2. 1
INTRODUCTION
Servant leadership is both a leadership philosophy and set of leadership
practices. Traditional leadership generally involves the accumulation and
exercise of powerby oneat the “top ofthe pyramid.” By comparison, the servant-
leader shares power, puts the needs of others first and helps people develop and
perform as highly as possible.
Servant leadership is an ancient philosophy. There are passages that relate to
servant leadership in the Tao Te Ching, attributed to Lao-Tzu, who is believed to
have lived in China sometime between 570 BCE and 490 BCE:
Servant leadership can be found in many religious texts, though the philosophy
itself transcends any particular religious tradition. In the Christian tradition, this
passage from the Gospel of Mark is often quoted in discussions of servant
leadership:
While servant leadership is a timeless concept, the phrase “servant leadership”
was coined by RobertK. Greenleaf in "The Servant as Leader", an essay that he
first published in 1970. In that essay, Greenleaf said:
“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
3. 2
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 shadings and blends that are part ofthe infinite variety of
human nature.”
“Thedifference manifests itself in the care taken bythe servant-first to make sure
that other people’s highest priority needs are being served. The best test, and
difficult to administer, is: Do those served grow as persons?Do they, while being
served, becomehealthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves
to become servants? And, what is the effect on the least privileged in society?
Will they benefit or at least not be further deprived?“
Robert Greenleaf recognized that organizations as well as individuals could be
servant-leaders. Indeed, he had great faith that servant-leader organizations could
change the world. In his second major essay, "The Institution as Servant" (1972),
Greenleaf articulated what is often called the “credo.” There he said:
“This is my thesis: caring for persons, the more able and the less able serving
each other, is the rockuponwhich a good societyis built. Whereas, until recently,
caring was largely person to person, now most of it is mediated through
institutions – often large, complex, powerful, impersonal; not always competent;
sometimes corrupt. If a better society is to be built, one that is more just and more
loving, one that provides greater creative opportunity for its people, then the most
4. 3
open course is to raise both the capacity to serve and the very performance as
servant of existing major institutions bynew regenerative forces operating within
them.”
In the context of leadership styles
The most common division of leadership styles is the distinction between
autocratic, participative and laissez-faire leadership styles. The authoritarian style
of leadership requires clearly defined tasks and monitoring their execution and
results. The decision-making responsibility rests with the executive. In contrast
to the autocratic, the practice of a participative leadership style involves
employees in decision-making. More extensive tasks are delegated. The
employees influence and responsibility increases. The laissez-faire style of
leadership is negligible in practice.
Servant leadership can be mostlikely associated with the participative leadership
style. The authoritarian leadership style does not correspond to the guiding
principle. The highest priority of a servant leader is to encourage, support and
enable subordinates to unfold their full potential and abilities. This leads to an
obligation to delegate responsibility and engage in participative decision-making.
In the managerial grid model of Blake and Mouton, the participative style of
leadership is presented as the approach with the greatest possible performance
and employee satisfaction. However, there is the question whether a leadership
5. 4
style can be declared as universal and universally applicable. Situational contexts
are not considered.
The servant leadership approach goes beyond employee-related behavior and
calls for a rethinking of the hierarchical relationship between leader and
subordinates. This does not mean that the ideal of a participative style in any
situation is to be enforced, but that the focus of leadership responsibilities is the
promotion of performance and satisfaction of employees.
Most writers see servant leadership as an underlying philosophy of leadership,
demonstrated through specific characteristics and practices. The foundational
concepts are found in Greenleaf’s first three major essays, "The Servant as
Leader", "The Institution as Servant", and "Trustees as Servants."
Larry Spears identified ten characteristic of servant leaders in the writings of
Greenleaf. The ten characteristics are listening, empathy, healing, awareness,
persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to the growth
of others, and building community. Leadership experts such as Bolman, Deal,
Covey, Fullan, Sergiovanni, and Heifitz also reference these characteristics as
essential components of effective leadership.
