PRESIDENT'S PLATFORM | January 2022
Posted on Jan. 25, 2022 / President's Platform / Subscribe 0
Featured Author: Brian C. Ferry, Business Generation and Marketing Lead, East, Turner & Townsend
“Leadership must first and foremost meet the needs of others.” – Robert K. Greenleaf
As many professionals expand their influence and are tasked with leading teams and organizations, they become students of leadership theory. Leadership theory is also a key component of business education, understanding that those individuals who are tasked with managing their colleagues, department processes, and meeting the goals of their business must also learn how to motivate those around them and accurately evaluate success.
Within the pantheon of leadership theories is one that I learned many years into my MarCom career; one that I also call on regularly in the execution of my role as President of SMPS New York. That theory is the approach of the servant leader.
Servant leadership didn’t come naturally at first. Like others, my early years in the AEC industry was marred by an adversarial relationship between the marketing department and technical staff. Marketers – in my experience to that point – carried that Scarlet Letter ‘O’ as Overhead, a department that can’t be billed to clients and, therefore, consistently costs the company money. The idea of volunteering for a task or pioneering a new process was typically met with the question, “Why would you do that?” You’re just making more work for yourself or, worse, for the rest of us.
Years later, I learned that servant leadership was not just a style that came naturally to me as someone who consistently volunteers for exciting projects and enjoys helping others. It was a key factor in the growth and success of the best departments I’ve worked in.
The modern servant leadership movement (yes, there is such a thing) was founded by Robert K. Greenleaf in the 1960s when he retired early to establish the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership. Contrary to the authoritarian leadership approach preferred by many bosses and companies of the time, Greenleaf believed that the way to get the best results from people and for your organization was to foster an environment of success through service to one another and to clients. More recently, in 2017, an article in the IOSR Journal of Business and Management suggested that ineffective leadership was “the major cause of declining industrial productivity and a downward positioning of North American corporations on a global scale.” 1
Among the earliest references to servant leadership are biblical stories of Jesus Christ (I promise not to get preachy here). There, it’s described that Jesus washed the feet of his disciples before a meal – a task typically reserved for a servant. In a 2002 journal paper, authors Sen Sendjaya and James C. Sarros referred to this “as a function of the ‘power to’ do, rather than the ‘power over’ those who do.” 2 That’s a fancy way of saying you walk the walk, not just talk the talk.
To be a servant leader in any profession – especially in marketing, communications, and sales for the AEC and CRE industries – one should have a strong ethical compass, value traits such as transparency and empathy, and continually improve one’s own emotional intelligence (EI). Sendjaya and Sarros state that the servant leader’s motivational base lies in their principals, values and beliefs. 3 As a servant leader, the act of learning your team’s strengths, weaknesses, desires, and distastes is critical to creating opportunities for them to grow and flourish within your organization. The servant leader must also demonstrate weakness and admit fault. If the team understands that you all fail or succeed together and that failure is an essential part of growth, they are more apt to pioneer new ideas, processes, and take calculated risks.
Not all is rosy for the servant leader. If not executed soundly, the role can digress into one that limits personal growth. If you’re only focused on others, and you work in an organization where only top performers are valued, it’s easy to become the leader whose peers are frequently promoted while you remain in the same role. In these situations, the problem lies in the culture of the organization in which the servant leader is practicing. Professional growth should not be solely conditional on making sure you tell everyone how successful you are.
Your approach to servant leadership can be a weakness in a similarly-stunted corporate environment. It could be argued that the organization that values only top performers (be this in sales dollars earned or accounts closed) may also prey on a servant leader because of their willingness to share knowledge and elevate the success of their team members; many times above their own success. Organizations with a growth mindset understand that by educating and empowering others to work independently and take calculated risks, a servant leader can foster the growth of their team while broadening the scope and reach of their own responsibilities.
For those intrigued by my own journey as a servant leader, you can begin your own through the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership, conveniently located at Seton Hall University in South Orange, NJ – just an hour from Midtown Manhattan. The Greenleaf Center offers memberships, programs and other resources to educate and guide servant leaders of all experience levels. Visit Greenleaf.org for more information.
The good news is that SMPS New York already provides an abundance of opportunities to learn new leadership skills and put them in practice in a safe environment (that won’t cost you your job if you stumble). The first step is attending our programs, particularly those focused on leadership and professional development. The next step is volunteering for a chapter committee, where you can put those skills to work. Start by building and refining your skills at some of our upcoming events:
- A/E/C Movers and Shakers Corner presents MCA’s: Creating Award-Winning Submissions – this timely January 26 virtual event explains the details behind our chapter’s annual Marketing Communications Awards and how to best position your company for peer recognition and increased impact.
- “Office Hours” with SMPS New York’s President – join me on February 1 to discuss the topic of leadership as well as other ideas, suggestions, and concerns that you may have.
- SMPS New York’s WHV Share the Love Committee Meeting – the opportunity to learn more about our Westchester-Hudson Valley affiliate chapter at their Valentine’s Day-themed event on February 9. Learn all about the committee’s plans for 2022 and meet new professionals – and maybe a sweetheart – during this unique virtual celebration.
- SMPS New York's Virtual Committee Fair – get to know your chapter, how it operates, the benefits that participation in chapter committees can bring, and events to expect through the first half of the new year at this February 16 event.
- A/E/C Movers and Shakers Corner presents Public Relations for Professional Services – our professional development committee is back at it on February 17 with this comprehensive discussion on crisis management, building brand awareness, developing marketing campaigns, and sustaining a stellar reputation in the industry.
I look forward to seeing you at these events!
1 Aalateeg, S. (2017). Literature review on leadership theories. IOSR Journal of Business and Management. 19(11), 35–43. Retrieved from http://www.iosrjournals.org/iosr-jbm/papers/Vol19-issue11/Version-3/E1911033543.pdf
2, 3 Sendjaya, S., & Sarros, J. C. (2002). Servant leadership: Its origin, development, and application in organizations. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 9(2), 57–64. Retrieved from: https://eds.s.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=5&sid=84cb5cec-4765-4ff9-bab5-8908fdf5f117%40redis
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