Today we will focus on the BIG “TEAM” and little “me.”  Simply put, the members of the TEAM – the “T” – “E” – “A” – “M” are bigger or more important than the “me” or than the leader.  

Notice that each of the letters are different and they are also in all caps to show their importance or superiority over the smaller caped “me.”

This concept of “TEAM me” or BIG “TEAM” and little “me,” is today focused around the leadership practice of Servant Leadership.  We will discuss, learn and apply Servant Leadership today.  As this is the first leadership lesson of "TEAM me," it is also the most important and toughest leadership lesson of them all – Servant Leadership. 

Why do people want to be a Leader? People have different motives to be a Leader:

• Be in Charge (personal) “I’m the boss!”
• Make Organization run smoothly (corporate & personal)
•  Make money for shareholders (corporate & personal)
• Build up a great company (corporate & personal)
•  Make company better than the competition (corporate)
•  Win (personal)
• Make more money (personal)
•  Status (personal)

Bottomline:  Leadership isn’t how far we advance ourselves but how far we advance others.  Make the “T” “E” “A” “M” the best they can be individually.

Relationships either add or subtract from a person’s life.

                   “That person sucks the life out of me”

                  “I get so fired up and re-inspired after being around her”

Leadership is all about Relationships.  You either have a positive/add or a negative/subtract affect on the people you lead. 

Are you making things better for the people who follow you or worse? 
Are you making things better for the people surrounding you or worse? 
Think about it.  Are you adding TO others or subtracting FROM others?

Problem:  People are naturally selfish.  They think about themselves first and others second.    90% of all people who are subtractors – do so unintentionally.  They don’t mean to be a subtractor.   If you told them they would be shocked!

Why? 

People that are subtractors have never seen SERVANT LEADERSHIP.   Being an adder and not a subtractor requires you to get out of your comfort zone and think about someone else besides yourself.   That is naturally a hard thing to do. 

A TRUE Servant Leader does something for someone else expecting NOTHING in RETURN. 

Great leaders are less interested in their position and more interested in their positive impact to others.  Leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr., Ghandhi, South African President Nelson Mandela, and HH Sheikh Zayed put the cause of a people before their own personal gain.

Servant Leadership: (Wikipedia) Servant-leaders achieve results for their organizations by giving priority attention to the needs of their colleagues and those they serve. Servant-leaders are often seen as humble stewards of their organization's resources (human, financial and physical).

Phenomenon:  When you give expecting NOTHING in return – you get more than expected – 100% guaranteed. 

The general concept is ancient.  Chanakya wrote, in the 4th century B.C., in his book Arthashastra:  “the king [leader] shall consider as good, not what pleases himself but what pleases his subjects [followers]” “the king [leader] is a paid servant and enjoys the resources of the state together with the people.”

So who should be a Servant Leader? 

• Everyone: Servant Leadership applies to anyone who is on any team, any department, any division.  Where ever the place is that you can serve the best and add value to other people – that is the place you need to practice servant leadership.  
•  Example:  Emirati Internship program – Asking others to give up their time and effort to serve someone else who most likely will not return the favor and might not even work for Khidmah.  

So how can we become Great Leaders of Great Service? 

I.  We add value to others when we … Truly Value Others. 

Effective Leaders move on from not harming others to intentionally helping others.    Each person is important and has significance no matter what their title, position, or experience.

Leadership is never about emails, spreadsheets or getting things done.  It is about people and people are important.  

• At Khidmah, we held Eid al Fidr dinners at each compound with our workers.
• Meeting each employee in the office.  Find out what is important to your fellow workers.   
• Writing a personal note when you pass the 6 months with Khidmah to say “thank you.“
• It is the little things that matter to people, not the big things.  

Questions: 

What have you done lately to show someone on your team that you value them?
When was the last time you told someone on your team “Thank You?”

II.  We add value to other when we … Make ourselves more valuable to others.

What can you give to others? 
You give to others out of your strength, so what is your strength? 
Your strength can be your skills, your opportunities or your perspective.

Example – Mark Airhart, Director of Support Services, came here to serve others, to give back to others, to make others better, to leave Abu Dhabi and Khidmah better than he found. 
How will he do all of these things?  Through people. 
If his employees are better than they were before knowing him, then Mark has added value to their lives and professional careers. 
How can you be more valuable to someone? 
Who can you add value to by doing what you are good at?  

III.  We add value to others when we … know and relate to what others value. 

Leaders are listeners. 

Listen – Learn – Lead
What do our customers want? 
What do our employees want?
What does one person value that another person does not? 
What is really the most important thing in a person’s life? 

The people that are on your team, do you know what is important to them? 

So, I challenge you today to see the image of TEAM me.  It is made up of the “T” “E” “A” “M”  which represents different people needed different things to help get to their next level.   It is NOT about the little “me” in TEAM me, it is about adding value to the members of the TEAM by servicing them – making them better.   Servant Leadership is the hardest leadership principle to do, however it bears the greatest amount of fruit not only for the TEAM but also for the ME, which is you. 

Lead On!

Sutton