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The Journey to Servant Leadership
To Serve First
VA Psychology Leadership Conference
May 23, 2015
Linda W. Belton, FACHE
Deputy Director
VHA National Center for Organization Development
Toolkit
Exercise
Think of an
Historical Figure
You Consider a
Servant Leader.
Why?
Now think of
someone who
has been a
servant leader
in your life.
Why?
What characteristics do you think of
in a servant leader?
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VA’s Transformational Agenda
• Transforming models of care
• Patient / family centered care
• High performing teams
• A culture of service
• Transforming relationships
• Customer satisfaction/ Veteran experience
• Civil, engaged workforce
• Ensuring the public trust
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Transformational Workplace: All Things Connected Patient Centered Care; Customer Service
Safe,Timely, Quality Outcomes
I CARE
Serving the Veteran
VeteranCentric
Serving the Employee
CREW (civility)
Systems Redesign
Diversity & Inclusion
Serving the Organization
Employee
Engagement
Leadership
IntegratedEthics
Learning Organization
Servant Leadership
TransformationisCultureChange
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What is Culture?  Taken‐for‐granted values, assumptions and expectations that characterize organizations and their members.
 How things are really done around here (water cooler conversations)
 Culture permeates the environment –
for better or for worse
 Culture is the anchor: what doesn’t change
when everything around you is changing.
 Culture change is a process:
 It takes time
 It’s built on behavior change
 Culture change works best in a healthy organization.
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A Healthy Organization…
Balances
Nurtures Success
Immediate Tasks
Incubator
for
in Complex &
With Building
Transformation
Chaotic
Systems That
Organizations
Strengthen Over
Time
Employees
Choose To Work
VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION
Veterans Choose to
Receive Service
Connects all Employees
Personally to VA Mission
VA
A Healthy
Organization is
foundation, not
fluff
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“Ninety percent of what we call ‘management’ consists of making it difficult for people to get things done.”
Peter Drucker
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Servant Leadership is both a philosophy and a set
of practices. Servant Leaders are persons of
integrity who lead an organization to success by
putting the needs of customers (Veterans),
employees and communities first; sharing
knowledge and power; and helping people develop
and perform to their highest capacity.
VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION
Test of a Servant Leader
Do those served grow as
persons? Do they become
healthier, wiser, freer,
more autonomous, more
likely themselves to
become servants?
Leaders
Servant
First, Leader
Second
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We’re all
leaders, all
the time.
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Research Shows…
Servant Leadership positively influences:
• Collaboration & effectiveness (Parris & Peachey)
• Service orientation (Wong & Davey)
• Helping / Organizational citizenship behaviors (Erhart)
• Perception of fairness (Walumbwa)
• Influence of / satisfaction with supervisor (Laub)
• Innovation (Jaramillo)
• Employee satisfaction & engagement (Cerit)
• Communication and trust (Liden)
• Supports organizational transformation (Patterson)
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Fortune 500 Companies ROI (%)
30
24.5
25
20
17.5
15
10.8
10
5
0
No change in
leadership practice
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Good to Great
leadership
Servant Leadership
What is Unique in Servant Leadership?
Serve Others For Their
Own Good
Encourage Growth to
Reach Potential
Concerned About Success
of All Stakeholders
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Moral Authority
Self-Reflection,
Humility & No
Spotlight
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WHY SERVANT LEADERSHIP IN VA? Servant Leadership Serves VA’s Transformational Agenda
• Personalized, proactive,
Veteran-centered service
• Civil, engaged workforce
• High-performing teams
• Customer service
• Results- driven
• Links to: I CARE, ethics,
learning organization,
diversity & inclusion,
systems redesign,
managing change,
succession planning,
VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATIONpsychological safety
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Servant Leadership is Relationship‐Based
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Supports Psychological Safety
• Employee’s ability to ask questions or bring up team issues without fear
of reprisal or negative consequences
• Ability to STOP THE LINE! [Deming]
• Glitch hunts, not witch hunts!
• Learning and innovation are chilled in a fearful organization.
More later….
