What Is Servant Leadership?

Servant Leadership is a leadership style that prioritizes the growth, well-being, and empowerment of others. While traditional leadership often emphasizes organizational success first, servant leadership flips the perspective: it exists to serve people, ensuring the organization succeeds through their success.

First introduced by Robert K. Greenleaf in the 1970s, servant leadership has since been widely adopted across industries for its ability to foster healthier, more engaged workplaces. For administrative staff in the AEC industry, this approach resonates deeply. Operations personnel, whether in accounting, project management, marketing, or administration, often lead by building trust, fostering collaboration, and ensuring that projects and people succeed together, hallmarks of servant leadership.

We can express it simply as Compassion, Character, and Competence—or expand it into ten guiding principles.

Ten Principles of Servant Leadership

• Listening – Ask questions and truly listen. Conversations reveal needs, build trust, and spark solutions.
• Empathy – Understand the perspectives and emotions of your colleagues to create a supportive environment.
• Healing – Address conflict with patience and compassion. True servant leaders model resilience by practicing self-care as well.
• Awareness – Know your own strengths, blind spots, and biases. Self-reflection helps align actions with your team’s best interests.
• Persuasion – Influence through reasoning and trust, not authority. Inspire buy-in for shared goals.
• Conceptualization – See the bigger picture. Look beyond day-to-day operations to envision what’s possible and set ambitious goals.
• Foresight – Use intuition and experience to anticipate challenges and prepare your team to navigate them.
• Stewardship – Act as a caretaker of your organization and people. Stewardship builds trust and empowers others to succeed.
• Commitment to Growth – Invest in your team’s skills, knowledge, and confidence. When people grow, so does the firm.
• Building Community – Strong teams are built on trust and connection. Nurturing relationships creates a culture of collaboration and belonging.

Why It Matters for Operations Personnel in A|E|C

In the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction industry, operational staff are often the connective tissue that holds projects together. By practicing servant leadership, operations personnel don’t just manage tasks; they:

• Elevate others by anticipating needs and removing obstacles.
• Foster collaboration across disciplines, strengthening project outcomes.
• Model resilience and adaptability, inspiring others to do the same.
• Build inclusive communities where diverse voices and ideas can flourish.

Research shows servant leadership is especially effective when practiced with empathy and mentoring. Studies even suggest women often excel in these areas, an insight that resonates strongly with the operations personnel who form the backbone of A|E|C firms. Servant leadership is not just a philosophy but a lived reality for many SDA members.

Pitfalls of Overextending as a Servant Leader

Like all leadership approaches, servant leadership requires balance. Without it, even the best intentions can create challenges. Common pitfalls include:

• Neglecting Self-Care – Always putting others first can lead to burnout. Leaders must serve from a place of strength, not exhaustion.
• Over-Accommodating Others – Compassion without accountability can enable unhealthy dynamics or allow underperformance to persist.
• Creating Dependence – Solving every problem for others may prevent colleagues from developing independence and confidence.
• Losing Sight of the Big Picture – Focusing too much on individual needs can sometimes overshadow organizational goals.

How to Stay Balanced

• Protect time for your own renewal and growth.
• Pair empathy with clear expectations.
• Coach others to find solutions rather than rescuing them.
• Keep support aligned with both team and organizational priorities.

For operations personnel in the A|E|C, often seen as the “fixers” in their firms, acknowledging these boundaries ensures that servant leadership is both sustainable and effective.

Real-World Inspiration: Shared Leadership at Onyx Creative

At Onyx Creative, Carole Sanderson, CDFA, exemplifies servant leadership at a 50-year-old architecture and engineering firm based in Cleveland, OH. Rising through finance and operations ranks, she became CFO, sharing leadership with the President and guiding the firm through several acquisitions to expand its size, footprint, and services. Their profit-sharing approach, rooted in employee engagement and trust, demonstrates how servant leadership can break traditional methodologies, marry the front and back offices, and inspire new ways of leading in architecture.

Take Action: Who Will You Serve Next?

Servant leadership isn’t just a theory; it’s a practice. Here’s a simple exercise to put it into action:

• I will mentor: ________________________ (Name of colleague or team member)
• Why I chose this person: ____________________(Their potential, interest, or unique need)
• What I have to offer: ___________________ (Skills, experiences, or insights you can share)
• Three ways I can add value: ____________________________________________ (Examples: training on tools, career guidance, confidence building)
• We will meet: (Once each / every other week for ___ months)

This intentional commitment transforms relationships and demonstrates the heart of servant leadership: serving others so that together, we all succeed.

Closing Thought

Operations personnel in the A|E|C industry have long led through service by supporting leaders, guiding projects, and mentoring peers. Servant leadership simply names and elevates what many SDA members already embody: leadership rooted in empathy, trust, and growth. By practicing these principles while also caring for themselves, A|E|C operations personnel not only empower their teams but redefine what effective leadership looks like in our industry.

References

• Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership – What Is Servant Leadership
• Harvard Business Review – How Servant Leaders Uplift Others
• University at Buffalo – Study on Women as Servant Leaders
• The Times – Shared Leadership at HOK
• SDA CDFO Resource Guide, Leadership Section
• The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, John C. Maxwell

SDA does not endorse any products or services mentioned, and SDA does not assume responsibility for any circumstances arising out of the interpretation, application, use, or misuse of any information presented. SDA recommends that the reader consult the appropriate legal, financial, or human resource counsel before implementing the information contained herein.