While he doesn’t call it servant leadership, it’s what the work and message of Ryan Walter, a former National Hockey League (NHL) player and current leadership coach, is all about.

Walter, who played in the NHL for 15 years, coached the Vancouver Canucks for two and now offers training and motivational speaking on leadership in business, says he believes servant leadership is the most effective way to inspire people to action “for the right reasons.”

He says he agrees with U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt’s definition of effective leadership: “getting people to do what you need them to do because they want to do it.”

Servant leadership can inspire that desire, he says, because it focuses on finding ways to serve people’s strengths and empower them to “not only accomplish great things but feel engaged doing it.”

Walter says his most powerful experiences with servant leadership came when he returned to school at the age of 45 to study leadership where he met professors who lived what they taught about servant leadership.

“They were very connected and wanting to know not only about your academic life but (also) interested . . . in understanding every part of your life and really serving us as students,” he says.

During his hockey coaching stint, servant leadership influenced Walter’s approach to the players. He focused on supporting them to do their best, as opposed to just demanding that they carry out his orders.

Near the end of his term, Walter, who was in charge of presenting the power play for the games, decided to first present, then offer the opportunity for the players to share their feedback on the play.

“What I tried to do was engage the group rather than preach to the group, and in my mind it got better results. It had players coming in that weren’t just there to listen. They were there to engage.”

“The attitude is the key,” he adds. “(It’s remembering) this leadership thing is not about my ego. This leadership thing is about being the very best that we can be.”

As a leadership coach Walter often presents on what he calls generational leadership, which is about strengthening leadership between the various generations in the workplace.

He points out that while those of the boomer generation may have a tendency to demand respect because of their title, if they’re committed to servant leadership, they will likely see better working relationships with the Gen X or Gen Y employee, as well as a more effective, engaged workforce.

Walter says he doesn’t typically use the term servant leadership — he prefers facilitative leadership or empowering leadership — because he’s observed the term itself, although not the concept, has a stigma attached to it in corporate America.

He adds there tend to be misconceptions around the approach in that people think it’s about opening oneself to bullying and taking all the flak, as opposed to what it truly is, supporting the development and achievement of those one leads.

In fact, one has to be a very confident and strong person to take this approach, Walter says, because servant leaders “make whatever they’re doing not about them, but about the people that are doing it.”

He points out that some of the most effective leaders in history could be characterized as servant leaders, including Mahatma Gandhi and Jesus, as well as some less well-known heroes, such as Lieutenant General Sir Bernard Freyberg of the Second World War.

If you have feedback on this article please contact michelle(at)axiomnews.ca, or call the newsroom at 800-294-0051, ext. 27.

Axiom News