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Servant Leadership

5 minutes 5 Questions

Servant Leadership is a leadership philosophy that's central to Scrum and focuses on the leader's role as a servant to the team, instead of a command-and-control figure. The leader's role involves removing impediments that prevent the team from achieving their goals, fostering an environment of com…

Guide to Servant Leadership

Servant Leadership is a leadership approach wherein the leader prioritizes the development and well-being of their team members. By focusing on the goals and needs of the team, a servant leader is able to inspire and motivate their team to achieve their highest potential.

Importance:
Servant Leadership is important because it promotes a positive organizational culture, fosters collaborative decision-making, and increases employee satisfaction. It encourages responsibility, values diversity, and effectively facilitates the growth and development of all team members.

How it Works:
The servant leader prioritizes the needs of their team and strives to meet those needs. This can mean removing obstacles that prevent team members from doing their job, providing resources needed for development, and facilitating a collaborative and supportive working environment. The leader also exhibits behaviors like empathy, humility, and openness.

Exam Tips: Answering Questions on Servant Leadership:
- Understand the definition and principles of Servant Leadership- Be ready to explain how this style of leadership contrasts to more traditional forms of leadership- Use real-life examples to illustrate the benefits and effectiveness of Servant Leadership- Highlight the positive impact that Servant Leadership can have on an organizational culture and employee satisfaction- Clearly articulate the role of a Servant Leader in facilitating team collaboration and individual development- Be prepared to discuss possible challenges or criticisms of Servant Leadership.

Remember, Servant Leadership isn't just about the leader serving the team, it is about fostering a culture of service throughout the entire organization.

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CSM - Servant Leadership Example Questions

Test your knowledge of Servant Leadership

Question 1

You notice that all members are reliant on one team member to complete a particular task, creating a bottleneck. As a servant leader, what should you do?

Work with the team to find ways of learning and sharing knowledge to reduce dependency on one member Replace the 'bottleneck' member with someone more competent Overload the 'bottleneck' team member with more work until they ask for help Allow the situation to unfold and hope the team can adapt to this bottleneck

Correct Answer: Work with the team to find ways of learning and sharing knowledge to reduce dependency on one member

As a servant leader, the aim should always be to empower, enable, and equip team members with the skills and knowledge they need to perform tasks efficiently. The best action to take would be to 'Work with the team to find ways of learning and sharing knowledge to reduce dependency on one member'. This is a proactive solution that seeks to address the root cause of the issue, which is over-reliance on one team member. By spreading knowledge and skills among the team, not only does it resolve the bottleneck issue, it also promotes collaboration amongst the team members. 'Overloading the 'bottleneck' team member with more work until they ask for help' would not resolve the issue but rather add to their workload and potentially lead to burnout. This is not a productive solution and does not align with servant leadership principles. 'Replacing the 'bottleneck' member with someone more competent' seems to be a quick fix, but does not ensure that the problem won't occur again. If the rest of the team is still reliant on one member, changing the member does not provide a long term solution. 'Allowing the situation to unfold and hope the team can adapt to this bottleneck' is also not a good approach. It would mean that the leader is not taking action to resolve an identified issue. This inaction could potentially affect the team's productivity drastically.

Question 2

Which of the following best describes the role of a Scrum Master in empowering the Scrum Team?

Acting as a project manager by creating detailed schedules for the completion of tasks and monitoring team progress. Encouraging the team to continuously improve their work processes. Specifying the technical approaches to be taken on all Product Backlog items to ensure quality. Taking responsibility for solving all problems to avoid team disruptions.

Correct Answer: Encouraging the team to continuously improve their work processes.

The correct role of a Scrum Master is to serve the team by coaching and encouraging them towards self-organization and continuous improvement without taking direct control of tasks or decision-making processes. The wrong answers depict the Scrum Master as directly solving problems, imposing technical decisions, or acting as a traditional project manager, which are not in accordance with Scrum principles.

Question 3

The team is working in a cluttered, disorganized workspace. How should a servant leader address this issue?

Ask the facilities team to handle the cleanup. Clean the workspace alone without involving the team. Delegate the cleanup to the lowest-ranking team member. Move the team to a different workspace. Organize a team-wide cleanup to improve the workspace. Scold the team for their lack of organization.

Correct Answer: Organize a team-wide cleanup to improve the workspace.

A servant leader sets the example for the team and encourages everyone to take ownership of their environment. Organizing a team-wide cleanup fosters teamwork and promotes a shared sense of responsibility.

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