The Leaders And Servant Leaders

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.

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.

Servanthood is to serve the needs of the people in the best way possible and bring forth the greatness these individuals have to offer their community. Being a servant leader also means being selfless. Leaders are placed in certain organizations and a position to bring forth the calling and vision God has for His people. Servant leadership in it entity is to motivate and encourage individuals to turn away from self-serving. Wilkes, author of the book, Jesus on Leadership, says it the best, “A servant leader serves the mission and leads by serving those on the mission with him”

The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first, perhaps because of the need to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire material possessions…The leader-first and the servant-first are two extreme types. Between them there are

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

A servant leader is that leader who shares power, puts the interest of others first and then help them grow and perform as highly as possible. As Robert Greenfield argued when he comes up with the servant leadership philosophy back in 1970’s, he asserted that as a servant leader, one must start by becoming a servant first. That is, as a leader, one must start by focusing on the needs of others particularly the team without considering his or her personal interest first. Currently, the significance of servant leadership has been justified by the need to make any organization more relationship-oriented and the force their leaders to step aside from personal-centeredness including narcissism and thereby integrating such businesses goals with

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.

He further explains that servant leaders are not motivated by material possessions and are not usually driven to lead for the power that comes from the position (Greenleaf et al., 2002). Instead, the servant leader will ensure that the needs of their followers, the organization, or the community are met first and are treated with the utmost priority over their own needs (Greenleaf et al., 2002). Northouse (2016), also notes that servant leaders are attentive to the needs, concerns, and the wellbeing of their followers. Servant leadership also helps to promote employee satisfaction through helping them grow, succeed, and empowering them to be more independent and successful (Northouse,

As charismatic leadership has been methodically studied and developed into a tested theory, servant leadership remains a movement and an untested theory. Today, many organizational leaders see themselves as servant leaders, who lead with a servant's heart, a role model, willing to take risk, serve and promote others.

In the article “servant Leadership” Jones-Burbridge and Jo Ann; discusses about servant leadership. By defining and outlining the characterizes and qualities of servant leadership. They begins the article by quoting John Maxwell words on what makes up leader. To Maxwell” true leadership must be for the benefit of the followers not to enrich the leader” (Burbridge and Ann, 2012, p.45). Thus, Burbridge and Ann regard this concept of true leadership as what makes up servant leadership. This is to say that; like true leadership; servant leadership, is more concerned to satisfying the needs of people rather than that of the leaders.

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,

Servant Leadership (Greenleaf, 1970) is focused on the feeling of wanting to severe first, they have a desire to serve the followers needs over their own interest and focuses heavily on the development of the followers. A servant leader has a strong moral and ethical component has had strong desire to severe those who are less fortunate. Northouse (2016) cited Greenleaf ‘s (1970) original text “ the central goal of servant leadership is to create healthy organization that nurture individual growth, strengthen organizational performance and in the end produce a positive impact on society” (p.236).

The participative leadership style can be said to be more efficient, effective and better than the laissez-faire and the autocratic leadership styles. It involves the people been lead, in the decision-making process of an organization or even a country. The fact that servant leadership uses participative leadership style, actually makes it a more appealing leadership theory, than other theories such as the visionary and charismatic leadership theories, which tend to use either the laissez-faire or the autocratic leadership style (Hawkinson & Johnston, 2013). Servant leadership is more beneficial for both the leaders and those being lead, because the leader, by involving the subordinates or the ‘subjects’, in the decision making process, is able to make more efficient and effective decisions, that can be said to be beneficial to the subordinates and the leader himself.

Servant leaders are motivated by the need to serve the followers (Blanchard, 2001; Chanhoo, Kwangseo, & Seung-Wan, 2015; Crippen, 2004; Grisaffe, VanMeter, & Chonko, 2016; Gyeongchun, 2014; Jit, Sharma, & Kawatra, 2016; Liden et al., 2014; Parris & Peachey, 2013; Rubio-Sanchez, Bosco, & Melchar, 2013; Russell & Stone, 2002; Spears, 2004; Spiro, 2010; Waterman, 2011; Wilson, 1998; Wong & Page, 2003).

There are many leadership styles one can try to emulate as a person grows in their leaderships role. Many of us struggle to engage teams, enrich the lives of team members, and build a stronger organization. American corporations are still recovering from the economic downturn of 2009. They are in desperate need of ethical and efficient leadership that helps others, devotes in their concerns and accomplishes a shared vision. “The servant-leader is a servant first. It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead” (Center for Servant Leadership, 2015).