Page 182 - Harnessing the Strengths

Getting Started with Servant-Leadership ■ 165

Extensive analysis of this research material has shown
that the essential talent of a servant-leader to reconcile
dilemmas is not a simple question of nurture or nature.
Servant-leadership requires a systematic approach. The
whole organization needs to offer people something that
supports, inspires, and eases the reconciling of opposites.
It is quite telling that some high-potential individuals
made it no further than a compromise (lose-lose), because
their working environment did not value creative solutions.
On the other hand, it has been found that less effi cient indi-
viduals became good at reconciling because they were stim-
ulated by their environment to do so.
The main question is: How can someone create a similar
environment? It starts with servant-leaders consistently doing
what they say. In addition, it is important to create reward
systems for individuals and teams that do this as well.
In the end, it is all about the combination of opposing
values. This goes hand in hand with the creation of an optimal
work environment, which, in turn, leads to a better work cul-
ture and becomes embedded in a continuous process so that
it becomes a way of life rather than a conceptual exercise.