Through the history of all the leadership theories, scholars have been trying to clarify the relations among leaders, followers and tasks to define and explain the most powerful and effective leadership approach. However, people have noticed that each leadership theory has its own emphasis on some distinctive leadership elements that can reflect on their historical backgrounds, authorial understanding and purposes of leadership. Among all the theories, servant leadership is one of the models that present a realistically positive and practical concept. It frames well the modern relationships among leaders, followers and tasks. It responds to the call of human nature and motivations. It has become one of the most popular leadership theories …show more content…
It concludes with the point that the spirit of servant leadership is the spirit of moral authority (p. 62).
Chapter four redefines love as the important featured source of servant leadership: “the act(s) of extending yourself for others by identifying and meeting their legitimate needs and seeking their greatest good (p. 80).” This chapter uses many life stories as metaphors for the importance “Love” makes in leadership. It tells us that leadership requires the same qualities of “Love” and also demands leaders to show all of those qualities in their behavior rather than only paying them lip service.
Chapter six begins with the explanation for the differences between the relativism of values, morals and ethics and the unchanging nature of principles. This chapter provides some comparative studies between human behaviors and animal behaviors. It also presents some extreme examples about negative historical leaders like Chairman Mao and Adolph Hitler to make the main point that human beings have the unique ability to choose to be different from their nature. It also shows that their moral ethics can enable them to put principles ahead of their own natures. This chapter encourages the audience to be the leader they want their leaders to be (p.129).
Chapter eight and nine move from the concepts of servant leadership to the implementation aspects. They introduce the procedures of servant leadership which includes: foundation, feedback and friction. They also illustrate
Servant leaders puts their followers first versus the goals and objectives of the organization, which limits organizational strategy and processes and lacks continuous improvement of core competencies; therefore, there is no research to date that proves this leadership style increases organizational performance (de Waal & Sivro, 2012). In contrast, as a positive, communication strategies of servant leaders are rewarded with employee loyalty and decreased staff turnover which increase patient outcomes and satisfaction due to staff feelings of appreciation and compassion from the servant leader (Marquis & Huston,
The idea of injecting a servant leadership approach within a society riddled with thoughts and desires to be #1 is counterintuitive to not only the culture, but the very nature of man. We would all agree that modeling the behavior that Jesus exhibited in the upper room isn’t what we all aspire to do—at least on a very basic, natural level. However, this is the very idea and hallmark that author James Hunter is trying to instill in others in his book The Servant. That is, that we should lead people the way that we would want be lead ourselves—that the essence of ultimate leadership can only be expressed through love. Points such as others’ centered leadership, values for individual development as a leader and how these expressed
Originating in the seminal work of Greenleaf, servant leadership is a paradoxical approach to leadership that challengers our traditional beliefs about leadership and influence. Servant leadership emphasizes that leaders should be attentive to the needs of the followers, empower them, and help them develop their full human capacities. They build strong relationships, with others, are empathic, and ethical, and lead in ways that serve the greater good of followers, organizations, and the community.
Servant leadership is an effectual way to motivate the employees. Its unique emphasis on concern for
Servant leadership theory’s emphasis on service to others and recognition that the role of organizations is to create people who can build a better tomorrow resonates with scholars and practitioners who are responding to the growing perceptions that corporate leaders have become selfish and who are seeking a viable leadership theory to help resolve the challenges of the twenty-first century (Parris & Peachey, 2013, p 378).
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 isn’t applied or adequate to only one type of culture or even one type of culture. Servant leadership can actually be applied to all walks of life and all parts of the world. For example, the culture of the Japanese and the religion of the Hindu people both embrace a sense of what we call servant leadership. All religions and cultures have their own unique way in which they apply servant leadership, either based on their beliefs, history, or lifestyles. The significance of servant leadership is demonstrated in different ways within each culture and religion even when some cultures are not aware that what they are implying is servant leadership. As religions and cultures change and expand through time the concept of servant leadership is adapted and applied in different ways.
As an ethical theory servant leadership looks at the duties of leaders and the consequences of leadership actions. The approaches to examine the decisions and consequences of ethical leadership include ethical egoism, making decisions that act for the good of the leader; utilitarianism, making decisions that provide benefit to the greatest number; and altruism, actions are only deemed moral if they show primary concern for others. Looking at this set of approaches, it can be seen that servant leadership can be assessed in these terms. The leadership model is described as primarily focused on the growth and well-being of people and the communities to which they belong (What is servant leadership n.d.). The servant-leader believes in power sharing, putting the needs of others before himself and helping team members develop and perform as highly as possible. The servant leadership model is made up of the following key
One study found that servant leadership leads to higher levels of commitment to the supervisor and efficiency in work. My experience agrees with this finding. By exercising the four servant leadership practices mentioned above, I believe one will not just become a better leader, but also a better person as
This paper is based on my personal philosophy the art of servant leadership within organizations, and in the community. According to the author Aubrey Malphurs, he asserts “that there are leaders who “have the ability to lead, influence others based on certain leadership characteristics, strengths and weakness.” It is within these leadership strengths and weaknesses, there are benefits and opportunities to empower others. However, there are good and great leaders, a great leader is much more desirable, in that great leaders are driven to lead and serve their followers. Great leaders have the characteristics to be effective and empower their followers, this is the art of Servant leadership, the art of knowing how to care for others in the most
The primary of this idea is to push businesses to have a positive impact on their employees and local community, rather than using profit as the main motivation. This is precisely why the name is “Servant Leadership”. Greenleaf explains it as meaning to serve first and then to lead; a groups primary focus should by all means be to support the growth and well-being of others first. An increasing amount of nonprofit businesses have gravitated to this servant-leadership philosophy as a part of their company and therefore had made it a groundwork in their mission statement.
Moreover, humble and action-oriented dimensions of the servant leader can interact to affect engagement (Sousa & Dierendonck, 2015). Currently, the Director ignores the changes from previously established agendas and lacks the action-oriented side of his servant leader mentality. Action side characteristics include empowerment, accountability, and stewardship (Sousa & Dierendonck, 2015). Undoubtedly, the captains feel empowered, but for personal agendas, and they are not holding each other accountable for continuing the previously agreed upon crime and accident reduction initiatives they created together. “Through complex relationships and mutual dependencies on each other, servant-leaders and their followers co-create one another and their organizations” (Houglum, 2012, p. 33).
Emotion – Taking more time listening and caring about individuals is part of Servant Leadership. “Leadership is not about controlling people’ it’s about caring for people and being a useful resource for people” Autry (2001, p.20). Taking more time to listen to others and focusing on helping them learn new skills can provide more opportunities can help focus on positive affects (Wayne et al.2006). Being aware of the emotional exhaustion and the affects may allow me to take measures to address it before the situation worsens (Boles et al.1997). Relying on positive social interaction to help share my feelings will help emotional resources and heal emotional losses (Heaphy and Dutton,
Healing. “One of the great strengths of servant-leadership is the potential for healing one 's self and others. Many people have broken spirits and have suffered from a variety of emotional hurts. Although this is part of being human, servant-leaders recognize that they also have an opportunity to "help make whole" those with whom they come in contact” (Spears,
The authors of the review state that they focused on providing an informed answer to how servant leadership works and how it could be applied in organisations. A systematic literature review was conducted with a final tally of 39 studies deemed appropriate for the exercise.