Servant Leadership: Demystify the Agile Scrum Scaled Agile misconceptions

Repeatedly, I kept hearing people that I tutor, train, and coach as well as people in the Agile, Scrum, and Scaled Agile communities like SAFe mentioning the role of a scrum master, agile coach, or Release Train Engineer is to be a servant leader. On multiple occasions, I asked what they meant by being a servant leader or if they could name the ten characteristics of a servant leader. Frequently, however, people mentioned that they should guide the team, manage the backlog, and align with value stream mapping, etc. Is that what "Servant Leadership" is? No. Never once have I heard anyone clearly articulate the ten characteristics of the servant leader. 

So, what is the Agile, Scrum, and Scaled Agile communities preaching? Does attending a Scrum Master certification or accruing multiple certifications in this space make one a competent servant leader? If so, there must be so many competent servant leaders changing the world and not thinking of the team or the organization alone. Servant Leadership is not just lip service to the team or business ideas like value, benefits, outcomes, etc. 

In fact, if you look at the original proposal by Robert Greenleaf (1977) on Servant leadership definition, it provided a new way of looking at "leadership." Greenleaf asserted that "The best test is: Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants?" (1977/2002, p. 27; Spears, 2010). Furthermore, Greenleaf asked servant leaders to evaluate their "leadership" effect on the least privileged society on whether the society at large will benefit not be further deprived of the benefits they deserve?  

While I was leading one of the projects early in my project management career in 1998, I asked in one of the status meetings what else I could do for the team. My manager, Beth Hokanson, suggested that I instead train myself to ask, "how may I help you?" She was not a Certified Scrum Master! But she enabled me to think differently. I observed her in many initiatives, such as the Y2K program, walk the talk. Such ideas of promoting one to think differently (individual consideration) providing guidelines such as asking to investigate project management certifications (intellectual stimulation), giving 1-1 coaching at times when I had some challenges (inspirational motivation) are the reasons why I look up to her (idealized influence) even now when I am not in 'constant contact.' These are the foundational principles (4 I's) of the Transformational Leadership for scrum masters, product owners, and project managers. 

Depending upon the extent of maturity and the level of guidance required, situational leadership will be the next one to consider for scaling agile and scrum in organizations. Situational leadership considers the extent of direction required and supportive behavior distinguishing four styles of leadership to practice. This includes directing, coaching, supporting, and delegating. This approach is contingency based and hence extends the transformational leadership (4 I's) for Program Managers, Chief Scrum Master (for SoS) and Team Level Coaches. 

But, if one thinks about these powerful thoughts Greenleaf advanced, it starts with 'servant' first! That means, one should exercise transformational leadership at the team level to make them become better versions of themselves as well contribute towards the organizational objectives! Yet, only when one thinks beyond the team and the organization. The focus should not be on how their product serve the community but how they serve the community. This is where their ethical obligations further carry them forward into the larger society (beyond corporate strategies) into local or global leadership. Writing books, blogging to share their stories, speaking in communities, and volunteering are examples of how they carry out the mission. For instance, connecting with 'beneficence" (effect on least privileged society) and "non-maleficence" (will they be deprived of the deserving benefits?) are examples of how servant leaders can think of the larger society in the solutions they design (Rajagopalan, 2020).   

Spears (2010) synthesizes Greenleaf's (1977/2002) thoughts of the ten characteristics of the servant leader. 

1. Listening: Here, it is not listening to respond but listening to learn, differentiate said and unsaid things (Rajagopalan, 2017) and self-reflect with a goal towards improving oneself.
2. Empathy: Covey (1987) already emphasized "Seek to understand before being understood" and Empathy therefore is action oriented. It is not feeling sorry for something but taking actions to leave the world in a better place than what you found. 
3. Healing: Being able to connect with oneself is paramount to managing others and leading society. One can find connections with Emotional Intelligence dimensions here. Being able to forgive oneself and not linger in the post purifies one's mind to see the world differently. As the old saying goes, "we all see the world not the way it is but the way we are!"
4. Awareness: Bringing thought leadership and market awareness together, they think beyond the status quo and integrates ethics and values in the decision-making. 
5. Persuasion: Social scientists discuss the various levels of power that the project management community also adopted (Gemmill & Thamhain, 1974). These power levels include formal (legitimate), reward, penalty (coercive), expert, and referential powers. One's ability to establish the required trustworthy relationships makes their expert and referential powers persuade others (especially as they lobby the organization and the stakeholders in the society for a larger cause).
6. Conceptualization: Delivering the right solutions the right way at the right time is a critical consideration for servant leaders who both think strategically outside the box (has a huge foresight to dream BHAG) but also focus on tactical operational excellence. 
7. Foresight:  Servant leaders, by their very nature, are comfortable in the VUCA world continuously learning from experiences and still with a childlike curiosity. The serenity prayer "Give me the serenity to accept the things I can't change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference" comes to my mind in defining this characteristic. 
8. Stewardship: Standing on top of all the previous characteristics, stewardship is 'leading the world' by 'walking the talk' for the larger society! Without ethical guidelines baked into one's character, it is not possible to be a steward!
9. Commitment to People's Growth: This is where I said servant leaders go beyond lip service by committing themselves to everyone's growth. This is also the reason that the transformational leadership is the platform that is integral to servant leadership because practicing the 4I's in the microcosm of a team makes them excel in practicing them well in the macrocosm of the society as the situation warrants. 
10. Building Community: As the popular saying goes, "Change yourself, and you will change the world," I believe servant leaders change the world by creating, building, rebuilding, and empowering communities. Everyone is responsible for shaping the world that we live in.   

So, servant leadership is a lot bigger than managing the scrum team or product backlog. It truly brings the best in us every day towards the betterment of the work life, home life, and the larger society!

What are your thoughts? Please share.

References

Covey, S. (1987). The 7 habits of highly effective people. New York: Simon & Shuster.

Gemmill, G. R. & Thamhain, H. J. (1974). The effectiveness of different power styles of project managers in gaining project support. Project Management Quarterly, 5(1), 21–28.

Greenleaf, R.K. (1977/2002). Servant-Leadership: A journey into the nature of legitimate power and greatness. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press. 

Hersey, P., & Blanchard, K. H. (1969). Life cycle theory of leadership. Training & Development Journal.

Rajagopalan, S. (2017). Listening with Eyes. https://agilesriram.blogspot.com/2017/04/listening-with-eyes.html

Rajagopalan. S. (2020). Artificial Intelligence Solutions: Four Considerations extended from Digital Bioethics. https://agilesriram.blogspot.com/2020/09/artificial-intelligence-solutions-four.html