Four Reasons Why Servant Leadership is the most suited Leadership Philosophy for the Post-COVID19 New Normal

We hear about “New Normal” a lot these days. COVID 19 has disrupted our lives and this has spawned a whole new set of studies and theories about what the future could hold for our lives. We cannot escape this even if we want to. As a student of Leadership, my question always is “How does Leadership matter” in this scenario? How does Leadership matter in the New Normal?  John Maxwell gives a crisp but definitive answer to that question. “Everything Rises and Falls on Leadership,” he says, and I agree.

So what type of leadership will the New Normal require? I am amazed by the response I get when I ask participants in the workshops to put down the first images that come to their minds when they hear the word Leadership. The responses show an innate deep desire in all human beings to see leadership as something good, leaders as people who do glorious things for their followers. This desire has only got stressed by the COVID19 Pandemic that we are going through. My studies show that there are four specific qualities that people will look for in Leadership in the New Normal.

1. The New Normal will transform the way Leadership uses “Power”: We cannot separate Leadership from Power. It is not, and it never was, the absence of power that distinguished admired leaders from dreaded leaders. It is how the leaders used the powers they had. The old normal of Power Elite, where power was concentrated on a few selected people like Capitalists, or Politicians or Military Leaders will not exist anymore in the New normal. The New Normal will shun the “Power over” syndrome to adapt to the “Power with” syndrome. The new Normal will promote Socialised Power as against Individualized power. Corporate honchos who use power only for profits cannot get many followers in the New Normal. Goodness will prevail over greed.
2. The New Normal will demand excellence in Leadership beyond the achievement of objectives: COVID has made several people realise that there is a higher purpose to life and work. Hence the Old normal of a Leader seen as someone driving the team towards a common aim will not suffice anymore. Followers will start looking for higher purposes in leadership. This will require inculcating several aspects of Spirituality into Leadership. They will demand altruism of leaders. It is not just about what goals we achieved; it is about how much help we provided to the needy, will become a key metric of leadership. Ethics will find its place at the heart of leadership in the New Normal. People will start looking for leaders with top levels of integrity.
3. The New Normal will enforce Values-Based Leadership: COVID has shown us the impact of our actions on others. We have seen several people suffering because of actions (or inactions) by one individual or a group of individuals. Hence people will look for significantly high value-systems in their leaders. It is not enough to be Charismatic or have magnificent vision. What values the leader holds and lives by will become very important.
4. The New Normal will disrupt the chasing of Success and replace it with pursuit of Significance: Successful people were adored and held in high esteem in the old normal. However, the New Normal is revealing the fact that “success” does not always include others. Successful people do not necessarily add value to So the new question that is being asked is not how much value you added to oneself, but how you have used those to add value to others. I have said this before in my earlier blog (Four Personal Habits for laying the foundations of Significant Living in a Post COVID world), Success brings in happiness, which is temporary, which is fleeting. Significance brings in Fulfilment which is lasting, even for a lifetime.

So, the world is looking for a new Leadership Paradigm for the New Normal. Is there a Leadership Philosophy that meets all these four criteria? Fortunately for us, the answer is an affirmative “Yes”. Servant Leadership is the answer.

Only Servant Leadership can satisfy the innate desire of every human being that Leadership must be for the good of others.

Come Embrace this Leadership Philosophy. Come Join the Servant Leadership Movement.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Dr. Madana Kumar, PhD, is the Co-founder and Chief Consultant at Leadyne Organisation Builders. Contact him here.