Servant Leadership : Contrivant Leadership

First published in 1987, The Leadership Challenge is a guide for becoming leader. The book received many awards and its above two million copies are internationally sold. The book teaches principles of leadership that apply whether the leader is running a sports team or a fortune 500 organization. The book includes stories and examples of many leaders from micro to macro level (Founders and Authors, 2013). The basic leadership principles can be adopted by anyone to challenge status quo and increase leader productivity multifold. The book tells about the flow and hierarchy of values too (Machedo, 2013). One can use the guide without an instructor to develop leadership traits.

In The Case for Servant Leadership, author Dr. Kent M. Keith proposes that servant leadership is the most beneficial wholesome for a leadership model. Keith presents that the power leadership model does more harm than good, lacks problem solving, fails to grasp opportunities, and does not have the intention to create a better world unlike the service leadership model.

The foundation of my personal leadership philosophy can be found in the principles of servant leadership as spelled out by Greenleaf (1970, 1977). Leadership is granted to individuals who are by nature servants. An individual emerges as a leader by first becoming a servant. Servant leaders attend to the needs of those they serve and help them become more informed, free, self-sufficient, and like servants themselves. Leaders and those they serve improve, enhance, and develop each other through their connection. A leader must also be conscious of inequalities and social injustices in the organizations they serve and work actively to resolve those issues. Servant leaders rely less on the use of official power and control, but focus on empowering those they

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,

Throughout this past week I have had several misconceptions resolve regarding servant leadership that have resolved. The main misconception or preconception that I had was that servant leaders were pushovers and that they would have difficulty in leading others to reach a common goal. Through the readings that were assigned, specificially in chapter 6, I now understand that a servant leader values relationships with their follwers and by doing so that they can use the gained trust to influence them to reach a common goal (DelHousaye & Brewer, 2004). I had never really thought about how much influence played a part in the success of a leader until this class and yet I completely agree. I think back to the mangers that I have had

It’s safe to say nearly everyone has a different definition of servant leadership. Some focus on specific characteristics required of leaders, others are more interested in the interactions with others. Nevertheless, there is more recently a large emphasis on servant leadership in ministry. Servant leadership is an incredibly integral part of being a healthy leader in ministry. Servant leadership requires you to be attentive, be a model of specific characteristics outlined by Robert Greenleaf and Dirk van Dierendonck, and the importance of having the desire to lead by serving.

The philosophy of servant leadership began with Robert K. Greenleaf in 1977. He first came about the idea of servant leadership while reading Journey to the East by Herman Hesse (Keith, 2016). This is a story of a group of travelers who were served by a man named Leo. He performed their menial chores and lifted their spirits with his song and his spirit (Keith, 2016). Leo disappeared one day, throwing the travelers into disarray (Keith, 2016). This ended the journey of the travelers. Many years later, one of the travelers saw Leo in a new job role—as the head of the order that once sponsored the journey (Keith, 2016). Once a servant,

Question 1. What are the characteristics of servant leadership as propagated by Greenleaf (1970)? Give examples of servant leaders that you may know.

I chose this book in hope that it could help me understand the difference between managing and leading. In addition, I wanted to gain more knowledge and tools to help myself grow as a leader and help develop all of my subordinates that I may have to time throughout my career. The book jacket for this book is ultimately why I decided to read the book because it truly grabbed my attention. I found it interesting that John C. Maxwell is a #1 New York Times bestselling author (Maxwell, 2013). Moreover, the book jacket continued to catch my attention by stating to be more than a boss people are required to follow, you must master the ability to inspire and invest in people (Maxwell, 2013). I particularly found the “invest in people” line most interesting and caused me to want to read and learn more about the authors perspective on leadership.

To make the employees more productive, the workplace needs to be healthy and remain positive. Such an environment, would contribute to optimizing the potentials of the staff. They would go above and beyond the call of their duty and work for the common good. The organizational success depends on more than what is officially accepted and acknowledged (Simmons, 2010). By bringing about the talents in the maximum number of people, one can make them work for the success of the organization. As servant leaders, it is our responsibility to affirm the people whom we work with to optimize their potentials to achieve the common

As a leader and entreprehenuer, I address tension and conflict that occurs among diverse stakeholders within my parameter by figuring out what is most important to my organization, example; people, competition or money. My motto is treat others as you would want to be treated. I work for the people, not for the building. For this reason, I always put people ahead of anything else. I believe when you treat your staff right, they will inturned treat the customers right, which would lead to success for the company, and recognize competitive advantage. The theory I most practice in my organization is: Servant Leadership Theory - By Robert Greenleaf. Servant leadership philosophy implement practices that enriches the lives of people, builds better

This learner believes that servant leadership is one that balances humanity in the workplace and the bottom line (Wong & Davey, 2007). This is because one might argue that the focus is on people and the future rather than on solely outcomes and processes. It is telling that in today’s business world, the challenges for an organizational leader are considered threefold (Wong & Davey, 2007). Firstly, one needs to be able to build a positive workplace that attracts and retains talented knowledge workers. Secondly, one needs to be able to develop an employee and untaps that person’s creative potential. Thirdly, one needs to be able to support innovation and risk-taking to adjust to an unpredictable future (Wong & Davey, 2007).

The proposed servant leadership management model is a valued suggestion by our employees. Though it has been shown to increase worker morale and production at other enterprises, we do not have the resources to implement it here at Gecko. We must remember that Gecko Enterprises is a small, family owned business. Along with managing over 100 employees, we do not possess the ability to implement this model while satisfying the union’s requested pay raise. Furthermore, with increasing production costs and lowered productivity, we must do what is best for Gecko Enterprises.

In 1970, Robert K. Greenleaf, former AT&T executive, coined the term servant leadership. Slightly more than three decades later, the concept of servant leadership is increasingly viewed as an ideal leadership form in which organizations are aspiring to achieve. Many people think of servant and leader as being opposite roles, when in fact they can coexist, and more and more executives are looking toward this new way of leading. Following is a list of qualities that are necessary in being a servant leader.

As written in the lines above, employee engagement has a significant impact on an employee and their engagement. Although there has been many articles and research written about leadership and servant leadership, in this study, it will provide and overview, key traits and influences that servant leaders use in collaboration to address significant problems with strategy and other individuals. Therefore, how do managers and leaders facilitate the engagement of their employees? Leaders do this through their leadership style. In 1970, Robert K. Greenleaf identified servant-leadership, which was different from the traditional views of leadership. According to Greenleaf, “The servant-leader is a servant first. Servant