Page 49 - Harnessing the Strengths

32 ■ Servant-Leadership: In a Nutshell

Mistakes as a Way to Improve

An important sign of servant-leadership is the view that the
mistakes people make are actually chances for improve-
ment. Leadership is only effective if you have a continually
improving system by which people can learn from unusual
mistakes. An individual or company that never makes mis-
takes cannot also make progress. The servant-leader will
always try to see the mistakes that others make as oppor-
tunities to learn and grow further. The strongest countries,
organizations, and individuals are continually learning
from best practices.

3 Building Teams of Creative Individuals

Here again, the servant-leader is able to reconcile the impor-
tant parts of the two extremes. It is a core quality of a ser-
vant-leader to be able to use the creativity of individuals for
the better performance of the team. On the other side, the
team shall do everything possible to increase the creativity
of the individual.

Community Building

This positive way of dealing with people has greater impli-
cations for the atmosphere within a company. There is a
transformation from a mere gathering of individuals to a
team in which everyone uses personal talents to contribute
to a shared goal. Through community building, a company
changes from just a place to earn money into a community,
a place you want to be—somewhere where people treat each
other well, take responsibility for each other, and, with a
sense of involvement, work toward a shared mission. In such