What distinguishes a great servant leader from a marginal servant leader?
There is one attribute every impactful servant leader needs to have to be successful.
An Open Mind
Why is having an open mind so important for servant leaders? Does this quality really make such an impact? Yes. An open mind sends servant leaders in a direction of positive change in many ways.
First, an open-minded servant leader has willingness to try new ideas from his or her team members. New ideas can change the pace and give excitement to a project. Not every idea is realistic, easy, or popular, but a great servant leader will give these ideas a consideration before denying them. Good ideas can come from an individual, but better ideas come from a team. The servant leader should realize the importance of interdependency. The team will listen to the ideas of the servant leader if the servant leader considers the ideas of the team.
Second, an open-minded servant leader is willing to give people a chance at greatness. Others should not judge the potential of an individual. Only the individual has any idea of his or her potential. Therefore, the open-minded servant leader does not predetermine how any person will perform before the performance happens. “Underdogs” of societies have gone one to achieve greatness. These people deserve support from open-minded servant leaders. In other words, the open-minded servant leader realizes that anyone can be successful regardless of any doubts from society.
Lastly, an open-minded servant leader views the entire world as being his or her own community. They know that today’s world is a time of globalization. We are capable of impacting any individual in any country, for better or worse. Being conscious of this impact takes an open mind, and a servant leader will try to make this impact a positive one.
-Kyle Hilding
I like what you have to say about receiving new ideas in the context of a servant leader’s plan, how they energize and move projects forward. Many people think that success is defined by a leader’s ability to stick to the plan they envisioned at the outset and don’t recognize the power of group contribution to a goal when it may seem to deviate from the plan that has been set in place.