The Center for Servant Leadership at the Pastoral Institute in Georgia defines
servant leadership as a lifelong journey that includes discovery of one’s self, a
desire to serve others, and a commitment to lead. Servant-leaders continually
6. 5
strive to be trustworthy, self-aware, humble, caring, visionary, empowering,
relational, competent, good stewards, and community builders.
Kent Keith, author of The Case for Servant Leadership, states that servant
leadership is ethical, practical, and meaningful. He identifies seven key practices
of servant leaders: self-awareness, listening, changing the pyramid, developing
your colleagues, coaching not controlling, unleashing the energy and intelligence
of others, and foresight.'
James Sipe and Don Frick, in their book TheSeven Pillars of ServantLeadership,
state that servant-leaders are individuals of character, put people first, are skilled
communicators, are compassionate collaborators, use foresight, are systems
thinkers, and exercise moral authority.
Unlike leadership approaches with a top-down hierarchical style, servant
leadership instead emphasizes collaboration, trust, empathy, and the ethical use
of power. At heart, the individual is a servant first, making the conscious decision
to lead in order to better serve others, not to increase their own power. The
objective is to enhance the growth of individuals in the organization and increase
teamwork and personal involvement. A recent behavioral economics experiment
demonstrates the group benefits of servant leadership. Teams of players
coordinated their actions better with a servant leader resulting in improved
outcomes for the followers (but not for the selfless leaders).
7. 6
Ten Characteristics of a Servant-Leader
To further define Greenleaf's paradigm shift, Larry C. Spears identified ten
characteristics of a servant-leader in his paper titled "On Character and Servant
Leadership: Ten Characteristics of Effective, Caring Leaders:
1. Listening: Servant leader must listen to verbal and non-verbal signals and
interpret what the others are saying. In addition, the servant leader must
listen to their inner thoughts and feelings and interpret them (Spears, p.2).
2. Empathy: "The most successful servant-leaders are those who have
becomeskilled empathetic listeners." "One assumes the good intentions of
co-workers and colleagues and does not reject them as people, even when
one may be forced to refuse to accept certain behaviors or performance
(Spears, p.3).
3. Healing: "servant-leaders recognize that they have an opportunity to help
make whole those with whom they come in contact" (Spears, p.3).
4. Awareness: Servant leaders should "view most situations from a more
integrated, holistic position." Robert Greenleaf said awareness "is a
disturber and an awakener. Able leaders are usually sharply awake and
reasonably disturbed" (Spears, p.3).
5. Persuasion:The servant leader should rely "on persuasion, rather than on
one's positional authority, in making decisions within an organization."
The technique of convincing rather than coercion should be used. This is
8. 7
in contrast to the "authoritarian model " of leadership. "The servant-leader
is effective at building consensus within groups" (Spears, p.3).
6. Conceptualization: "The ability to look at a problem or an organization
from a conceptualizing perspective means that one must think beyond day-
to-day realities" (Spears, p.3).
7. Foresight: "a characteristic that enables the servant-leader to understand
the lessons from the past, the realities of the present, and the likely
consequence of a decision for the future" (Spears, p.3).
8. Stewardship: "a commitment to serving the needs of others. It also
emphasizes the use of openness and persuasion, rather than control"
(Spears, p.4).
9. Commitment to the growth of people: "deeply committed to the growth
of each and every individual within his or her organization." An example
is "taking personal interest in the ideas and suggestions from everyone,
encouraging worker involvement in decision making" (Spears, p.4).
10.Building community: A servant-leader should "seek to identify some
means for building community among those who work within a given
institution" (Spears, p.4).
9. 8
Famous Servant Leaders
Servant leaders are able to lead through a primary focus that puts the needs of
others before their own. These service philosophies extend beyond the team
environment to include everyone associated with an organization, including the
customers and all of the stakeholders. Serving others is a key leadership trait, but
these 5 famous servant leaders provide the best examples to follow. They
exemplify the attitude that it takes to constantly put the needs of others first.
1. . Mahatma Gandhi
Opposing the British ruling officials was bound to be dangerous, but Gandhi
believed that the best way to lose oneself was to serve others. He protested
peacefully, often through the use of fasting and logical discourse, and eventually
his ideas won out and India became an independent nation that was free of
colonialism. He is widely regarded forhis work, even if his goalwasn’t to become
famous, simply because he was willing to always put the needs of someone else
before his own.
2. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The same thing could be said aboutMLK. He didn’t always want to be the leader
of the US civil rights movement, but he knew that there was a need for equality.
10. 9
By putting the needs of others first, he was able to leave a lasting legacy that
proved anyone can make a difference if they’re willing to have a humble, serving
perspective. Some of his speeches are still listened to regularly today because
they have such a ring of truth.
3. Albert Schweitzer
Schweitzer was a man who took his faith very literally. He took the words of
Jesus seriously and determined to love others as best as he could. To that extent,
he served in a number of ways. At one point, he and his wife examined over 2,000
patients in African while traveling hundreds ofmiles sometimes just to reach one
person. He questioned the theology of his time to help bring others a fresh
perspective.
4. Mother Teresa
She dedicated her life to serving others through her faith as well. Mother Teresa
had her critics from time to time, as most servant leaders do, but no one could
question the motives that existed behind her desire to help. She never sought
personalrecognition for the things that she was doing, though at times she insisted
on large changes and wasn’t afraid to say things that others might hesitate to say.
In the end, however, many are calling her to becomea saint because her life really
was a miracle.
11. 10
5 Nelson Mandela
Mandela stood beforehis people and told them that he was a humble servant. He
had a passionfor his people and wanted to see them achieve equality. Sometimes
that meant taking to the streets to demonstrate and put his personal well-being at
risk. At other times, it meant surviving harsh conditions in prison so that a
statement could be made. Through it all, Mandela proved that you can lead others
by putting their needs first.
How to practice servant leadership?
Servant leadership works because of the specific practices of servant-leaders,
practices that help them to be effective leaders and get positive results for their
organizations. Seven of these key practices are self-awareness, listening,
changing the pyramid, developing your colleagues, coaching not controlling,
unleashing the energy and intelligence ofothers, and foresight. Here is a summary
of each of these practices:
Self-Awareness
Each of us is the instrument through which we lead. If we want to be effective
servant-leaders, we need to be aware of who we are and how we impact others.
Other people are watching and reacting to our personalities, our strengths and
weaknesses, our biases, our skills and experiences, and the way we talk and move
and act. What we learn about ourselves depends on feedbackfrom others and our
12. 11
own reflection—taking the time to think about how we behave, and why, and
when, and consider whether there are other, better, more appropriate, more
effective, more thoughtful ways to behave.
Listening
In his classic essay, The Servant as Leader, Robert Greenleaf said that "only a
true natural servant automatically responds to any problem by listening first."
Servant-leaders listen in as many ways as possible. They observewhat people are
doing. They conductinformal interviews, formal interviews, surveys, discussion
groups, and focus groups. Theyusesuggestions boxes. They do marketing studies
and needs assessments. They are always asking, listening, watching, and thinking
about what they learn. By listening, servant-leaders are able to identify the needs
oftheir colleagues and customers. Thatputs them in a good positionto meet those
needs. When they do, their organizations are successful—their colleagues are
able to perform at a high level, and they have happy customers, clients, patients,
members, students, or citizens.
Changing the Pyramid
One of the obstacles to listening is the traditional organizational hierarchy—the
pyramid. Often, members of the organization look up toward the top of the
pyramid, and focus on pleasing their "bosses." But if everyone is looking up to
please his or her boss, who is looking out, and paying attention to the needs of
13. 12
the customers? That's why servant-leaders talk about inverting the pyramid, or
laying it on its side, so that everyone in the organization is focused on the people
whom the organization is designed to serve.
Robert Greenleaf pointed out that the person at the top of the pyramid has no
colleagues, only subordinates. As a result, it is hard to get information, and it is
hard to test new ideas. The chief may bethe only personwho doesn'tknowcertain
things, because nobody will tell him. Or people may share information that is
biased, or incomplete, and they may not share the bad news, for fear that the chief
will shoot the messenger. It is also hard for the chief to test ideas. People are
reluctant to tell the chief that his or her idea is a bad one. The solution is
obvious—servant-leaders create a team at the top. The team consists of senior
leaders who are committed to the mission and to each other, who will share
information, and who will challenge ideas. The chief is still the chief and makes
final decisions, but those decisions will be far better informed and more relevant
to the needs of those being served.
