Servant Leadership & Mindfulness
for
Civil ServantsProf . S. Chandrasekhar – ( OB & Strategic Human Capital)
25th October 2017
Topics
2
Section I
• Leadership Opportunities for Civil Servants in changing India
• Landscape of leadership models
• Servant leadership – what is it and why is it recommended ?
• Key characteristics of a Servant Leader
Section II
• Changing leadership paradigm
• The importance of mindfulness
• A company case study
• Summary
Challenges and Opportunities for Civil Servants
No Recognition for Excellence
Corruption
Frequent Transfers
Political Interference
Promotion or Demotion
Poor Salaries
Long and Hard Preparation
Poor Family Life
Diminishing Social Relevance
Increasing emphasis on performance and merit
Fighting corruption
Public support for honest officers & vigilant social media
Influencing politicians
Contributing without worrying about prominence
Increasing pay hikes
Opportunity to distinguish oneself
Learning work life balance
Making oneself relevant
https://www.thebetterindia.com/20789/civil-servants-we-are-extremely-proud-of/
3
Challenges Opportunities
Source for Challenges: Why you should not join Civil Services (IAS, IPS, IFS, IRS or like) in India? By AwadheshSingh ,former IRS officer http://www.civilsdaily.com/blog/
4
Discussion in Pairs
In the next 3 years ,what
is one challenge which
bothers you and how do
you plan to deal with it?
5
Plethora of leadership models
Authentic Leadership
Transformational Leadership
Cross cultural Leadership
Situational Leadership
Benevolent Leadership
Consultative Leadership
Shared Leadership
Collective Leadership
E/Virtual leadership
Spiritual Leadership
Servant Leadership
MindfulLeadership
SERVANT LEADERSHIP
Source : Benjamin Lichtenwalner ,
www.lichtenwalner.net/servantleader
Servant Leadership - Origins
The concept of servant-leadership is thousands of years old.
375 B.C. Chanakya’s Arthashastra:The [leader] shall consider as good, not what pleases himself but what
pleases his subjects.
600 B.C. Lao Tzu:The greatest leader forgets himself and attends to the development of
others.
First Century A.D., Jesus of Nazareth:But the greatest among you shall be your servant (Matthew 23:11);
The one who is the greatest among you must become like the
youngest, and the leader like the servant. (Luke 22:26)
1970’s Robert K. Greenleaf:The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling
that one wants to serve, to serve first.
† © 2008 Benjamin Lichtenwalner
The Works of Robert K Greenleaf-Overview
Career:38 Years at AT&T, largely in management training and development
25 Years consulting on Servant Leadership thereafter
Coined the term Servant-Leader in 1970’s
Founded Center for Applied Ethics (now Greenleaf Center for Servant-Leadership)
Inspiration:Hermann Hesse’s short novel Journey to the East in 1960’s
• Account of a mythical journey by a group of people on a spiritual quest
True leadership stems first from a desire to serve
Essays:The Servant as Leader (1970)
The Institution as Servant (1972)
Trustees as Servants (1972)
† © 2008 Benjamin Lichtenwalner
Ten characteristics of an ideal Servant leader
1. Listening
2. Empathy
3. Healing
4. Awareness
5. Persuasion
6. Conceptualization
7. Foresight
8. Stewardship
9. Commitment to the Growth of People
10.Building Community
† © 2008 Benjamin Lichtenwalner
Characteristic Breakout
Breaking out Spears characteristics into 3 dimensions
Servant Leader
Awareness
Persuasion
Conceptualization
Foresight
Listening
Empathy
Healing
Stewardship
Commitment to
People
Building
Community
SERVANT-LEADER
† © 2008 Benjamin Lichtenwalner
Paradoxes
Servant-Leadership, itself a paradox, requires a constant balance…
Strong Be Open To Change
Busy Listen
Admit You Don’t KnowWise
Serious Laugh
Right Say, “I’m Wrong”
Compassionate Discipline
Planned Be Spontaneous
Great Be Without Pride
Leading Serve
Enough To
† © 2008 Benjamin Lichtenwalner
12
Discussion in Pairs
What is one
“characteristic” of a
servant leader you
would like to cultivate?
MINDFULNESS A LEADERSHIP
IMPERATIVE
The approach in leadership development is shifting from ‘knowing’ to ‘being’
1
4
Teaching
approach (knowing)
Leadership in
action approach
(doing)
‘Being and doing‘
approach
• Leaders learn
‒ Team skills: Delegate,
motivate and appraise
‒ Business skills: Lead
problem solving processes
‒ Change management
• Focus on Leader‘s
development in action
‒ Combine classroom
learning with real work
‒ Get continuous feedback
and support (e.g.,
behavioral coaching) to
make changes based on
that feedback
‒ Leadership is lived through
real work (e.g.,
breakthrough projects)
• Focus on “being” of a leader i.e.
one‘s mindsets and body sets that
drive one‘s behavior
– Initiated through intense self-
reflection and confronting current
reality to Lead Self
– Strengthened by intense coaching
and forums around knowledge,
skills, tools and techniques
(knowing, doing) to Lead Others,
Business &Change
– Sustained by tying up behavioral
change to business delivery and
support from a strong ecosystem
What leaders need to be
and do
What leaders need to doWhat leaders need to know
The need of the hour is in building emotionally intelligent leaders who can deliver
1
5
Mindfulness
Self
awareness
Self
regulation
Motivation
Empathy
Social skills
Leaders todays are working on integrating capacities to inspire and connect
Traditional Leadership
Competencies
• Strategic Orientation
• Decision Making
• Problem Solving
• Communication
• Functional skills
New age capacities
• Self awareness
• Personal growth
• Integrity
• Authenticity
• Team Play
• Mentorship
• Inspire and enroll
• Empathy
• Cross border collaboration
Mindfulness is all about attending and sensing
1
7
Being fully present . . .
