{"id":2218,"date":"2015-04-13T16:41:09","date_gmt":"2015-04-13T16:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/buyingfacilitation.com\/blog\/?p=2218"},"modified":"2015-09-17T18:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-09-17T18:00:00","slug":"trait-centered-leadership-vs-servant-leadership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buyingfacilitation.com\/blog\/trait-centered-leadership-vs-servant-leadership\/","title":{"rendered":"Trait-centered Leadership vs. Servant Leadership"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Trait-centered<\/a>I\u2019m a dancer. When I studied the Argentine Tango there was a foundational rule that I believe is true for all leaders: The leader opens the door for the follower to pass through, and the leader then follows. If anyone notices the leader, he\u2019s not doing his job. The goal is to showcase the follower.<\/p>\n

Much of what is written about leadership falls into the category I call \u2018trait-centered leadership\u2019: someone deemed \u2018at the top\u2019 who uses his\/her personality, influence, and charisma to inspire and give followers \u2013 possibly not ready for change \u2013 a convincing reason to follow an agenda set by the leader or the leader\u2019s boss. Sounds to me like a mixture of Jack Welch, Moses, and Justin Bieber.<\/p>\n

What if the leader\u2019s goal overrides the mental models, beliefs or historic experiences of the followers, or the change is pushed against the follower\u2019s values, and resistance ensues? What if the leader uses his\/her personality as the reason a follower should change? Or has a great message and incongruent skills? Or charisma and no integrity? Adolf Hitler, after all, was the most charismatic leader in modern history.<\/p>\n

IF YOU CAN\u2019T FOLLOW, YOU CAN\u2019T LEAD<\/p>\n

Whether it\u2019s for a group that needs to perform a new task, or someone seeking heightened outcomes, the role of leadership is to<\/p>\n

1. facilitate congruent change and choice,
\n2. in accordance with the values, skills, and ability of the follower,
\n3. enabling them to shift their own unique (unconscious) patterns,
\n4. to discover and attain new behaviors congruently and without resistance,
\n5. within the parameters of the required change.<\/p>\n

It demands humility and authenticity. It\u2019s other-centered and devoid of ego, similar to a simple flashlight that merely lights the existent path, enabling followers to discover their own excellence within the context of the change sought. It\u2019s an inside job.<\/p>\n

Being inspirational, or a good influencer with presence and empathy, merely enlists those whose beliefs and unconscious mental models are already predisposed to the change, and omits, or gets resistance from, those who should be part of the change but whose mental models don\u2019t align.<\/p>\n

This form of leadership has pluses and minuses.<\/p>\n

* Minuses: the final outcome may look different than originally envisaged because the followers set the route according to their values and mental models.
\n* Pluses: everyone will be enthusiastically, creatively involved in designing what will show up as their own mission, with a far superior proficiency. It will more than meet the vision of the leaders (although it might look different), and the followers will own it with no resistance.<\/p>\n

Do you want to lead through influence, presence, charisma, or rationality? Or facilitate the unique path to congruent change? Do you want people to see you as a guide? Or teach them how to congruently move beyond their status quo and discover their own route to excellence \u2013 with you as a GPS system? Do you want to lead? Or enable real change? They are opposite constructs.<\/p>\n

POWER VS. FORCE<\/p>\n

Here are some differences in beliefs between trait-centered leadership and more facilitative leadership:<\/p>\n

Trait-centered: Top down; behavior change and goal-driven; dependent on power, charisma, and persuasion skills of a leader and may not be congruent with foundational values of followers.<\/p>\n

Facilitation-centered: Inclusive (everyone buys-in and agrees to goals, direction, change); core belief-change and excellence-driven; dependent on facilitating route between current state and excellence, leading to congruent systemic buy-in and adoption of new behaviors.<\/p>\n

Real change happens at the belief level. Attempting to change behaviors without helping people change their beliefs first meets with resistance: the proposed change pushes against the status quo regardless of the efficacy of the change.<\/p>\n

New skills are necessary for facilitation-centered leadership:<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0Listen for systems.<\/a>\u00a0This enables leaders to hear the elements that created and maintain the status quo and would need to transform from the inside before any lasting change occurs. Typical listening is biased and restricts possibility<\/a>.
\n2. Facilitative Questions.<\/a> Conventional questions are biased by the beliefs and needs of the Questioner, and restrict answers and possibility. Facilitative Questions enlist the unconscious systems and show them how to adopt change congruently.
\n3. Code the route to systemic change. When asking folks to buy-in, build consensus, and collaborate, they don\u2019t know how to make the necessary changes without facing internal resistance, regardless of the efficacy of the requested changes. By helping people move from their conscious to their unconscious back to their conscious, and facilitating buy-in down the line, it\u2019s very possible to\u00a0avoid resistance<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If you seek to enable congruent change that captures the passion and creativity of followers, avoids resistance, and enables buy-in, open the door and follow your followers.<\/p>\n

Sharon Drew Morgen is the author of 9 books, including NYTimes Business Bestseller Selling with Integrity, and What?<\/em>\u00a0Did you really say what I think I heard?<\/em><\/a>\u00a0 She has developed facilitation material for sales\/change management, coaching, and listening. To learn more about her sales, decision making, and change management material, go to www.sharondrewmorgen.com<\/a>. To learn more about her work on closing the gap between what\u2019s said and what\u2019s heard, go to www.didihearyou.com<\/a>. Contact Sharon Drew for training, keynotes, or online programs at sharondrew@sharondrewmorgen.com<\/a>. Sharon Drew is currently designing programs for coaches to Find and Keep the Ideal Client, and Lead Facilitation for Lead Generation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m a dancer. When I studied the Argentine Tango there was a foundational rule that I believe is true for all leaders: The leader opens the door for the follower to pass through, and the leader then follows. If anyone notices the leader, he\u2019s not doing his job. The goal is to showcase the follower. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,29],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nTrait-centered Leadership vs. Servant Leadership - buyingfacilitation.com\/blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/buyingfacilitation.com\/blog\/trait-centered-leadership-vs-servant-leadership\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trait-centered Leadership vs. Servant Leadership - buyingfacilitation.com\/blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I\u2019m a dancer. 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