Five principles - five accountabilities. Servant leadership is an important responsibility. We've all heard someone with a prophetic lift in their voice on stage or from our car stereo speakers proclaiming,

"To be a great leader, you have to be a great server!"

After all, it's biblical. But how you interpret "service" can make or break your pathway to effective leadership. Does service mean shining shoes, carrying trays or bags or doing things for others until they want to do things for you? Or does it mean serving other leaders so that you are learning from them so you can teach to others? Or is the definition of a servant leader simply being a world class "helper" by being everywhere for everyone? The answer is: if coaching is part of leadership, then the definition of servant leadership is none of these things. Consider these Five principles for Effective Servant Leadership (from a coach's perspective):

1. Don't confuse intention with outcomes. As a leader, you are compelled to believe in what people are telling you they want to do. And endeavoring to lead by example, you are compelled to declare your intentions before you get into action. But, whether it is those you are leading or you, yourself, spouting the intention - just keep in mind that there can be a very deep and dense "black hole" that all good intentions fall in to.

At the end of the day, the only thing that counts is outcomes, not intention.

If you allow others to rest on intentions without taking the necessary action to produce an outcome - long or short of their intention - you have failed as a leader. And more importantly, if you allow yourself to rest on intention, declaration and "bloviating" rather than action that produces measurable outcomes - well, you have lead your team right into the black hole of inactivity and over-hyped pretending.

2. To empower success, relentlessly remove obstacles. The biggest cause of in-action, frustration and (eventually) attrition in your networking business is perceived obstacles. As a servant leader, your #1 job is to look for and remove those obstacles continuously and relentlessly. Ask questions; penetrate to the source of anxiety and paralysis. Don't rest in sweeping obstacles, real or perceived.

3. Example is the only truth. In network marketing, once we achieve virtually any level of achievement we are readily "promoted" to stage time for testimonials and to "tell our story". As good as this is, it is all about the past.

As servant leader, don't confuse reporting on the great things you have accomplished in the past with demonstrating your ability to execute what you are teaching IN THE PRESENT.

Telling old war stories and assuming that is "leading" is really a dis-service.

4. Lead by Influence - not by "position". Leadership guru and best-selling author John Maxwell says, "Leadership is Influence. Nothing more and nothing less." Many leaders confuse their "pin" or "level" as permission to exert authority. This is news that you may not want to hear, but here it goes: Your level of accomplishment doesn't represent authentic leadership. It does demonstrate that you were a good example (emphasis on "were") but your historic accomplishments won't influence like-behaviors from those you lead.

You must seek to find diverse ways to influence: encourage, promote, celebrate, create incentives, learn everyone's unique "motivation language". All of these activities are about influencing - not asserting your position.

5. Trust yields faith and faith yields action. Be careful as you climb your ladder of success that puts you in a position of leadership. You can unconsciously begin to believe that because you have joined an exclusive club of attainment, that others that you lead are "not yet capable" or "still need to grow" to get to your level. Not true! Most, if not all, of the people you lead are as (or more!) capable than you to achieve as much (or more!) than you have attained. Their only missing piece is someone believing in and trusting that they can!

As a servant leader - trust the capabilities of everyone you lead. Serve them with belief, faith and trust. Action - and achievement - will follow.

Five principles - five accountabilities. Servant leadership is an important responsibility.