Servant Leadership Strengths And Weaknesses

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.

“Servant leadership refers to a leadership approach by which leaders set aside their self-interest and altruistically work for the benefit of their followers, and the communities in which they operate” (Newman, 2017, p.49). To accomplish this, a leader must be thoroughly engaged in their environment and an active listener. My third strength is active listening. Active listening relates to the servant leadership theory because active listening “enables a servant leader to build trustful relationships with others and to understand the needs of followers to create an effective working climate and culture and to grow and release individual talent” (Coetzer, 2017, p. 13). Active listening requires one to listen respectfully, to engage in questions, provide time for reflection, and to be consciously seek out and interpret subtext. Open and honest communication between a leader and employee are integral to the proper function of a work environment. Employees who feel unheard may disengage and become less productive. A decline in employee morale, productivity, and engagement are failures of a leader and are generally the result of poor communication and listening skills.

“Servant leadership is a philosophy and set of practices that enriches the lives of individuals, builds better organizations and ultimately creates a more just and caring world.” (greenleaf.org)

What do you think the goals are for the program as a whole? How do you see yourself fitting with these goals? As the Lone Star Band continues to grow in size, I visualize the number of servant leaders growing as well. I believe that it is the duty of current student leaders to build up the future leaders of the band, and I would like to take part in this responsibility. I think that the goals for the band as a whole are to continue seeking excellence in all that we do. We are not trophy-chasers, but I believe it is the band’s goal to be the best version ourselves in and out of the field. I will always remember Mr. Golden telling us that his goal for us was to experience greatness, and I see myself fitting with this goal through motivating my peers by modeling persistence and hard

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

Liden (2014) explained that servant leaders serve as a role model to their team on what needs to be done to reach the team goals. This supports that engagement is a positive strength to have as a servant leader. When leading a team, I delegate work but make sure that I spend time working on the project and go beyond just checking in with the group. It is important to take part of the process as well as leading the work that is being done on behalf of the organization. Focht (2015) did a study to define the most important elements of servant leaders and one of the ones identified by the study was empowerment. “Empowerment for the servant leader involves effective listening, making people feel significant, putting an emphasis on teamwork, entrusting

Servant leadership is a leadership style that puts others first and begins with a natural desire to serve first. According to Robert K. Greenleaf (1970), servant leadership is a “philosophy and a set of practices” that improves the lives of people. The “servant-leader is servant first” (Greenleaf, Senge, Covey, Spears, 2002 & Center for Servant Leadership, n.d.) and selflessly serves others, while empowering them to lead with a purpose. Although, the term servant-leader was first proposed and coined by Robert K. Greenleaf in 1970, the concept of servant leadership can be traced all the way back to the life of Jesus. Servant leadership, according to Greenleaf, is a theoretical framework that considers a leader’s key role as being that of service

Three attributes a servant leader must have are the abilities to be selfless, respectful, and hard working. Finding ways to help your community through volunteering could be considered selfless. Listening to and valuing others opinions could be considered respectful. Fighting hard to reach a common goal with a sports team could be considered hardworking. Having completed these actions, I would consider myself a servant leader.

The best type of leader is one who will put the group’s need before their own, help everyone out, and embody the ideal member of the group. This is servant leadership. Servant leadership means dedicating yourself to the needs of the group, in this case, the section or crew. A section leader must listen to what the section feels needs to be done, listening to opinions, rather than ignoring them. They must be willing to help their peers with issues relating and not relating to band, investing themselves in their success.

Leadership plays a significant role in many different areas of peoples everyday lives. Businesses, communities, and organizations all use and need leaders to make things run efficiently. A lack of effective leadership can create many difficulties in all aspects of life. “Servant leadership is a philosophy and set of practices that enriches the lives of individuals, builds better organizations and ultimately creates a more just and caring world” (Liden, Wayne, Liao & Meuser, 2014, p. 1435). The capacity to be a servant leader to meet the needs of the people that you are leading was encompassed throughout the book The Servant by James Hunter (2012). Hunter (2012) describes leadership as “the skill of influencing people

A prominent religious leader in my community is quoted as saying that “life is business and business is life. If you learn one, you learn the other.” This quote implies that the day-to-day operations of any successful business are comparable to the steps required to live a complete and balanced life. Understanding the intricacies of what makes a person happy is not only advisable, but crucial, in being successful in any business endeavor. In the status quo, many corporations have dishonest or harsh practices which belittle the workers and exalt those seen in a position of power. However, this is what kills the “life” of those involved, and eventually what kills the business as well. This is why the servant-leadership mentality is so important in the emerging business

Servant leadership is a type of leadership whereby the leader serves the needs of the people, empathizes with them, and involves them in solving their needs. Servant leadership is all about involving the people you are leading in your decision making, being ethical and caring for the people to enhance their personal growth at the same time improve their life. A servant leader does not simply delegate roles; he starts the work and energizes the others to join him and get the work done. According to Spears (2004), the servant leader as defined by Greenleaf is one who gets the natural feeling of wanting to serve first and then a conscious choice brings him/her to lead. This leader makes sure that other people’s highest-priority needs are take

Servant leadership theory is defined as “A leader who leads by serving others, and place their employees’ interests and needs ahead of their own self-interests and needs, because they value building their communities, the development of their employees, acting authentically, and sharing power” (Grimsley, n.d., para. 1).

Servant Leadership Paper: (5%) After reading the book “The Servant” complete a 2-3 page paper on how:

Listening. “The servant-leader seeks to identify the will of a group and helps clarify that will. He or she seeks to listen receptively to what is being said. Listening, coupled with regular periods of reflection, is essential to the growth of the servant-leader” (Spears, 2004). In addition, “employees understand a deaf ear equates to a closed mind. Servant leaders understand that listening gains knowledge. Listening is a wonderful benefit, it enables leaders to obtain information and find meaning in what is being said” (Spears, 2004).