Introduction
Servant Leadership is a leadership style that primarily focuses on the people side of leadership. It was developed by Robert Greenleaf in the early 1970s.
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).
President Thomas Jefferson, was a person whose words represented the qualities of servant leadership; before, during, and after his terms in office. While
…show more content…
Throughout his presidency, Jefferson utilized many, if not all the nine characteristics of servant leadership during his time in office. Our third president, did not follow the tradition set by President Washington or President Adams, instead he blazed a new pioneering trail of being the first Republican party president. In 2002 Russell and Stone’s (as cited in Parris & Peachey, 2013), the ‘nine main characteristics of servant leadership are: vision, honesty, integrity, trust, service, modeling, pioneering, appreciation of others, and empowerment.” President Jefferson often acted as a visionary; he helped to stimulate a new way of thinking and started to change the way leader should act in high pressure/highly visible …show more content…
There are times that I have experienced with a few servant leaders, where they can get so caught up in helping staff that they get too distracted by trying to be helpful. I have also witnessed that a couple of servant leaders have been taken advantage of, due to their overwhelming desire to help that they don’t see that the employee is playing them and using their kindness as a way to get out of doing the necessary tasks. My mentor, who is a servant leader herself, often gets yelled at by Sr. Leadership for appearing to be unfocused, when in fact she is not, she is just trying to make sure that everyone gets the information/assistance they need to the fullest extent. I have found that it is advantageous, if the servant leader takes extra effort to be clear, concise, and consistent in their communications to avoid appearing distracted by other servant leadership goals/priorities.
There are many advantages to practicing servant leadership to be experienced by all stakeholders. A balance is required of either incorporating other styles when the situation calls for them or there should be a good mixture of leadership styles among the leaders within the organization. This blend of leadership styles allows for all levels of employees to feel they play an important role in the success of the organization while continually
Tenets of servant leaders include: the ability to listen with understanding and keep an open mind, hear without judgement, can deal with ambiguity and complex issues, provides clear goals and directions, uses honesty, and has vision (Marquis & Huston, 2014). The laissez-faire leadership style in contrast to the servant leadership style is a nondirected leadership style with little or no control, and decision making is dispersed throughout the group, which can lead to apathy among the staff and frustration (Marquis & Huston,
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
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.
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 is an effectual way to motivate the employees. Its unique emphasis on concern for
An example of an individual that had outstanding leadership skills is President Andrew Jackson, who, irrespective of previous letdowns, with persistent innovation and passion did all he could to clinch the presidential seat and make America a better place. He being categorized among our forefathers, the first Presidents of the United States, makes him an individual that was not motivated by money or the like, but one that was driven by a deep feeling to serve Americans for the sake of establishment of their country (Barbuto & Wheeler, 2007). Andrew Jackson was a true servant leader because he operated within the premise upon which servant leadership is founded upon i.e. “There's no greater purpose than service to others.” He stands out from the current world presidents of today because he was never driven by power, money, and prestige but through service to other people. This paper is going to give invaluable insights concerning Andrew Jackson's leadership style through the lens of the servant leader.
However, servant leadership is a way for leaders to connect with their members and show that they understand what they are going through. They tend to create unique bonds with their team by assisting them to make them more productive. The idea of servant leadership came from a novel written by Hermann Hesse named “Journey to the East”. The novel was basically about a group of travellers going on a journey, accompanied by a servant who does literally everything for the travellers. The servant played the most important role on the journey by making sure everything and
“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.
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.
Organizational consultant S. Chris Edmonds defines servant leadership as “a person's dedication to helping others be their best selves at home, work, and in their community." I totally agree with this philosophy, as I believe an employee will benefit his team and company the most if he can perform the best he can.
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
Servant leadership is a theory based on Robert K Greenleaf’s belief that all men have a primary motivation to serve others and through this service they aspire to lead (Parris & Peachey, 2012). Although this leadership model has very little in common with charismatic and situational does however compare to transformational leadership in several areas. The main area of commonality between the two can be found as transformational leaders serve as stewards to change enable the followers to accept the change and move forward with the organization (Tichy & Devanna, 1990, p. 75). In essence, servant leadership becomes the long-term transformational approach to life and work.
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
This review acknowledges that additional empirical research is needed on servant leadership especially its current and potential future role in organisations. The authors state that Greenleaf warned that servant leadership would be extremely difficult to apply in an operational setting such as a company.