In a Talk Show with Professor, Prof. Herry Suhardiyanto Talks about Servant Leadership
Professor of Agricultural Engineering, Bogor Agricultural University (IPB), Prof. Herry Suhardiyanto, shared tips on how to become a servant leader. This was conveyed in a Talk Show with Professor with the theme "Servant Leadership" which was held by the Directorate of Student Affairs and Career Development of IPB on Saturday (10/13) at the Mandiri Auditorium, IPB Dramaga Campus, Bogor.
This Professor who had served as Rector of IPB for two periods, namely in 2007-2012 and 2012-2017, said that the current leadership challenges are extraordinary.
"Nowadays, the food challenge is extraordinary, along with the increase in population. Meanwhile, the available resources are decreasing. Agricultural land is reduced, as is fossil energy and the quality of resources. Therefore, many experts review mega trends, such as foods, agriculture, health, energy and infrastructure including future top industries. This must all be viewed comprehensively and be seen entirely," he said.
Indonesia has abundant natural resources, but most of these resources are controlled by a small number of Indonesians. This is a big imbalance. The extraordinary nation building forces are those who are aged from 20 years. "If it is not managed properly and not productive, this will be a burden for the nation. Therefore, we need the role of servant leadership," he said.
According to him, IPB which is a model of State Universities (PTN) is very relevant to this context. "But we have a problem, we have not concerned about the impact of the presence of IPB. Therefore, we hold a transformation of PTN to be autonomous so that we can more contribute to the development of our country. We do this transformation, thus, IPB can develop innovation and also commercialize it," he added.
Prof. Herry had conveyed the concept of servant leadership during the rector's election in 2007. According to him, there are three types of leaders, namely auto-critic leader (as dictator), paternalistic leader (as parent of people led), and servant.
The principles of servant leadership include: 1) making changes as a means for organizational and personal growth, 2) making organizational and personal growth as a way to serve well, 3) providing opportunities for people who are led to develop, 4) providing excellent service for stakeholders, and 5) improving excellent service sustainability.
"The characters of the servant leader can be divided into three aspects, namely from the servant's side, the leader's side, and the combination of those two roles. From the servant's side, the characteristics of the servant leader are listening, empathy, and healing. From the leader's perspective, the characteristics are position, persuasion, conceptualization, and foresight. From the combination's aspect, the characteristic is building community. As a leader, you are the representation of the organization, thus, you have to be strong there. But, the interests of the organization should not be interfered with personal interests. For example, in decision making, you cannot change the organizational design based on your own interests," said Prof. Herry.
Dr. Alim Setiawan Slamet, Director of Student Affairs and Career Development of IPB, also attended this event. He said that this activity was a coaching program for students of the Leadership Dormitory and Cadre of Agriculture Fighters of IPB. However, this talk show was open to the public so that more people got benefits from this event. (NIRS/ZSP/Zul)
