Servant And Steward Leadership Essay

Originating in the seminal work of Greenleaf, servant leadership is a paradoxical approach to leadership that challengers our traditional beliefs about leadership and influence. Servant leadership emphasizes that leaders should be attentive to the needs of the followers, empower them, and help them develop their full human capacities. They build strong relationships, with others, are empathic, and ethical, and lead in ways that serve the greater good of followers, organizations, and the community.

To be a successful servant leader one must have a true honest desire to want others around them to be successful. The major strength of the servant leader is their contribution of the organization they are leading. I believe this type of leadership really aligns

Servant Leadership is defined as a leadership that is based on serving others altruistically. Servant leaders put the wellbeing of their followers ahead of their own needs in order to see them grow to their fullest potential. The leader makes sure that their followers grow as persons, become wiser, healthier, freer, and more likely to become servant leaders themselves (Northouse, 2013).

The essence of Christian leadership is to glorify God by equipping people to fulfill the call of God on their life. Furthermore, Christian Leadership is built upon a divine call to administrate authority through devotion to Christ, humble service, and integrity. Christian leadership is built primarily upon a leader’s complete devotion to Jesus Christ. Further, Anacker and Shoup (2014) contends Christian leadership “requires the Christian to walk by the Spirit and to be devoted to prayer, Bible study and the church” (p. 60). In other words, a leader cannot be claiming to be a Christian leader if he is not a committed follower of Jesus Christ. Additionally, a leader’s humble service is a reflection of the way Christ served. Aubrey Malphurs

Lynch and Friedman (2013) express that “Servant leadership is a valuable approach in politics and industry. Adding the spiritual component−striving to build a spiritual workplace and working to improve society− completes the paradigm and makes it more valuable as a leadership theory” (p.

Servant leadership from a Christian perspective is a replica of what Jesus Christ symbolizes. Jesus was a servant because he showed truth, vision, humility, commitment, teacher to his followers, and brought about change; he was a suffering servant, yet was merciful, he was a teacher, yet willing to be taught by the Holy Spirit. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”

In the approach on general leadership characteristics, the fundamental difference is authentic leaderships strive to be “real”, whereas servant leaders strive to be “right.” Servant leadership is a style that lays down a set of characteristics that all leaders are supposed to emulate to attain success, and tries to shape the character and personality of the leader. On the other hand, authentic leaders tend to rely on their own unique set of experiences and style that has been learned and developed throughout their career. The main difference between servant and authentic styles, when applying into practice, is the serving of others. One of the primary applications is to give priority to the interest of others. Servant leaders exercise their duty

Organizational consultant S. Chris Edmonds defines servant leadership as “a person's dedication to helping others be their best selves at home, work, and in their community." I totally agree with this philosophy, as I believe an employee will benefit his team and company the most if he can perform the best he can.

Servant leadership is a type of leadership that focuses on the behaviors of the leader. Northouse states, “a servant leader must be attentive to the concerns of their followers, empathize with them, and nurture them” (2013). Servant leadership demands that the leader empower his followers and help to build them up in order to reach their full potential. Servant leadership helps enrich the lives of the individuals working for the company and ultimately builds more caring organizations. Robert K. Greenleaf wrote an essay entitled The Servant As Leader in 1970 where he said:

1. Do you have any visions or goals for the short, medium, or long term?

From the group Biblical Integration Paper, it was understood that servant-leadership is not only a gift of purpose that God places in the hearts of His people, but it is also a calling in one’s life to truly touch the lives of others in need. Living a successful life, as a servant-leader is not one that focuses on self-fulfillment, rather it is in seeking a fulfillment that comes from Christ when one pours him/herself out for the sake of others. It is through servant-leadership that one is able to bring hope into hopeless situations (Group Integration Paper,

Servant leaders are constructive, persistent, and motivating. They are also leaders who see complex, big pictures. (St. Thomas University Online, 2015). This makes them very engaging and full of energy which is a good trait as mentioned by Jack Welch in his 4 Es.

Around the world in Christian and secular circles we hear the word stewardship. Not only is stewardship one of the basic issues discussed in scripture, but it’s also something we neglect as something we need to concentrate on while going through our own Christian walk. We live in a society that is very individualistic, concentrating on whatever will bring pleasure and make us feel good. Stewardship definitely doesn’t fit into the way society is today. Before going to far into this, what exactly is stewardship? Stewardship is taking care of or managing every God-given resource with an attitude of responsibility directing such resources for his intended purposes. To truly understand stewardship, we need to first look at what God says in his

There are many people in scripture that God has placed in leadership roles. Jesus himself, David, Moses, Paul, Peter, Abraham and many others are some of those leaders. There are core attributes discussed in the lecture that personally reflect my opinion of what an effective leader of Christ needs such as, a shared vision, model of the way, empowerment of others, challenge of the process, and encouragement of the heart. Leaders establish a model of the way others should be treated and how goals should be pursued, with standards and examples of what others should follow by exemplifying God’s example. Christian leaders inspire a shared vision to make a difference

Servant-leaders must reinforce these important skills by making a deep commitment to actively listening to others. Servant-leaders seek to identify and clarify the will of a group. They seek to listen receptively to what is being and said (and not said) among others. By listening with intent, followers feel understood and valued, even under pressure, the servant leader demonstrates a sense of empathy and compassion by taking the time to understand what one's body, spirit, and mind are communicating.