13
Tessa Samuelsen
Becoming a servant-leader begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first… The best test, and the most difficult to administer, is this: Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants? -Robert Greenleaf
Do you remember the days when your mother said dinner would be ready at five and the entire family planned their evening around that event? Kids immediately came home from school, playing outside or from a friend’s house. Dad was sure to be back from work and dinner always started promptly at five o’clock. Food was not only made with love but it was hot and delicious.
Well, things don’t really roll like that anymore.
As a working mother of three teenagers and a husband who owns his own business, eating dinner all at the same time is nothing short of a miracle. Did you know that the InstaPot has a warming cycle? This has revolutionized our dinner experience. Every family member, no matter the time of their arrival, before work, after the game or in between homework projects, gets a warm meal made with love.
The experience itself is quite a miracle.
As InstaPot leaders, it is always important to keep things warm and always be ready to serve. As a leader, we need to be ready to jump in and help. Our hearts need to be warm and ready. It is so important to be a servant leader. Sometimes a teacher will approach me with genuine gratitude for me taking the time to serve. I simply let them know that the most important part of my job is to help and support them. I want to meet their needs, be their source of wisdom, strength, and knowledge so that they can be the best educator for their students.
I want to provide them with options and solutions. I can bring them their copies from the copy machine, I can make them hot coffee and deliver it to their room, I can remove a disruptive child from their classroom so they can teach effectively or I could spend a little money to get them a teacher resource that they have been asking for.
Servant leaders take traditional leadership models and invert the entire philosophy.
Servant leadership involves the demonstration of empathy, listening, stewardship, and commitment to personal growth toward others. Servant leaders serve first. As a successful servant leader, your main purpose is to help your teachers and staff better accomplish school-wide goals and personal bests. In a school environment, this ultimately leaves the biggest impact on students. When teachers can be their best, students are getting the best. Listed below are a few suggestions to become a better servant leader.
Take time to check in with teachers first thing in the morning before school starts. Ask them if there is anything you can help them accomplish today. Now if you have a large staff you might need to put this on rotation. You could check in with lower school one day and upper school the next. The third day visit with your specialty teachers and check in with them. Don’t forget your office staff and custodians. Be sure to touch base with each teacher or staff member at least once a week.
Go out of your way to meet your staff’s personal needs, as well as, their professional needs. I am not suggesting that you go home with them and fold their laundry. I am suggesting that you help them make healthy choices, get rest and find ways to destress. Ask teachers how you can make them feel better. Sometimes it is as simple as a few cough drops or a warm cup of tea. Leave a vitamin sample in their mailbox encouraging them to care of themselves. Let them know that you care about their mental and physical health. This is all part of helping them be successful educators.
Follow through, servant leaders are true to their word.
If you say it, do anything within your power to make it happen. If an emergency comes up and you are unable to fulfill your promise, go directly to that staff member and apologize. Make it up to them the next day in a way that best makes them feel warm and loved. Keep lines of communication open and be sure to check-in, stay on schedule and adjust to each staff member’s needs as situations change. If you promise to cover a teacher’s classroom so they can leave a little early for an appointment, then be there on time and check-in with them the day before to go over plans and lessons. Leave a note about how the time went, what was finished and how students behaved…be the perfect substitute.
Notice.
Lastly, one servant gesture is meeting each teacher’s classroom needs. Take the time to notice their environment. Does their pencil sharpener keep sticking, is their door block missing or does their whiteboard need a deep expo clean? Spend a little time helping, but most importantly make each teacher feel special by noticing something specific. Maybe a teacher has a cactus theme for the classroom, buy a dollar tree note pad with some cactus on it and let him/her know you noticed his/her super sharp classroom theme.
“Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve.” -Joshua 24:17
Recipe for Leadership
Every successful leader needs to find a servant within themselves. Be sure to go out of your way to meet the personal and professional needs of your staff, check-in often, always follow through and notice the little things.
A Recipe for Your InstaPot
Recipe on the next page.