In recent years there has been a growing realisation that construction projects can also be a force for good by not only fulfilling their clients’ requirements but also engaging with and serving the wider community.
In fact, we are increasingly being urged to add social value to our projects to support ‘levelling up’, the creation of jobs and long-term employment, ethical and low-carbon supply chain sourcing, engaging with charities and community organisations, and promoting a sense of identity and cohesion within communities.
This got Martyn Jones thinking about the role of Servant Leadership and whether it’s a leadership approach that we need in construction if we are to become an industry of even greater service and a force for good.
Clearly the built environment and its players offer a vital service, helping our country to meet its economic and social needs (emphasised by recent events), addressing pressing environmental concerns, and in the context of this article adding value for the wider community.
What is the Servant Leader approach? Well, it places the concept of servant first and begins with the instinct in leaders that they want to serve by focusing primarily on the growth and wellbeing of people and the communities to which they belong.
They share power, putting the needs of others first, and focus on helping other people develop and perform as highly as possible. In other words, they exercise their power to empower others.
This contrasts with other leadership approaches that generally involve the accumulation and exercise of power by one leader at the “top of the pyramid”. It is more in tune with the empowering and inclusive leadership styles adopted more widely in construction in recent years with a greater emphasis on collaboration, diversity, employee wellbeing – and social value.
What’s the case for service and Servant Leadership in construction? Well, their appropriateness can be argued on the basis that much of construction falls into the service-based camp of the economy embracing as it does professional services and less tangible outcomes.
Yes, we make extensive use manufactured materials and components to produce a tangible final product – a building or piece of infrastructure – placing us also partly in the category of goods-based industries.
And in recent years we have been urged to move further towards seeing construction as a more goods-based, manufacturing process with more offsite production. But, much of what we do is very much about offering a service.
Does this mean that Servant Leadership is appropriate in much of construction? Well, it does seek to move management and people interactions away from controlling activities and more towards synergistic relationships.
This means it requires characteristics such as empathy, listening, stewardship, and a strong commitment to the personal growth of others.
It’s about putting others before oneself; inspiring vision before setting the course; empowering others before personal gain; choosing ethics over profit; putting people before tasks; and serving with humility before all else. Things that we don’t naturally associate with our traditional culture and practices.
Its success depends very much on the culture of the organisation – and in the context of construction – project teams and their supply chains. The culture needs to be human oriented with the acceptance and endorsement of a more equal distribution of power and status privileges.
But as we know, there is no one “best” leadership style and it can be used in combination with other approaches such as Participative, Distributed, Transformational and Situational Leadership.
While Servant Leadership may appear to be, in certain circumstances, a better alternative to more traditional leadership approaches it comes with several challenges for leaders.
For example, some people may misinterpret Servant Leadership and see it as a weakness, which could lead to a lack of respect, particularly in the context of construction where the exercise of power is inherent and multifaceted aspect of how we work.
And here is another challenge: Finding the balance between serving and leading, especially in situations where quick decisions are required, when the Autocratic approach may need to be deployed.
There’s a personal price too. As servant leaders are dedicated to serving their followers by putting their needs before their own and using empathy intensively, they are more prone to physical and mental fatigue.
Then there’s the thorny matter of trust. Servant leaders need to trust their followers and seek to empower them, which provides an ideal opportunity for opportunistic and manipulative followers to take advantage of the situation and gain personal advantage: Something not unknown in construction teams and supply chains.
Followers tend to develop more loyalty to their leader and internal team than to the organisation or project team as a whole resulting in the perpetuation of silos or even the creation of new ones. A particular concern in construction projects and supply chains where our traditional operating system fosters working in silos and transient inter-firm relationships.
Despite these challenges Servant Leadership remains highly relevant today due to its potential to foster trust and collaboration within and between organisations by prioritising the well-being and growth of their team members.
