Service Leadership

Video Version

Where We Are in the Agile Pyramid

We're on the second tier of the Agile self-actualization pyramid!

Servant Service Leadership

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.

Teams who are psychologically safe can be there for each other as service leaders.

In this style, each individual on a team focuses on developing and mentoring others, 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.

Peers are service leaders to other peers.

Managers are service leaders to employees.

Employees are service leaders to managers.

Everyone is a service leader to everyone else on an Agile team. It's a web of support, growth, and service.

Tech Fleet's Service Leadership Masterclass

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 (apprentices and co-leads alike!) 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.

Acting as a Service Leader

All team mates should act as servant leaders to each other, those around them, those “above” them, or those “below” them in any organization’s hierarchy.

There is no leadership hierarchy in this style of leadership because power is transferred to everyone on the team. Peers lead themselves and others together.

Everyone plays a role in everyone else's success on an Agile team. You don't need to be an expert to be a leader. You are a leader in service to others' growth. You are celebrating your peers' growth. You are contributing to psychological safety with peers. You are celebrating risk-taking and growth. Everyone works together in service to each other.

Here's how this plays out daily on teams:

1. Service leaders shift their authority to teams, and allow teams to build consensus about how they carry out the outcomes.

2. You're not telling people what to do or giving them the answer, or preventing them from failing.

3. You are a guide, empowering people to find the answer on their own.

4. You celebrate others doing things for the first time, and you may do first-time tasks with them.

5. You empower them to step outside of their comfort zone and take ownership.

6. You never take control or take over for someone.

7. You ask how they want to be served in their growth.

Co-Leads as Service Leaders

Co-leads are not managers. They are not above anyone else on the team. They do not provide answers, and they do not assign work. They empower, inspire, and coach others to grow. They provide room for failure and healthy risk taking. They shift the power to apprentices to provide them with decision making abilities.

Apprentices as Service Leaders

It is crucial to give everyone on the team the power to make decisions and feel like they are a crucial part of the team success.

Growth must be prioritized over everything else, even strict deadlines. In this each teammate must serve each others' growth.

Apprentices are not "interns". They own as much work as anyone else. They commit to their own work each week. They are the deciders of their own future. They make powerful decisions and have all of the same responsibility as co-leads. Apprentices also provide room for people to grow and fail. They, too, have knowledge and abilities to make judgment calls. The entire team should celebrate people bringing their own abilities to the work.

Service Leadership on Modern Agile Teams

A person named Robert Greenleaf made this term in the 1970's with his essay, The Servant As Leader.

Read the essay here:

 In the story, a man acts as a servant to a group, doing work for them. One day the person disappears, and the team falls apart. It was then found that the servant was actually the head of an organization, a powerful leader.

Yet, he was a team's source of inspiration and in service to them. Usually, teams are in service to their managers and leaders.

And so, the concept of Servant Leadership was born, and the concept of authoritarian leadership was met with a new way of leading.

Leading with the heart.

That was over 50 years ago. Today the world has changed along with modern Agile team environments, and service leadership evolves with it.

That was over 50 years ago. Today the world has changed along with Agile team environments.

Service leaders on Agile teams do not take the work for others, like in the story described by Greenleaf. They empower others to own work and find meaning in the work. 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 on the team leaves, the team should not fall apart because everyone has full ownership on modern Agile teams. Teams should be empowered to decide how to proceed together while being of service to each other. Everyone has ideas that need to be heard. Everyone has decision-making abilities to make judgment calls. Especially the apprentices and interns!

It takes all people of all backgrounds, identities, and ethnicities to produce strong, diverse Agile teams. Seek to build teams with as many different perspectives, backgrounds, and identities for the strongest teamwork possible. This means no one kind of person should be the dedicated person "in charge".

Service Leadership Checklist

1. Do your team members support each others’ growth over of their own?

2. Does the person in charge tell everyone what to do, or do they transfer the power to the team?

3. Does your team show respect towards others?

4. Does your team empathize with others and help each other?

5. Does your team seek to understand situations that arise, and communicate needs?

6. Does your team set expectations with each other in healthy ways?

Service Leadership Video

Here's a video about Servant Service Leadership from Project Management Institute.

Comparing the Different Styles of Leadership

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.

Authoritarian 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.

Lassies-Faire Leadership

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.

Democratic Leadership

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.

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