. . . attending to every thought and feeling
. . . and operating from a space of choice
1
8
Mindfulness is required today for leaders to lead from the future and
not create more of the past
Problem Solution
Open Mind
Open Heart
Open Will
Judgements
Cynicism
Fear
Essence
Insights
Ideas
Prototypes
Source: Theory U:2016. Theory U: Leading from the Future as it Emerges 2nd Edition. San Francisco, CA; Berrett- Koehler Publishers by Dr. C. Otto Scharmer @ MIT
1
9
There are many mindfulness practices that create deep self awareness, connection with
self & others leading to lasting impact
Practice
Breath scan Body scanAnalytical
meditationLoving kindness
• Basic
mindfulness
practice
• Follows the
natural pattern of
breathing
• Practice that
connects mind to
the body
• Non judgmental
observation of
physical
sensations on the
body
• Practice that
allows analysis of
a particular
situation / issue
• Practice allows
invoking of love,
kindness and
gratitude for self
and others
Manifestation
• Build focus,
concentration
• Leaders give
themselves fully
to one task
• Builds acceptance,
non attachment
and embodiment
• Leaders are tuned
in to sensations
attached to
different emotions
• Allows the mind
to process the
many thoughts
and emotions
around a situation
• Allows the mind to
fill itself with
positivity rather
than negative,
poisonous thoughts
that bring in fear,
depression or
anxiety
Impact
• Higher
productivity
• Better equipped
to remain calm in
high pressure
situations
• Greater emotional
awareness
• Better regulation
of emotions
• Greater self
expression
• Greater clarity on
own drivers of own
and others
behavior, path
forward
• Greater convection
• Greater
acceptance of
self and others
(less critical)
20
Share with your partner a
brief episode when due to
lack of paying attention some
thing terrible/unexpected
happened your life/work
Discuss in pairs
MINDFULNESS IN PRACTICE
A corporate case study
2
2
• Integrated in its flagship leadership program
− Leaders are encouraged the quality of being ‘mindful’ so they could enhance performance and ‘emotional intelligence’
− 150 senior leaders have gone through this program in the last 4 years
• Mindfulness forums offered to the larger organization to create an appetite for personal growth and enhancing performance, leadership and happiness
- 210 people went through this just in the last year
A leading Pharma Co offers mindfulness based leadership development
2
3
• Greater self
awareness, allowing
people to operate from
choice
• Greater personal
effectiveness
- Lower stress, higher
productivity
- Higher openness
- Better listening
- Greater ability to
manage complexity
and volatility
Personal
• Mindset shift of ‘I’ to
‘We’
• Greater collaboration
• Higher willingness to
invest in joint success
instead of optimizing
own success alone
Group
• USD 135 Mn generated
through breakthrough
projects from 2013-17
• Breakthrough projects
involved a range of
projects – addition to top
line and process
improvements
• Cross border BTPs
involving joint delivery
have been successful
Business
Results : Multiple positive outcomes
2
4
Globally, mindfulness is offered in many leading companies
• Launched 1
month ‘Search
Inside Yourself’
program to
address
performance,
leadership and
happiness
• Science based
approach to
mindfulness
• Addresses the
cultivation of a
calm and
stable mind
• Most popular
program in
• 7 week
Mindfulness
and Meditation
Program
• 83% of their
participants
confirmed
increase in day
to day
productivity,
89% said they
became better
listeners
General Mills
• Launched
Mindfulness to
help
employees
deal with stress
• Participants
reported not
only lower
stress but also
higher
creativity,
focus, well
being and
enthusiasm
Intel
• CEO launches
a mindfulness
program to
promote stress
free life
• Employees
reported a 28%
decrease in
stress levels
and an
increase in
productivity
levels
Aetna
25
Discuss in Pairs
Share the top 3-5
key take ways you
had form these two
sessions
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In Summary..
1. There are many challenges for a civil servants . But they can be
converted into opportunities.
2. There are many leadership models. But servant leadership framework
offers a useful model for civil servants as they set out to “serve “ the
larger society
3. Servants leadership , among other capabilities demands listening and
empathy
4. Listening and empathy requires mindfulness i.e paying attention in the
moment
5. Mindfulness is not a set of tools but a state of ‘being’
6. As you gain the inner power of mindful leadership – your ability to
‘influence” others grow – which will be the foundation of a great caeer for
you.
Further Readings and Resources
1. Keeping the Peace: Mindfulness and Public Service, Nhat Hanh (Thich) ,2005
2. Governing Mindfully, J Pykett, R Howell, R Liley, R Jones, 20163. Great-reasons-to-include-mindfulness-in-your-personal-development-plan
https://civilservice.blog.gov.uk/2016/05/24/54. Thinking Fast , Thinking Slow, Daniel Kahneman5. An Introduction To Mindfulness for Beginners by Jon Kabat Zinn,https://youtu.be/hH7U7UlHpoo
THANK YOU
&
BEST WISHES
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