Page 45 - Harnessing the Strengths

28 ■ Servant-Leadership: In a Nutshell

as part of a community instead of putting focus only on
individuals. The point we are making is not that a leader has
to trade one of these values in for another, but that he or she
knows how to use both most effectively. The servant-leaders
can be better speakers if they know how to listen, can use
their power more effectively if they know how to let it go,
and can build teams of creative individuals. In other words,
the most important quality of a servant-leader is that he or
she can reunite opposites. This is true on many levels. In the
light of intercultural management, seven core qualities have
been formulated.

1 Leading Through Serving

This basic principle makes it clear that both serving and lead-
ing are two important qualities that often confl ict. The term
servant-leadership shows that the two can be reconciled.
By serving, you become a strong leader, and the strength
of your leadership is determined by the extent to which
you give others room to grow in their own lives during the
period in which they work for your company. Every parent
knows what this means. On the one hand, you teach your
children to follow the family rules; on the other hand, you
want to nurture them as individuals to develop and grow.
In the corporate world, however, combining both aspects
is often forgotten. A servant-leader, though, does this and
thereby knows how to empower his or her employees.

Leading Oneself

Opportunity and responsibility go hand in hand. They are
two sides of the same coin. Servant-leadership proposes that
everyone is his or her own leader. That means that everyone