Developing Your Colleagues
RobertGreenleaf proposedanew business ethic, which was that "the work exists
for the person as much as the person exists for the work. Put another way, the
business exists as much to provide meaningful work to the person as it exists to
provide a product or service to the customer." Work should provide people with
14. 13
opportunities to learn and grow and fulfill their potential. When your colleagues
grow, the capacity of your organization grows. Developing colleagues includes a
commitment to extensive on-the-job training, as well as formal education, new
assignments, and internal promotions.
Coaching, not Controlling
Coaching and mentoring is a good way to develop people. Organizations need
rules and regulations, but trying to control people doesn't bring out their best.
Servant-leaders bring out the best in their colleagues by engaging, inspiring,
coaching, and mentoring. Servant-leaders help their colleagues understand the
organization's mission and their role in fulfilling it. Servant-leaders make sure
their colleagues understand the organization's goals, and have the training and
tools they need to achieve those goals.
Unleashing the Energy and Intelligence of Others
After developing and coaching their colleagues, servant-leaders unleash the
energy and potential of their colleagues. People need experience making their
own decisions, becauseoccasions may arise when they need to be the leaders, or
make a decision that they normally don't make. Not unleashing the energy and
intelligence of others is extraordinarily sad and wasteful. It doesn't make any
sense to have lots of people in an organization, but let only a few people—those
at the top—use their full potential. Servant-leaders unleash everyone and
15. 14
encourage them to make the maximum contribution they can make to the
organization and the people it serves.
Foresight
Robert Greenleaf said that foresight is the central ethic of leadership. In The
Servant as Leader, he said that "prescience, or foresight, is a better than average
guess about what is going to happen when in the future." Greenleaf said that
foresight is the "lead" that the leader has. If you aren't out in front, you really
aren't leading—you are just reacting. And if you are just reacting, you may run
out of options, and get boxed in, and start making bad decisions—including
unethical ones. Greenleaf said that the failure of a leader to foresee events may
be viewed as an ethical failure, because a failure of foresight can put an
organization in a bad situation that might have been avoided.
While there are other practices that help servant-leaders to be effective and
successful, these seven are fundamental. They are about paying attention to
people, developing people, and looking ahead so that the servant-leader and his
colleagues will be able to continue serving others, far into the future.
16. 15
Advantages of servant leadership
This conceptis seen as a long-term conceptto life and work and therefore
has the potential to influence the society in a positive way.
The exemplary treatment of employees leads to an excellent treatment of
customers by employees of the company and a high loyalty of the
customers.
Servant Leaders engender trust, which catalyzes higher levels of worker
engagement, the offering of the workers' discretionary effort and ideas, and
greater speed in change and innovation.
There is a high employee identification with the enterprise.
An excellent corporate culture is developed.
Leaders of a company define themselves by their significance to the
people.
Servant leadership can be used as a principle to improve the return on
investment of staff, in all economic sectors. Managers who empower and
respect their staff get better performance in return.
17. 16
Disadvantages of servant leadership
Servant leadership is seen as a long-term application and therefore needs
time for applying.
Servant leadership assumes low level of control over team.
Deborah Eicher-Catt wrote an extensive critique of servant-leadership in
The myth of servant-leadership: a feminist perspective
CONCLUSION
Servant leadership is not necessarily a recent theory. Although first proposed in
1970, some trace it’s origins back to the human relations movement ofthe 1950’s
and others recognize its principles as having been practiced worldwide for over
2000 years. Still the theory remains in it’s infancy im terms of modern
behavioural sciences. Servant leadership lacks a formal, confirmed framework,
and has not yet been empirically linked to organizational performance. Many
areas of concern remain to be explored and answered, including the question of
whether servant leaders can be formally trained. As the theory’s popularity
continues to grow, these and other issues must be addressed.
