Servant Leadership Laura Alcorn
Denver School of Nursing
Characteristics of Servant Leadership
Servant leadership can be defined as the skill of empowering others towards a common goal through service to them (Hunter, 2014). The theory of servant leadership was initially written about by Greanleaf in the 1970s even though it has existed for hundreds of years (Parris and Peachey, 2012). Greanleaf believed that servant leadership was brought about by individuals reflecting on personal growth rather than providing a step by step manual on how to be a servant leader (Parris and Peachey, 2012). More recent researchers include in the definition of leadership various attributes such as altruistic calling, service, empowerment,
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Parris and Peachey (2012) in a study of the characteristics of servant leadership state that “servant leaders are distinguished by both their primary motivation to serve…” (p. 379). The goal of service to others is not to fulfill others wants but to fulfill their needs (Hunter, 2014). Greanleaf (1970) stated that the outcome of service should be that followers will become wiser, freer, more autonomous, and desire to serve others as well (as cited in Parris and Peachey, 2012).
A servant leader must also have a vision or goal that they promote and inspire others to meet (Parris and Peachey, 2012). Any organization has a vision with goals and interventions to meet these goals. While serving others on a day to day basis the servant leader should always be working towards and inspiring others to this vision (Patton, 2014). According to Greanleaf (2008), the vision should seek to improve the lives of others (as cited in Gunnarsdóttir, 2014). For example in healthcare, the goal is to improve the health of communities and those needing care (Victor et al,
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I work in a hospital that has gone through several changes recently. These changes have caused the workloads to increase and a lot of the teamwork which existed before has broken down. Patient ratings have subsequently dropped. Due to these changes and stress, sometimes I catch myself with the mindset of working independently of others. However working independently and not serving my team members will not ultimately improve patient care which is my vision and my organization’s vision. I am working on keeping this vision of improving healthcare outcomes and others lives at the forefront of my mind when I do simple tasks. When I can effectively organize my day to include helping other nurses or CNAs I know that patient outcomes will improve and staff morale will improve (Patton, 2014). These practices will carry over when I am a nurse. Now and in my nursing practice I will do my best to model servant leadership in order to provide the best quality of care for patients and my team
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
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
To be a successful servant leader one must have a true honest desire to want others around them to be successful. The major strength of the servant leader is their contribution of the organization they are leading. I believe this type of leadership really aligns
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.
“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
This article poses a very vital question to the perspective leader. It simply asks, “Do you have what it takes to be a servant leader?” The authors of the article introduce servant leadership by asking a series of questions, which causes the reader to determine if they may be a perspective servant leader. Next, the article focuses on 11 characteristics that identify a servant leader. Some of
This paper is about implementing servant leadership into healthcare. It gives insight on how to use servant-leadership qualities by giving the reader guidelines to follow in order to achieve these goals. Some key points of this paper are how to be a true servant-leader. One definition that I found for a servant-leader is that these individuals simply place the serving of others as the number one priority. Servant- leaders are drawn to a purpose greater than themselves and are great listeners that have empathy for the well- being of others.
Dr. Kent M. Keith was a presenter on behalf of the Greenleaf Seminar on Servant Leadership at the 53rd annual conference for the Arizona School Boards Association in December, 2010. He correctly pointed out that servant leadership is about serving others, about becoming distinguished through the altruistic desire to serve, and about the "…universal recognition of the importance of serving others" (Keith, 2010).
Servant leadership is leadership that starts with a vision. Servant leaders are optimists with empathy for individuals (Gill, 2015). Servent leadership involves putting the needs of others at the forefront of every business, organization, department or group. For example, servant leadership addresses the accountabilities and relations between employees and customers, and its investors and shareholders. In theory, servant leadership is a set of practices that improves the lives of many individuals, develops better businesses, and overall fashions a more caring and just world (Leadership?, 2015 ).
Both Greenleaf and Blanchard believe that people should have the desire to serve and help others. When people focus on putting others first they will be able to keep their employees involved and encouraged in their day-to-day activities. As you’ve stated, employees will be able to set goals for themselves and build relationships. Employees may not have been as motivated to accomplish these tasks if it wasn’t for the servant leader pushing them in the right direction. As we have learned from Blanchard, Servant Leadership closes the gap between success and significance. A servant leader will be able to encourage people to function at all levels of the work environment.
Servant Leadership is a specific leadership style that focuses on the servant, rather than the leader. In this paper, I will discuss how Servant Leadership can be applied to the nursing practice. This will be explored through definitions, history, and major concepts. I will also integrate Servant Leadership’s function into the nursing practice. Lastly, I will examine my own personal growth on the application of leadership in nursing.
What is the stimulus that encourages the emergence of a great leader? Robert Greenleaf’s theory of Servant Leadership places emphases on the individual, who is instinctively a servant.
Since this article was a systematic literature review, the authors did not provide their own definition of servant leadership and thus the theory remains under-defined. Parris and Peachey note that most researchers quote Greenleaf’s definition of servant leadership verbatim.