Page 53 - Harnessing the Strengths

36 ■ Servant-Leadership: In a Nutshell

they will be gone in a heartbeat. To get commitment from
people, you have to work on involving them and give them
the chance to use their talents and contribute. Commitment
to the growth of employees forms the basis of a coaching
leadership style. A servant-leader can always be recognized
by the fact that people around him or her are growing and
developing.

Conceptualizing
A company that is built in this way has a lot of potential.
Such an organization exceeds the level of single actions
and sees the bigger picture. Big changes only occur as a
result of big dreams and people who dare to take a different
path. Only dreaming, however, is not enough. In addition
to having a clear picture of what you want to achieve, you
need to have the intention and the persistence to bring that
dream to reality. A servant-leader is, by defi nition, vision-
ary. Convinced of the fact that circumstances are not the
determining factor, servant-leaders believe that it is the way
you deal with circumstances that creates reality. In the end,
all people create their own world with their thoughts and
deeds. “Conceptualizing” means nothing more than mak-
ing a connection between the desired future and the current
situation, and taking the steps that are necessary to get from
here to there. It is in this last step that the servant-leader
joins the whole with the parts.

6 Short-Term and Long-Term Vision

A servant-leader not only is able to view things in the long
term but also knows that the long term consists of several
short-term decisions and results. He or she directs short-