by Mike Blevins
One of the business reasons that I support Servant Leadership is because it encourages discretionary performance. Many employees respond personally to servant-leaders in a way that gives that extra effort, discretionary performance, to the organization. I believe this because I have experienced it myself.
As a young engineer, I worked on a team tasked with starting up a new power plant. We tended to do things alike, not knowing that our management was watching for differentiators among us. My goal was to be as good as my teammates were. It never entered my mind that I should do better…even if it made me stand out. Later, I realized that my manager was encouraging me to pull away from the group, to share my ideas, to suggest changes in the processes we were using. This became evident to me in one conversation.
In making a report to my manager, I went into great detail about the steps taken to address a problem. My manager said, “Don’t tell me about the labor pains, just show me the baby.” While this common country saying meant something to most folks, I had not heard it. But at that moment, I understood what my manager had been telling me for months… “I have confidence in you. I trust you with the details. Just tell me the end of the story so I can make a judgment about the final answer, accept it, or ask for more information or action.”
I was fired up from that day forward and amazed at how much extra energy I had to do the job. I struck out more on my own but still supported the team. That trust caused me to give a great deal more in discretionary effort. Servant-leaders provide that trust which unleashes discretionary effort, and often, extraordinary performance.
In most organizations employees perform at a level that is reasonably expected to maintain employment. This level of performance is often indescribable and one of those unwritten norms of the organizations. Most employees are capable of performing at higher levels than the minimum expectations. Many are capable of performing at significantly higher levels than the minimum. The difference in minimum expectations of performance and the higher levels of performance is referred to as discretionary performance.
Discretionary performance is more under the control of the worker than of the organization. It can be seen in levels of satisfaction, rewards, self-motivation or even happiness to the employee. The internal motivators are seldom visible to the organization. However, servant-leaders can motivate an employee to higher levels of performance. Trusting those being supervised with the details, providing meaningful work, assuming goodwill, and creating an encouraging environment set the stage for discretionary performance to flourish.
Is it worth it to the organization? A Hay Group study indicates that the extra effort available from motivated employees ranges from about 20% to as much as 120%. So a highly motivated employee can provide more than double their normal effort in the right environment. Realize that this may be many times the minimally expected performance.
So, is Servant Leadership worth it? High performance organizations that have started the journey to Servant Leadership would say yes. Yes for the many positive cultural aspects of an organization led by servant-leaders and also for the positive results seen in productivity of employees contributing their discretionary performance to the organization. I would argue that Servant Leadership can be the foundation for sustaining high levels of performance, a truly elusive outcome.
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Mike Blevins is Adjunct Partner for Senior Executive Coaching and Development. He is the former COO of Luminant, the power generation subsidiary of Energy Future Holdings. Mike is a champion of servant leadership, has developed winning teams, and is a highly respected leader in the nuclear industry. He now works with for-profit and non-profit organizations in leadership development.
“Ann McGee-Cooper and Associates are a perfect 'fit' for our organization because they live and breathe the Servant-Leadership philosophy. The concept of Servant-Leadership is not new to Southwest Airlines. Our Leaders are passionate about taking care of our Company, and they understand that the best way to do this is to serve others. Ann McGee-Cooper and Associates have become a partner in learning for many of our Employees through the motivational and uplifting presentations they make to our Culture Committee members.”