Cultivating Servant Leadership Through Motivational Interviewing (MI) Training: A Pathway to Organizational Growth in New Mexico

1. What Is Servant Leadership and How Can It Benefit Your Organization?

Servant Leaders Prioritize the Assets, Growth, and Wellness of Others

Servant leadership is more than a philosophy. Instead, it's an action-based relational approach to leadership that prioritizes the growth, well-being, and empowerment of others. Rather than leading from fear or habit or authority, servant leaders lead through supportive inspiration and modeling person-centered behaviors in aspirational pursuit of a shared mission and vision.

Recent research published in Frontiers in Communication examined servant leadership in banking and service industries, revealing its direct and indirect impact on key organizational outcomes. The study found that servant leadership, especially when combined with a culture characterized by trust in coworkers, significantly enhanced career satisfaction, service recovery performance, and innovative work behavior among employees (Rashid & Ilkhanizadeh, 2022).

Notably, trust in coworkers emerged as a critical mediator. Further research needs to be done, but these early results are encouraging and all point towards the idea that the shift towards person-centeredness is not only warranted from an ethical perspective, but also from a business perspective. It’s a win-win.

This aligns with broader findings across sectors: servant leadership contributes to stronger organizational cultures, increased employee accountability, and improved strategic alignment.

2. How Motivational Interviewing (MI) Supports the Development of Servant Leadership

Motivational Interviewing offers a powerful framework for cultivating the relational and reflective qualities central to servant leadership. Its core elements—the spirit of MI, the four processes, and the OARS communication tools—actively support the development of empathy, trust, collaboration, and empowerment at the heart of the person-centered approach that servant leadership espouses:

The Spirit of MI

The Spirit of MI Naturally Overlaps with the Principles of Person-Centered, Trauma-Informed Servant Leadership

• Partnership mirrors the servant leader’s commitment to shared decision-making and mutual respect.

• Acceptance reinforces a nonjudgmental stance and enhances cultural responsiveness, honoring each person’s dignity and autonomy to bring out their best work and selves.

• Compassion deepens emotional intelligence, allowing leaders to respond with care and presence.

• Empowerment invites individuals to recognize and act on their own strengths and insights.

These values are not abstract ideals, instead representing actionable foundations for servant leadership that are practiced through intentional dialogue and relational presence.

The Four Processes of MI

The Four Processes Represent a Natural Progression Towards Positive and Self-Driven Change

• Engaging builds trust and psychological safety, essential for inclusive leadership.

• Focusing helps clarify shared goals and values, aligning individual purpose with organizational mission.

• Evoking draws out intrinsic motivation and lived wisdom, rather than imposing solutions.

• Planning supports co-created action, ensuring that strategies reflect both vision and reality.

These processes offer a roadmap for leading with humility, responsiveness, and clarity.

OARS: Communication Tools That Build Connection

OARS Prompt Person-Centered Dialogue for Genuine Connection

• Open-ended questions foster exploration and invite diverse perspectives.

• Affirmations reinforce strengths and progress, cultivating a culture of recognition.

• Reflections model empathy and deepen understanding.

• Summaries consolidate insights and support shared meaning.

These practices decenter authority and highlight the assets and values that exist on your team, allowing you to align personal motivations with team mission.

Taken together, all of the unique knowledge and skills offered by Motivational Interviewing till an environment that is rich for sewing servant leadership across your organization, sprouting mutual trust among colleagues.

The best part? MI doesn’t just preach these person-centered skills, it cultivates them. Peer-reviewed research has repeatedly found that MI training significantly increased therapeutic empathy among learners, as measured by the Helpful Responses Questionnaire (Baer & Rosengren, 2004; Lazare & Moaveni, 2016; Zeligman & Dispenza et al., 2017). This suggests that MI practices actively develop the kind of authentic empathy that servant leadership requires.

3. How Ocotillo Can Help Cultivate Leadership Growth through Motivational Interviewing Training at Your New Mexico Organization

At Ocotillo Training and Consulting, we specialize in designing training experiences that integrate Motivational Interviewing with person-centered leadership development, right here in New Mexico. Our approach is grounded in cultural responsiveness, emotional intelligence, and practical application, ensuring that leaders don’t just learn new concepts, but embody them.

Through our Custom Training Solutions, we will tailor our Motivational Interviewing (MI) instruction to match your leadership environment. And if you'd rather try a smaller sample of what we offer first, our Preplanned Trainings always remain available to you. Either way, we believe you will see positive return on your investment if you partner with us.

That's because we offer professional development that goes deeper than what you're used to. Our trainings in Motivational Interviewing, leadership, education, public health, and DEI are designed to help professionals embody person-centeredness while deepening their cultural responsiveness.

Whether you're a clinician, educator, supervisor, or community leader, we’ll work with you to create learning experiences that are engaging, inclusive, and tailored to your context. Our goal is to help you build trust, evoke change, and foster transformation that lasts.

Visit www.ocotillotraining.com to learn more or reach out to explore how we can support your team’s growth. We’re honored to walk alongside you.

Citations 

Baer JS, Rosengren DB, Dunn CW, Wells EA, Ogle RL, Hartzler B. An evaluation of workshop training in motivational interviewing for addiction and mental health clinicians. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2004;73(1):99–106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2003.10.001.

Lazare K, Moaveni A. Introduction of a motivational interviewing curriculum for family medicine residents. Fam Med. 2016;48(4):305–8.

Rashid, A.M.M. & Ilkhanizadeh, S. (2022). The Effect of Servant Leadership on Job Outcomes: The Mediating Role of Trust in Coworkers. Frontiers in Communication, 7-2022. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2022.928066.

Zeligman M, Dispenza F, Chang CY, Levy DB, McDonald CP, Murphy T. Motivational interviewing training: a pilot study in a master’s level counseling program. Counsel Outcome Res Eval. 2017;8(2):91–104. https://doi.org/10.1080/21501378.2017.1342518.