seek out learning opportunities

Don’t wait for learning opportunities to be handed to you. Seek them out and volunteer to take them on.  And if you don’t see the opportunities in your own organization, find them outside your professional work in a community group, a non-profit, or a religious organization, which are often hungry for leaders to step in and step up. For example, Wharton’s Stew Friedman has described how one young manager who aspired to become a CEO joined a city-based community board, which allowed him to hone his leadership skills; three years later, he was on a formal succession track for CEO.

Ron Ashkenas and Brook Manville

"The 6 Fundamental Skills Every Leader Should Practice" Harvard Business Review. Oct. 24, 2018

no one listens to you...they don't have to

Given that humility isn't core curriculum at most executive education programs, how do you develop servant leader skills if they don't come naturally? Volunteer work can be an excellent autocracy neutralizer, suggests Jeremy Brandt, founder of FastHomeOffers.com, a $1.35 million company that generates leads for real estate investors. Shortly before launching his business four years ago, Brandt was asked by the pastor at his church in Grapevine, Texas, to lead a fellowship group of about 15 people. Brandt, a get-it-done kind of guy, soon found himself in charge of 25 such groups. His big-stick approach fell apart. "It's very natural as you manage more and more people to let your ego get in the way," says Brandt. "It's illuminating to manage volunteers because if you act that way, no one listens to you. They don't have to." Instead, Brandt began asking questions. What problems do you have? How can I help you? He drew on the experience to shape his performance as CEO. "At the company, I solve people's problems," he says. "I give them what they need so they can blossom." 

Leigh Buchanan

In Praise of Selflessness: Why the best leaders are servants. Inc. magazine. May 1, 2007.