The Servant Leader is Inclusive

From Guest Author Jim Brown

Over the course of 30 years assisting organizations and groups as an organizational development consultant I have on occasion heard this from leaders:

“Everybody wants to be in on the decision. The group can’t make the final decision. I have to do that. After all, we’re not a democracy here. People have to understand that!”

And on the other end I have often heard:

“We want to be in on the decisions around here. We’re the ones most affected by what goes on up there; and, we’re the people in the trenches charged with implementing those decisions.”

In an earlier blog I offered the reflection, “it comes down to a choice, a conscious decision by a person to practice this style of [servant] leadership: one that emphasizes teamwork and community, decision making that involves others . . .”

So how does the person who is responsible for the “final decision” practice inclusivity in the process? And how can the people in the trenches act as “servant followers” knowing in the end that they cannot be at the table when the final decision is made? Let’s unravel this by looking at how a good decision making process works.

Think of effective decision-making as a sequence of four steps: taking stock, exploring options for action, the act of deciding, and taking action (implementation). Also think of these as roles, that is, different individuals in the organization or group being involved in one or more of these steps. And this is where inclusivity comes in.

Any decision requires the gathering of pertinent information. It can be hard data: research, trends, financial information, etc.; and soft data: perceptions, how people feel, customer expectations. People across the organization can be consulted through focus groups, an on-line survey, staff meetings. Employees in servant led organizations regularly play a role in this way in the decision making process.

Employees can also be included in the second step by being invited to make suggestions for improvement, either in a formal way or in informal ways, e.g., a suggestion box, a planning retreat, management by “walking around” (MBWA). In servant led organizations, the leader or the top management group might generate a list of alternative directions and include people across the organization in weighing the benefits (pros) and risks (cons) of the various choices being considered. Depending on the size of the organization, some leaders even invite supervisors and others, “if you were in my position, in what direction would you lean?”

In the end, the act of making the final decision rightly falls to the CEO, director or boss. Many servant leaders though choose to include their top management staff in a consensus decision-making process that in reality is a shared decision. However, one person typically has the responsibility of declaring a decision made.

The great management guru Peter Drucker was once asked about what’s the most important activity in effective decision-making. His simple response was something to the effect: the first step: gathering the right data, identifying the right question or problem. Though we sometimes need specialists to gather particular information, people across the organization can be included in participating in this and other critical steps in the decision making process. And in the end, it’s the people “in the trenches” who implement the decision.

In his seminal work, Servant Leadership, Robert Greenleaf wrote (page 17):

“I have a bias about this which suggests that only a true natural servant automatically responds to any problem by listening first. . . . true listening builds strength in other people.”

Listening and learning are keys to effective decision-making. The inclusion of people across the organization in the process builds energy and commitment for carrying out the “decisions from on high.” Greenleaf suggests that when facing a difficult decision, the wise leader would do well to “remember that great line from the prayer of Saint Francis (of Assisi), ‘Lord, grant that I may not seek so much to be understood as to understand.’”

BIO NOTE

Over the past 45 years, Jim Brown has served in leadership. As an organization development consultant he has taught, consulted with and advised leaders in mostly educational and nonprofit arenas. His greatest leadership accomplishment: partnering with his wife of 42 years in guiding two young adult children to be themselves caring leaders.