Servant Leadership Compare and Contrast

Compare and Contrast Paper on Servant Leadership
Servant Leadership Theory was given by Robert Greenleaf that focuses on the leaders being the servant of their people, serving them in every possible way (Burkus, 2010). The words' servant' and 'leader' are both contradictory to each other, but the subtleties of this relationship, in which the servant leads through serving others, is unique and distinctive, fulfilling the aspects of successful leadership (Rachmawati, 2014). This theory was emphasized and analyzed more by other theorists like Larry Spears, who laid out the character traits of a servant Leader including, understanding, listening, encouragement, health-giving, far-sightedness, stewardship, conceptualization, assurance to growth and progressing the community (Burkus, 2010).
If we carefully look at the servant leadership characteristics, they coincide with the laws of leadership by Maxwell. For case in point, listening, which is very important in servant leadership as their main motive is to serve the people (Burkus, 2010), coincides with Maxwell's fifth law of leadership (Maxwell, 1998). Understanding people and treating them with care and respect is one of the ethical consideration in business (Maxwell J. C.), which the servant leadership fulfills as it is based on empathy, understanding and treating the followers well by putting their needs first (What is Servant Leadership?, 2014)
Traditionally, the word servant is equated with greatness in ancient texts (Rachmawati, 2014), while authentic leadership is influencing others through the ideas and thought process because of which people follow (Maxwell J. C., 1998). However, in some cases today, the companies and organizations themselves do not follow or have those qualities which they want from their subordinates, such as honesty (Maxwell J. C.). In this case, a leadership style that is moral and is charismatic in its endeavor because of the very principle of serving its employees/followers will be the most effective in today's world (Rachmawati, 2014).
Sustainability and Consistency are the key factors in the Servant Leadership Style as it develops a strong foundation within the employees through their gradual growth and development process over time (Rachmawati, 2014). As the Law of Process in the leadership laws states that the process is gradual and develops over time (Maxwell J. C.), it makes the servant leadership the best-suited style for successful leadership.
Servant Leadership focuses on the growth of the community and the people it is serving, working for the overall betterment of the organization/community (Rachmawati, 2014). This unique leadership style, which gives a different direction to the leadership, is very ethical in its approach. It goes with the golden rule of the ethical principle of doing the right thing since it focuses on the development and growth of the community (Maxwell J. C.). As, being a navigator and directing the way for the long and successful course is the law of leadership (Maxwell J. C., 1998), fulfilled by this leadership style because it is not just about leading the path, it is making sure the followers grow with each step of the path.
This leadership style is a maverick towards success as doing the right thing, and being competent is the right track towards long-lasting success (Maxwell J. C.). The goals of servant leadership style are very sacrificial, and they are the managers of the people towards the right and successful path, their intrinsic motivation being to serve others first, makes it self-less and moral (Rachmawati, 2014).
The leader's personality is the critical part that creates trust in the followers as they want to see the qualities that the leader advocate within the leader itself, like, integrity and competence (Maxwell J. C.). If these qualities are present within him, the followers will automatically get influenced due to the trust in what the leader says and does. Also, the trusting level has been going down as there are unethical and self-justified practices in a business where a survey showed that most people do not trust leaders of the different domains for making the right decisions (Maxwell J. C.), making the leadership ineffective. In contrast, servant leadership increases the trust level of its followers which helps the overall success of the community/organization as it becomes more reliable and credible in how it treats its employees (What is Servant Leadership?, 2014), also concurring with the Law of Solid Ground of leadership (Maxwell J. C., 1998).
Servant Leadership style is committed to serving socially for the well-being of the people making the organization contribute towards the social welfare and positive development of the society (What is Servant Leadership?, 2014). It has been observed that the companies moving towards the social betterment are most successful now than the ones based on profit-making as the former creates an impact in the society by being ethically and morally appropriate in its decision and direction (Maxwell J. C.). This shows that adopting this leadership style will contribute positively to the organization's success, making the employees ethically and morally right.
Leading by being a servant to its employees or followers is a distinctive approach as it encompasses all the laws of leadership (Maxwell J. C., 1998) that are required to make the leadership experience prosperous. This style develops the intrinsic motivation within its employees/followers to follow him as it takes into account all the ethical and moral concerns within the leadership, performs what it advocates, and basis its priority on the growth and development of its followers, inspiring and influencing them to follow him. The characteristics of the servant leadership go well with the fundamental concepts of being a leader as being a leader is not just a position of power, it is a responsibility that comes with the commitment to growth and accountability of the actions and decisions taken that impacts the employees, organization and the society.
References
Burkus, D. (2010, April 01). Servant Leadership Theory. David Burkus.
Maxwell, J. C. (1998). The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. Nelson Publishing.
Maxwell, J. C. (n.d.). Ethics 101: What Every Leader Needs To Know. Center Street.
Rachmawati, A. W. (2014). Servant Leadership Theory, Development & Measurement. The 5th Indonesia International Conference on Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Small Business (IICIES 2013), (pp. 387-393).
What is Servant Leadership? (2014, November 25). STU Online.