What is servant leadership?
Servant leadership is a style of leadership practices first outlined by Robert K. Greenleaf in 1970. The style of leadership is different than the other styles of leadership in that the focus of servant leadership is to empower others to make change alongside of the leader. Servant leaders believe in the change being made and work with others to make change happen, instead of simply dictating what needs to be done and how it should be done. Additionally, servant leadership also focuses on the growth and well-being of those serving and those being served. Greenleaf described servant leadership as the following: “The Servant-Leader is servant first… it begins with a natural feeling that one wants to serve first (Greenleaf Center).” This is different than those who are leaders first, in that a leader first is more driven by power. The principle of servant leadership, beginning with people with care and compassion, allows a strong community to build. This community could take the form of a company, a classroom or a geographic community.
Tenants of Servant Leadership Servant leaders seek to serve first. What does this actually mean? Many have synthesized the writings of Greenleaf on the topic, and have synthesized the concept of servant leadership into ten characteristics. Call them pillars or tenants if you like, these ten qualities are seen as necessary for all servant leaders to embrace and show in the everyday work. The ten
A servant leader must listen to a person fully without interrupting or judging them. While doing my service at the animal shelter there were two other people doing service. They were prisoners wearing the orange jumpsuit. Although most people would assume they are bad and not to talk to them, me and my group had a conversation with them about the dogs. They showed a lot of compassion about what they were doing. Although it was work they were forced to do they gave it their all. I listened and communicated with them the entire time without judging whatever they might have done. This was showing servant leadership in one of the hardest
Servant leadership is and old concept that was coined by Robert K. Greenleaf in the essay “The Servant Leader”. Servant leadership emphases the evolution and well-being of people and the communities to which a leader is a part of. A servant leader has a natural mind to serve first and aspire to lead. In comparison traditional leadership largely involves the amassing and exercise of power by the leader in charge. The servant leader shares power, places the needs of others before themselves and assists in the development and growth of performance of
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.
“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.
Many have developed elements that they believe are the foundation of servant leadership. In summary, included in the fundamentals are healing, creating value for community, empowering, empathy, listening, awareness, behaving ethically, and helping others grow and succeed. Healing refers to leaders trying to help solve problems and relationships. Creating value for community refers to leaders serving as an example and encouraging others to also serve the community. Empowering refers to leaders providing followers with autonomy. Empathy refers to leaders understanding others. Listening is a trait all leaders should possess. In order to understand, one should first listen. Awareness refers to leaders attentive to the things happening around them. Behaving ethically refers to the demonstrating of integrity to gain the trust of followers. Helping others grow and succeed refers to leaders providing support to followers to help them develop and accomplish professional and personal goals.
3. Servant leadership is when a leader works not out of his own self-interest, but that of his followers. This is, as claimed by many, the best form of leadership that all should follow. It has been present in the military, specifically the Marine Corps, but
The phrase “Servant Leadership” was coined by Robert K. Greenleaf in The Servant as a Leader, an essay he first published in 1970 ("What is servant," ). The servant leader serves first, while aspiring to lead second. The servant leader serves the people that he or she leads, implying employees are an end in themselves rather than a means to organizational purpose or bottom-line. Servant leadership is meant to replace a command and control, top-down, model of management. Servant leadership encourages collaboration, trust, foresight, listening, and the ethical use of power and empowerment. A few famous examples of servant leaders are George Washington, Gandi and Caesar Chavez.
Describe “servant leadership”. What does this mean to you? I am a firm believer in the saying “He who is the greatest servant is the greatest leader,” because it defines what servant leadership is. It is not about exercising authority over another, but rather it is the act of considering one’s needs more important than oneself. A servant leader seeks to build each other up and is willing to invest himself in the lives of others in order to accomplish the goals and desires of the body.
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
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.
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.
Here, Greenleaf describes a relationship that is centered on the selfless nature of the leader. While servant leadership prioritizes serving other’s without benefiting personally, it should be questioned if this is truly possible. This is because it is not likely to act as a servant-leader without receiving something in return. An example of this would be a person volunteering for a cause
Servant leadership is basically a set of leadership practices and the philosophies regarding leadership. Surely most of us know what leadership really is. Leadership is seen simply as the accusation and exercise of power for someone who is on top of the pyramid. This is the conventional and simple form of leadership that we all know and love. Where on one hand there is the conventional form of leadership, the servant leader model is the form where the needs and concerns of others are put first. In this model, the needs and concerns of others are placed
Several reviews have been conducted to provide insight into servant leadership as a theory. Parris and Peachey (2013) state that Russell and Stone reviewed the theoretical framework of servant leadership and listed nine distinct character traits of servant leaders, namely; integrity, honesty, vision, service, trust, modeling, pioneering, appreciation of others and empowerment. Parris and Peachey (2013) appreciate the conceptual framework in the work of Russell and Stone yet they note that it lacks a methodology.