Servant leadership principles and applications

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 training programs that align with the strengths and weaknesses of a given subordinate as well.

Servant leaders also excel at creating team-based cultures that seek to provide their subordinates with an opportunity to gain autonomy, mastery and purpose over their work. These three factors are critical to long-term motivation for learning (Leavy, 2012). Highly effective servant leaders realize that by showing trust, they become trusted. By concentrating on the three foundational elements of long-term motivation, a servant leader sets a foundation for continual improvement and job ownership on the part of subordinates. Creating a culture of achievement engenders greater levels of trust both within an organization across department and within teams. The higher the level of trust and transparency, nurtured by a servant leader, the higher the level of innovation as well (Oliveira, Ferreira, 2012). A transformational leader has the ability to create a very innovative, forward-thinking organization by being the catalyst of trust throughout their teams and with others. One of the most effective strategies for gaining trust is to also be willing to self-sacrifice for an objective. Individual leaders vary in their level and depth of self-sacrifice, yet the highest performing servant leaders regularly show they believe in and continually pursue the broader vision of their department or organization through their actions and words (Washington, Sutton, Feild, 2006). This aspect of leading by example is what makes many servant leaders transformational. It is the context and meaning of the action as interpreted by teams that separates highly effective servant leaders from others however (Washington, Sutton, Feild, 2006).

One of the most valuable tasks a servant leader can accomplish on behalf of their teams is to actively help their subordinates find what they are best at from a natural talent standpoint and what type of work they have the most passion for. Helping subordinates find this intersection of talent and passion is invaluable to their careers and can also help a team to accomplish significantly more. By coaching subordinates to find these areas of greatest innate or natural ability and assisting them develop these skills, a servant leader actually strengthens the entire department as well.