Friday Focus: Servant leadership
October 3, 2019
— by Julie Queen, interim vice chancellor for administrative services
In this climate, many of us are being asked to serve on a myriad of committees, work with peers, encourage public comment, and represent the institution as recruiters, ambassadors and leaders. Governance groups, working teams and stakeholder meetings are just as much a part of our weekly calendar as regular tasks (yes, we still need to do those, too), requiring us to consider where we are today as an organization, and more importantly, what we want UAF and UA to be tomorrow.
My role in administration is not only to contribute to the future vision but to offer support to other areas close to UAF’s core mission as they make decisions. The job of administration will be to find a way to make it work as new structures take shape, and to serve by putting the needs of others as the top priority. I must admit, that is not always an easy role, and this concept — servant leadership — isn’t one I invented.
Servant leadership has been around for decades. Developed by Robert Greenleaf in the 1970s, the theory has been referenced in leadership literature circulated heavily today, notably by Stephen Covey, Ken Blanchard and others. The servant leadership model puts serving others at the forefront of plans. For the university, that includes students, staff and faculty, research partners, and our alumni and communities. Fostering the growth and well-being of others is a key concept, helping people develop and perform as highly as possible, often in teams or on behalf of the organization.
Greenleaf describes servant-leaders as those who take the initiative and are goal-oriented, good communicators, dependable, trusted, creative, intuitive and situational. The role of a servant-leader is to motivate and influence, focusing on meaningful improvement for a wide range of stakeholders. Interestingly enough, when I was in college, the mission statement at my undergraduate institution (Pepperdine University) was to “graduate students to lead purposeful lives as servant-minded leaders.” During my time navigating a full course load, juggling a few odd jobs, and soaking up the So-Cal sun with friends between exams, the term “servant-minded leader” didn’t resonate with me until years later as part of developing my own leadership style. I’m grateful I am able to connect those words now to what I do and where I live.
The magnitude of reviews happening across UA is extensive. However, these are opportunities to enjoy building or participating on teams with varied perspectives to find the best or most viable solutions. This type of engagement allows individuals to utilize their strengths and build upon them. We as leaders, at every level, must foster this type of discussion and participation. Not only does this allow employees to do more of what they like to do, it often allows people to shine. To each of you serving on a committee or taking time to make your feedback known for the betterment of the organization, thank you for being servant-leaders. Whether we recognize it or not, when we are able to keep the student, researcher and community partner as the primary focus of decisions we make, we will adapt as new structure emerges, and we’ll know we have the highest chance of success in these fluid times.
Friday Focus is a column written by a different member of UAF’s leadership team every week.