, great things start happening. You have the right balance of leaders who can make important decisions on their own and motivate their own teams to perform. Hopefully, they’ll be able to see problems in the distance and have time to course-correct, knowing they must be accountable.
When expectations are clear and leaders know what must be done, you have a much greater chance of meeting your objectives. All of this brings sustained success. When unexpected things happen, you can look to your team’s experience and learned business skills to guide you. Empowered, loyal team members want the team to win and want one another to succeed.
I still work hard every day on servant leader skills. It’s a process that never ends. There’s always something new I can learn and some new way I can help my team. In a real sense, servant leadership is about helping to create a community of people working toward a shared goal, helping one another along the way. Whether it’s in business or in life in general, I don’t know of a more satisfying and rewarding thing to do.
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