Service Leadership
Self-actualized Agile teams are full of people in service to each others' growth. Even the interns are service leaders to others! Read more below.
Last updated
Self-actualized Agile teams are full of people in service to each others' growth. Even the interns are service leaders to others! Read more below.
Last updated
Coming soon
We're on the second tier of the Agile self-actualization pyramid! Teams who are psychologically safe can be there for each other as service leaders. Yes, even the interns and apprentices need to be service leaders!
In Agile, Servant Leadership is the style of leadership all Agile teams build.
In Tech Fleet, we call this "Service Leadership" as all teammates are leaders in service to others' growth.
Everyone on a team should be in Service leadership to succeed on an Agile team.
In this style, the leader focuses on developing and mentoring employees, providing guidance and support to help them grow and improve. A manager provides direction, and allows teams to decide how they carry out the outcomes. The managers empower employees to take ownership of their work.
Agile teams are all made of leaders in service to each other. Peers are service leaders to other peers. Employers are service leaders to employees. Employees are service leaders to employers.
All managers and all team mates should act as servant leaders to each other, those around them, those âaboveâ them, or those âbelowâ them in any organizationâs hierarchy.
Yes, that means you! Even the apprentices, even the interns, even the observers, are service leaders on Agile teams! NOT just the co-leads!
Being a service leader means you're not telling people what to do or giving them the answer, or preventing them from failing.
You are a guide, empowering people to find the answer on their own. You celebrate others doing things for the first time. You may do things with them for the first time. You empower them to step outside of their comfort zone and take ownership. You never take control or take over for someone. You ask how they want to be served in their growth.
Co-leads are not managers. They are not above anyone else on the team.
Apprentices are not "interns". They make powerful decisions and have all of the same responsibility as co-leads.
There is no leadership hierarchy in this style of leadership because power is transferred to everyone on the team. Peers lead themselves and others.
Everyone on Agile Teams is a service leader to each other. It is crucial to give everyone on the team, including the interns and juniors and apprentices, the power to make decisions and feel like they are a crucial part of the team success. In this each teammate must serve each others' growth. Growth must be prioritized over everything else, even strict deadlines.
Everyone is in service to everyone else's growth. Team mates are contributors on the team who guide others while learning themselves.
A person named Robert Greenleaf made this term in the 1970's with his essay, The Servant As Leader.
Read the essay here:
Today the world has changed along with Agile team environments.
Servants on Agile teams do not take on work for others, like in the story described by Greenleaf.
People in service to others on Agile teams should do work alongside people and teach them how to lead, producing other leaders and a web of accountability.
When someone goes away, the team should not fall apart because everyone has full ownership on modern Agile teams. Even the interns!
It takes all people of all backgrounds, identities, and ethnicities to produce strong, diverse Agile teams.
There are different ways to lead in this world. Agile teams rely on service leadership to thrive, but you may see teams carry out different styles of leadership. Each other style of leadership besides service may have negative implications for team storming and team growth. It is only when each member of the team acts in service of each other that Agile teams Perform.
Here are some other styles of leadership to help compare to service leadership.
In an authoritarian leadership team, there is one person telling everyone what to do. They have all of the vision. They have all of the answers. They make all of the decisions. Those around them carry out their orders. They are not supposed to question the authority of the person in charge.
This style is characterized by a hands-off approach, where the leader gives employees a lot of autonomy and freedom to make decisions. The leader is not involved in the decision-making process, and employees are expected to take ownership of their work.
In this style, the leader involves employees in the decision-making process and values their input and opinions. The leader encourages collaboration and open communication, and decisions are made through a consensus-building approach.
Do your team members support each othersâ growth over of their own?
Does the person in charge tell everyone what to do, or do they transfer the power to the team?
Does your team show respect towards others?
Does your team empathize with others and help each other?
Does your team seek to understand situations that arise, and communicate needs?
Does your team set expectations with each other in healthy ways?
Here's a video about Servant Service Leadership from Project Management Institute.
Learn all about the life of a person in service on Agile teams with Tech Fleet's Service Leadership Masterclass.
We encourage all future teammates in Tech Fleet to finish this class before applying to Tech Fleet projects.
It's free and we teach it every month! Check it out on our Masterclass Openings page.
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