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Servant Leadership
Even though servant leadership is in most cases associated with the Bible and Jesus Christ it is quite compatible with most religions and theories of philosophy. This paper is a comparative study using Greenleaf's characteristics of servant leadership which is based on Christianity against other philosophy and other leadership theories.
"…The great leader is seen as servant first…"-Robert K. Greenleaf. This is a fragment from a sentence in an essay written in 1970 which adequately covers the essence of servant-leadership theory. This simple and yet profound concept has spawned in various books, journals and articles. Greenleaf intentionally sought to come up with a descriptor that might be held about the existing relationship between a leader and his followers. Servant leadership is a new kind of leadership model that puts serving others as the first priority. Servant leadership puts emphasis on increased service to others; this is a holistic approach to work that promotes a sense of community and sharing the power of making decisions. The servant leadership framework is based on various tenets which are; service to others (Smith, 2005). This implies that servant leadership starts when a leader assumes a servant's position when interacting with their followers. Legitimate and authentic leadership does not arise from exercise of power or self-interested actions but from having the fundamental desire of helping other people. A servant leader's main motivation and purpose is encouraging others while an indirect outcome of servant leadership in an organization is its success. Another tenant is holistic approach to work. Servant leadership holds that work exists for a person just as the person exists for the work. This theory therefore promotes a view that people should be encouraged to be who they are in their professional as well as their personal lives. Promoting a sense of community is another aspect the framework of this theory.
Servant leadership questions an institution's ability to render human services and argues that only community that can be defined as a group of individuals...
The sense of community can also come up due to the actions of individual servant leaders. Sharing of the decision making power also forms a framework for the theory. Effective leadership is evidenced by nurturing of servant leadership in others.by nurturing participatory, empowering environments as well as the encouragement of talents of followers servant-leaders create a workforce that is effective, motivated and a more successful organization ( Smith, 2005). There are several attributes that are associated with servant leadership these are listening which is a crucial tool for communication which is necessary accurate communication as well as active demonstration of respect for others. Empathy which is the ability to mentally project ones own consciousness into that of another person. Healing involves making whole thus servant leadership has taken in the shared human desire of finding wholeness in one's self and supporting this wholeness in other people (Podsada, 2010). Awareness is also important since without it one can miss leadership opportunities. Effective servant -- leader builds group consensus through a gentle, clear and persist persuasion without exerting group compliance through position power. A servant leader is also supposed to come up with solution to problems which are not currently in existence (Podsada, 2010).Therefore the aspect of conceptualization is important in servant leadership. Foresight is important and better that taking guesses on what is likely to happen. Servant leader's area also expected to be committed to the growth of people. They are supposed to demonstrate appreciation and encouragement of other people. Servant leaders have the responsibility of showing a way for the building of the community that has eroded due to the rise of large institutions. Stewardship is also important when it comes to servant leadership. The stewards in organizations are concerned with individual followers in the…
References
Smith, C.(2005). The leadership theory of Robert K. Greenleaf. Retrieved February 21, 2014 from http://www.carolsmith.us/downloads/640greenleaf.pdf
Spears, L.(2013).The 10 Gifts of a Servant Leader. Retrieved February 21, 2014 from http://www.dailygood.org/story/447/the-10-gifts-of-a-servant-leader/
Podsada, R.( 2010).10 Characteristics of a Servant Leader. Retrieved February 21, 2014 from http://www.nine10.ca/blog/entries/10-characteristics-of-a-servant-leader
Wallace, R., (2007). Servant Leadership: A Worldview Perspective. Retrieved February 21, 2014 from http://www.regent.edu/acad/global/publications/ijls/new/vol2iss2/Wallace/wallace.htm
Servant Leadership At the center of servant leadership is a leader's ability to transform a team, department or entire organization by concentrating on their specific needs for direction, individualized coaching, development and recognition. A highly effective servant leader will also have a correspondingly high level of Emotional Intelligence (EI) and exhibit the traits of transformational leadership (Washington, Sutton, Feild, 2006). A highly effective servant leader will often create unique development and
Servant Leadership Defining Servant Leadership The principles of Servant Leadership were laid out by founder Robert Greenleaf in his important 1970 book, The Servant as Leader. Greenleaf, to his great credit, wanted to stress the point that leaders should first serve, and later lead through service. The leaders who have power but have not led, and use the power to push his or her own viewpoints and agenda, are not the kind
This is why the journal article advocated more empirical research that is still lacking ten years later (Russell & Stone, 2002, 145). B. Servant Leadership-Greenleaf The primary aspect is that a servant leader is first a servant who feels a natural need to provide for the needs of others (Greenleaf & Spears, 2002, 27). A concrete example of this would have been a leader such as Martin Luther King Jr. who
Therefore, the servant leadership theory reflects the need for analyzing this type of leadership. Servant Leadership Cons There is also certain criticism addressed by some to this theory. It seems that servant leadership provides a too soft approach that does not favor the development of competitiveness within the company. The increased competition in the business environment requires that companies also build a competitive environment within them in order to help employees
Servant Leadership Annotated Bibliography Within the context of organized behavior, leadership is one of the critical and core aspects. True leadership is decision making, but it is more complex. Leaders are not managers -- but they may manage. Leadership is less formal, more psychological, and effective leadership looks at more of the gray than the black and white and enables others, or other teams, to work well to achieve goals while
After all, FDR, Churchill, Lyndon Johnson, have all emerged in history as wonderful leaders, but few of their biographers would describe them as the type of selfless people one could describe as servants. Yet, all three of these men are renowned as excellent leaders. As a reader, I was left cold by Greenleaf's hard sell of the servant-leader idea. In fact, even his allusions to Christ left me wanting