JULIETTE ALBAN-METCALFE, HUMAN BEINGS NOT HUMAN DOINGS

HR & OD professionals navigate inclusion, wellbeing, and change while serving their communities.
This session explores servant leadership’s impact on engagement, retention, and performance
through the evidence-based Engaging Leadership model.

1. Human Beings, Not Human Doings: the Power of Servant Leadership 10 April 2025 Juliette Alban-Metcalfe, C Psychol. © Real World Group 2025 @realworldgroup

2. @realworldgroup © Real World Group 202 5 Have you heard people in your organisation talk about Servant Leadership recently?

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5. Core principles of Servant Leadership @realworldgroup © Real World Group 202 5 Humility, authenticity, transparency, honesty and integrity Showing sensitivity to others' personal concerns, particularly one’s team members P utting others first, particularly one’s team members B uilding high quality, supportive relationships with own team members & colleagues Empowering, encouraging, and supporting others in their roles, and in overcoming challenges S upporting individuals’ development and career aspirations, including by coaching and mentoring S tewardship - entrusted to develop and empower followers to reach their fullest potential

6. Benefits of Servant Leadership @realworldgroup © Real World Group 202 5 Perceptions of trust in a leader Job satisfaction Psychological engagement Sense of meaningful work Organisational commitment Organisation citizenship behaviours Eva, N., Robin, M., Sendjaya , S., van Dierendonck , D., & Liden, R. C. (2019). Servant leadership: A systematic review and call for future research. Leadership Quarterly, 30, 1, 111-132. Hoch, J. E., Bommer, W. H., Dulebohn, J. H., & Wu, D. (2018). Do ethical, authentic, and servant leadership explain variance above and beyond transformational leadership? A meta-analysis . Journal of Management , 44 , 2, 501–529.

7. Criticisms of Servant Leadership @realworldgroup © Real World Group 202 5 Said to be o verly prescriptive Does not describe observable behaviours that can be measured Studies criticised for lack of rigour Focuses more on serving than leading Important to bear in mind that Servant Leadership is a philosophy rather than a research-based leadership model CFI . ‘Servant Leadership’. https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/management/servant-leadership/ . Downloaded July 2 nd 2024. Steven J Lawrence (2014). ‘Criticism of servant Leadership’. https://groundexperience.org/criticism-of-servant-leadership/ Hansbrough, T. K., Lord, R. G., & Schyns , B. (2015). Reconsidering the accuracy of follower leadership ratings. The Leadership Quarterly, 26 , 2, 220–237. Schowalter, A. F., & Volmer, J. (2023). Are the effects of servant leadership only spurious? The state of research on the causal effects of servant leadership, recommendations, and an illustrative experiment.  The Leadership Quarterly , 34 , 101722.

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9. © Real World Group 202 5 @realworldgroup Servant Leadership within Engaging Leadership Humility, authenticity, transparency, honesty and integrity Showing sensitivity to others' personal concerns, particularly one’s team members P utting others first, particularly one’s team members B uilding high quality, supportive relationships with own team members & colleagues Empowering, encouraging, and supporting others in their roles, and in overcoming challenges S upporting individuals’ development and career aspirations, including by coaching and mentoring S tewardship - develop and empower followers to reach their fullest potential Alimo- Metcalfe, B. & Alban- Metcalfe, J. (20 12 ). ‘Engaging leadership: Creating organisations that maximise the potential of their people’. London: CIPD.

10. Proven impact of Engaging Leadership © Real World Group 2025 Outcomes: Performance Change readiness & resilience Motivation Innovation Commitment to the organisation Commitment to the job Self-confidence Satisfaction Reduced job-related stress Evidence includes: Case studies around the world on culture change Significant overlap with barriers & enablers of truly inclusive culture Peer-reviewed journals Independent validation in UK and internationally (government & PhDs) Longitudinal research demonstrating predictive validity @realworldgroup

11. @realworldgroup © Real World Group 202 5 Leading Effective Change Essential for Hybrid Working Achieving more with less Reduced Silos, increased Collaboration Innovation & psychological safety Creating inclusive workplaces Increasing wellbeing & reducing stress Humility, authenticity, honesty and integrity Sensitivity to others' concerns, esp. team P utting others first B uilding high quality, supportive relationships Empow ering, encouraging, and supporting others ( inclu . with challenges) S upporting development and career aspirations, Develop and empower followers to reach their fullest potential Servant Leadership & Engaging Leadership Principles Modern Workplace Challenges

12. We need to get serious about this @realworldgroup © Real World Group 202 5 82% of newly recruited managers are “accidental managers” Managers who have received formal training are significantly more likely to feel confident in their management abilities ( 83% ) compared to those who have not ( 71% ) 18% of managers say they aren’t confident in their own leadership abilities, with more than half ( 60% ) saying they’re confident but need further development Source: CMI (2023) Taking Responsibility – why UK PLC needs better managers 46% of managers agree that people are promoted based on relationships/profile not ability/performance

13. Leadership & Management in Local Government @realworldgroup © Real World Group 202 5 Source: Social Market Foundation (2023) Local Heroes? Assessing leadership & management in Local Government

14. Leadership & Management in Local Government @realworldgroup © Real World Group 202 5 Source: Social Market Foundation (2023) Local Heroes? Assessing leadership & management in Local Government

15. Strategies for influencing from the top @realworldgroup © Real World Group 202 5 Build a business case with the data you have What other data do you need and how can you get hold of it? Don’t leave any room for senior leaders to shirk responsibility Consider a leadership culture survey/ Executive Team 360 Remind people what they have valued in their career Even if you can’t influence from the top, don’t lose heart

16. Create clear behavioural expectations & hold to account @realworldgroup © Real World Group 202 5 If we didn’t learn it naturally and can’t do it all the time, why do we expect it of others? If we had great role models, if there weren’t major resource & time constraints we might all lead well, but there are What’s measured gets done - selection, performance assessment and addressing inappropriate behaviour are key We must also highlight and celebrate what is going well

17. Practical & accessible is key @realworldgroup © Real World Group 202 5 Values with simple behaviours must be backed up with explicit leadership expectations Mistake to think people can simply translate in their heads what they need to do – otherwise set them up to fail Help leaders avoid burning themselves out Provide the opportunity for reflection through 360 or at least regular checking in Doesn’t have to cost a lot Behavioural 360 can be run internally & big programmes work really well

18. @realworldgroup © Real World Group 202 5 Comments & questions?