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

Google

Google

• 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

26

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

&

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