"The role of a leader is not to come up with all the great ideas. The role of a leader is to create an environment in which great ideas can happen."

Simon Sinek

There is a book called The Way of the Shepherd: Seven Secrets to Managing Productive People, by Dr. Kevin Leman and Bill Pentak. It is a wonderful book that describes true servant leadership. Simple, yet deeply profound.

The main story follows a rather confident MBA student in the United States who has just landed a job as head of the finance department at General Technologies. He is a top student and knows everything there is to know about finance, yet feels a growing sense of panic about how he will successfully lead nine employees. He turns to one of his professors, who is also his mentor, for advice. The mentor - who has repeatedly been voted “Outstanding Professor of the Year” - invites the student to his small flock of sheep, meeting several Saturdays in a row, to demonstrate how he practically cares for and interacts with them. Through gentleness, attentiveness, love, but also firmness, he distills seven leadership principles for his student:

• Know your flock - truly. Get to know each employee as an individual. Understand their strengths, weaknesses, motivations, and dreams.

• Be attentive to the condition of the flock. The right person needs to be in the right place so that personality and strengths align. Is the person driven by passion or primarily by salary? Choose attitude over talent.

• Help your flock identify with you. Build trust through authenticity, integrity, and compassion. Set high expectations, be clear about the organization’s “why,” and why each individual is a vital piece of the puzzle.

• Make your pasture a safe place. Ensure that employees are well informed. Create security by being visible. Do not allow problems to grow - and remove troublemakers.

• The guiding staff. Give employees freedom to act, but be clear about boundaries. Distinguish between setting frameworks and controlling every detail.

• The correcting staff. Protect - correct - follow up.

• The shepherd’s heart. Ask yourself honestly: are you a leader because you truly love leading people and seeing them grow, develop, and succeed - or because of status and salary?

These principles reflect what it means to be a Servant Leader. Key characteristics of a Servant Leader include empathy, listening, care, participation, leading by example, fostering a holistic perspective, and communicating vision.