Development

Development is a central theme in servant leadership since you develop yourself in order to help others to do the same. And together bring the greater whole forward. This requires a willingness to undergo a transformation needed to shift focus from ‘I’ to ‘we’. Part of this transformation is the subordination of your ego, and personal interests related, to the interest of the whole.

Along this lifelong path of growth, you will notice that your surroundings will value you more, while you attach less importance to yourself. In response to the needs of those around you, you will be able to become their guide, instructor, advisor, coach, supervisor, counsellor, confidential advisor or teacher. In this you will develop the courage to take up the position of the most growth-oriented kind imaginable: that of a student listening to all points of view and synthesising these through appreciative dialogue into a shared perspective.
The willingness of others to share thoughts and viewpoints and connect to collective goals will increase as a result; leading to a setting in which individual talents automatically come to their fruition. Thanks to everyone’s motivated and appreciated effort the collaborating entity is becoming more than the sum of its parts. In line with the self-reinforcing system laws, the collective as a whole is thereby developed and strengthened.

Development oriented disposition

During your development, the understanding of the interconnectedness of everyone and everything will grow as well as your insights into what positive contribution you could have. This motivates you to adopt a development-oriented disposition in every context, with and for others, and to explore common goals and routes that speak to the self-learning ability of the system and move situations forward. The effect of which is that you do not hang on to yesterday’s solutions, but eagerly and without judgment search for the most fitting answers to challenges you find yourself, your team or your organisation presented with.