Servant Leadership Developed By Robert K. Greenleaf

Servant leadership can be defined as a, “philosophy and set of practices that enriches the lives of individuals, builds better organizations and ultimately creates a more just and caring world” (What is Servant Leadership). Robert Greenleaf first introduced the idea of servant leadership in 1977 as a way to transform leadership to focus on serving others including employees, customers and the community (Marquis and Huston, 2015). Due to the primary focus of serving others, it comes to no surprise that servant leadership and its supporting characteristics are gaining popularity in the nursing field. Although most sources identify ten characteristics of servant leadership, this paper will focus on listening, empathy and building community (Kumar, 2010).

I have recently completed a service project at the animal shelter in Bulloch County, Georgia. For four days I rode with my group to the animal shelter to play with the animals. Playing with the animals shows them compassion. We played with many dogs over the course of four days. Doing this service have made myself and my group servant leaders. What is a servant leader you ask, well a servant leader wants to help others better themselves. They want to help even if they do not look like, think like, or talk like us.

Simply, servant leaders hold a view as a servant first and leader second (Owens & Hekman, 2012). Moreover, servant leaders emphasize personal responsibility for the organization and all internal and external stakeholders (Peterson, Galvin, & Lange, 2012). As stated, expressing a genuine concern and care for people are a basis of servant leadership. In addition, servant leadership also focuses on the growth of

A servant leader for me is an individual who simply puts others ahead of themselves, with the main purpose of achieving results for their organization, by keeping in mind the needs of everyone else around them. A servant leader is one with personality traits like; empathy, compassion good listening skills, stewardship, and an honest commitment to the growth of others. Servant leaders are individuals who have a natural inclination to serve, and such a conscious choice makes them desire to lead. This is in sharp contrast to the traditional leaders who aim to gain power or to acquire material belongings.

Over the course of my career, I have tried to model various leadership behaviors based upon successful leaders that I have worked with or for. This has led me to incorporate different styles into my own. Considering my current leadership strengths and how I view successful leaders I will use a servant leadership theory to analyze my own competencies. Servant leaders have 9 different aspects comprised of: emotional healing, creating value for the community, conceptual skills, empowering, helping subordinates grow and succeed, putting subordinates first, behaving ethically, relationships, and servanthood (Boone & Makhani, 2005, pg. 86). The aspects of a servant leader are those that I personally value and identify with. In addition to this, it is my belief that servant leaders, because they are people oriented, are more effective in a variety of environments and situations.

Servant Leadership is “an approach to leadership with strong altruistic and ethical overtones that asks and requires leader to be attentive to the needs of their followers and empathize with them; they should take care of them by making sure they become healthier, wiser, freer and more autonomous, so that they too can become servant leaders” (Valeri, 2007). Although there is not many servant leaders in this world but the concept of servant is one of the most leadership approach leaders today struggles with. Servant leadership is mainly about the leader helping to grow their followers or members personally and professionally through empathy, listening skills and compassion. The concept of servant leadership which was proposed by Robert K. Greenleaf in his 1970 writing indicated that servant leadership is a theoretical framework that advocated a leader’s primary motivation and role as service to others.

The benefits that comes with practicing servant leadership cannot be underrated. Being a servant leader leads to an increase in productivity. This is because, the leader puts the interest of his team members first thereby creating a safe space as people feel they are welcome. According to research, many people suffer from inferiority complex and that could

“Servant Leadership” throughout history has always been a vital concept to grasp as leaders, however the actual term was not coined until the 1970’s by Robert Greenleaf in his essay The Servant as a Leader. Greenleaf depicts the concept of servant leadership as being a servant first meaning the leader is always willing, ready, and eager to assist those around them in order to create the best environment for everyone to work towards achieving goals.

“Servant leadership emphasizes that leaders be attentive to the concerns of their followers, empathize with them, and nurture

The terminology 'Servant Leadership' became popular in a leadership context after Robert Greenleaf's book, Servant Leadership (1977). The concept of 'a leader who serves' has been expressed in many different ways for very much longer.

The authors state that leaders play a critical role in serving others including employees, customers, and communities. The article goes further into details explaining about servant leadership dimensions and how it differs from traditional approaches to leadership and it stresses

I agree with what Jeff mentioned in his post that this is a cohesive group. I am extremely interested in factors that result in the elimination of poverty, leadership, and the interdependence between human capital and growth. I read extensively and try to keep up to date with current political and economic affairs in the US and around the globe. In addition, I enjoy watching documentaries and research on certain topics online. My first exposure to leadership in an academic setting was during my MBA as I had two classes on leadership theories and I have fallen in love with the subject of leadership ever since.

Wende, I am with you on the concept that everyone has to move towards the common goal to succeed. A servant leader has a great role in this. The main concept of servant leadership is to serve the followers as and when needed. Thereby, these leaders aid in the development of their team members. Not only that, by doing this, the servant leaders change the culture of an organization. They make it favorable for the staff to work without stress. The servant leaders would put the needs of their followers first and help them achieve their goals. These leaders use their power, influence, and position to encourage and ensure cooperation and team spirit among their team members (Melchar & Bosco, 2010). The knowledge about the help that is available and

Servant leaders tend to put their team and organization first and themselves last. Servant leaders tend to acknowledge others perspectives of situations and fully support him or her. Servant leaders involve the team members in varies decisions when appropriate, and help to establish and build a sense of integrity within his or her organization. Servant leadership tend to have higher engagement and stronger relationships than non-servant leaderships amongst the team members. It also could possibly increase the innovation. This leadership style is a specific way of behaving while serving in a leadership role. Acts 20:35 read, “In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the lord Jesus himself said: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (NIV)

Servant leadership is positioned as a novel field of research for leadership scholars. The concept of being a servant leader has gained much popularity among many leadership enthusiasts. With confidence shaken in contemporary business leadership, there has been an increased interest in Greenleaf’s (1977) servant leadership theory, which promotes setting aside self-interest of leaders for the betterment of their followers (Liden, Wayne, Zhao, & Henderson, 2008; Sendjaya, Sarros, & Santora, 2008). The last quarter century has produced several leadership theories, which represent a general movement toward follower-oriented models. This movement has been dominated by the study of transformational leadership (Burns, 1978, 2003, Bass, 1985). The latter part of the era saw emergence of two prevailing alternative follower-oriented models, presented in the literature as Servant-Leadership and Self-Sacrificial Leadership.