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Implementing Servant Leadership in VA: Challenges to Change
•
Bureaucratic/ Political Environment
• Size
• Realities of culture change
• Misperceptions
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Common Misperceptions:
Challenges to Change
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
Misperception: You can’t practice Servant Leadership in a government agency. Misperception:
Servant Leadership isn’t strong leadership. I don’t want to be seen as a pushover. VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION
Servant Leadership: Not for the Fainthearted!
• It is not soft
• Requires:
– Strength of self‐mastery
– Strength of action
– Strength of relationships
• In healthy organizations, power is the capacity generated by relationships.
• SL’s operate from courage, persistence, integrity, strong internal compass.
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Misperception:
The term “servant” is a turn‐off/ offends me. Difference between “service”
and “servitude” VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION
Misperception: I can’t embrace SL if my supervisor doesn’t. Don’t wait for the memo! ‐ Don’t underestimate your power to change the workplace.
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We’re all Leaders All the Time…
Everybody can be great because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your
subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart
full of grace. A soul generated by love.
‐ Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
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“When you’re a hammer, everything looks like a nail.”
Servant Leaders aren’t hammers: they’re the whole toolbox.
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Orchestrating Servant Leadership in VA
Servant
Leaderspeak
from the
top
VA
ACHE
Greenleaf
Conf.
Singapore
CDC
Board
Representation
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50+
Presentations
Organizational
Health
Newsletter
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Growing Servant Leadership in VA
Servant
Leadership
in VA
Leadership
Programs
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• Servant leaders get results
• Supports a transformational environment
• VHA’s developing reputation as a SL org
• Now have assessment tool and internal expertise
• SL is already out there – a quiet revolution (the org is playing catch‐up with what’s already going on!)
• Help new leaders develop new skills for new times
Growing Servant Leadership in VA
360
Org Health
Web Site
http://organizational
health.vssc.med.va.go
v/Pages/Default.aspx
SL 360 SelfAssessment
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180
SL 180 SelfAssessment
Ultimate
goal: a
Culture of
Servant
Leadership
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7 Pillars of Servant Leadership
7 Pillars
1. Person of
Character
4. Compassionate
Collaborator
2. Puts People
First
3. Skilled
Communicator
7. Leads With
Moral Authority
5. Has Foresight
6. Systems
Thinker
Contact Jaimee
Robinson, NCOD
for SL 360 / 180
James Sipe & Don Frick (2009)
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Sowing the Seeds….
Making it Personal…
Connecting to the Mission…
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Translating into Practice: Building the Culture
• No playbook: only guiding principles
• Every employee must translate principles into practice. • What is meaningful to me? • Why is this important?
• What will I do differently?
• What impact will I have?
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Relevance to Psychologists
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What Will SL Look Like for You?
Non‐Supervisory
 Offering to help team members
 Say good morning; ask how someone is
Patient/Client
 “Is there anything you need; I have the time.”
Supervisory
 Communicate honestly / respectfully
Staff
 Give developmental opportunities to staff
 Share credit for accomplishments
Super Listen; act on feedback
 Welcome feedback, even when it isn’t good news visor
 Be a coach, not a critic
 Model SL behaviors
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Servant Leadership…
…Why You?
• You have earned respect by your education, experience and
inclination to serve
• Impact on patients/clients
• Impact on colleagues
• Impact on culture
• You are systems thinkers – see connections and relationships
• Some of you are in positions of authority now – or in future
• We’re all leaders, all the time.
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Servant Leadership is not a Race:
It’s a Journey
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Commitment
What two things will I commit to doing to grow as a Servant Leader?
1._____________________________________
2._____________________________________
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Internal Dialog of a Servant Leader
 Why do I serve?
Service is not a byproduct of leadership: it is the whole point.
 Whom do I serve?
How do I define our customers? Our community?
 How do I serve?
‘Serve’ is a verb!
 How do others observe me serving?
I’m not a servant leader unless others see me as one.
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VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION
For more information, please contact VHA National Center for Organization Development (NCOD)
Telephone:
Email:
Website:
40
(513) 247‐4680 [email protected]
http://vaww.va.gov/NCOD
http://www.va.gov/NCOD