As a new supervisor, I was very moved and a little shocked. I tried to imagine what this wonderful employee’s past experiences with supervisors might have looked like. Did she receive adequate praise for her work? Did she feel that her supervisor appreciated her? Did she feel that she was a valuable part of the team?

We’ve all had experiences working with leadership who makes it difficult to feel happy and productive in the task that is set before you. When you feel reluctant to put forth your best work in a situation like this, it may not be all up to you. I believe that the way a leader leads has a greater impact than we think on the quality of the work that gets done and the well-being of the people doing it.

We’ll likely all have a call to leadership in some capacity at some point in our lives (if we haven’t already). Whether that be in local organizations, at work, in your family, or in your social circles, we can all learn something about being the kind of leader that makes people want to be there and want to do their best.

For years, our society has been using a style of leadership called “Command-and-Control,” meaning that leaders see their subordinates only as resources to get the job done. This type of leadership drives leaders to micromanage, to mistrust, and to mistreat people.

Stephen M. R. Covey, CEO of Covey Leadership Center, found that while the world in which we live is changing, our leadership style is not changing to match it. When surveying attendees of his public seminars, he found that almost every single person believed that the vast majority of their organization possesses more capacity than is presently required of them at work, but that the same majority is under significant pressure to perform a certain way and to “produce more for less.”

What does this mean for leadership?

It means that in a modern workforce where employees are being held to increasingly high expectations but are not being enabled to use their abilities to their full potential, we need leadership that adapts to today’s diverse and ever-changing workplace. Leadership that not only allows employees to use these abilities, but that encourages and supports the development of them.

The alternative to this “Command-and-Control” leadership is called servant-leadership. A leader who demonstrates servant-leadership puts the needs of their subordinates over their own needs, expresses trust and allows the exercise of autonomy, and is invested in the personal growth of each individual they lead.

When people feel that their leader genuinely trusts them and cares about their development and success, they are more likely to be happy as they work on the task at hand. They are also much more likely to be productive and experience greater creativity, attention-span, problem-solving skills, intrinsic motivation, and innovation to achieve goals.

But you don’t have to be “the boss” at work to implement this kind of leadership. You can serve those you lead in any capacity. For example, a parent could practice servant-leadership by allowing their children to participate in decisions that will affect them. When children are given the opportunity to have a say in rules and make decisions on their own, they feel that they are trusted by their parents, and are thus more inclined to make good decisions intrinsically.

In your social circles, you can practice asking questions and listening intently to people so you know how to support them. Creating a safe place for communication allows people to feel that you are invested in their growth and that you will not criticize them, but rather offer support and encouragement in their efforts.

Wherever it be, our capacity to lead through service is unlimited, and its impact is greater than we could imagine. Take a look into your spheres of influence and make an effort to offer a little more trust, a little more support, a little more appreciation, or a little more humility to those to whom your influence extends. When you do, you may find that growth happens faster than you expect.

Anna Snow lives in Provo and is am currently a student at Brigham Young University studying economics and psychology.