Servant Leadership

Leadership is essential to any civilized society. As such, individuals and organizations must envision impacting society in ways that will improve and empower the lives of others. Servant Leadership is one important leadership frame for empowerment.

Servant Leadership is in its fifth decade as a concept. Robert K. Greenleaf’s idea of servant as leader continues to gain momentum as a validated leadership construct both in theory and in practice. The term servant-leadership was first coined by Greenleaf (1904– 1990) in a 1970 essay titled “The Servant as Leader.” Since that time, more than half a million copies of his books and essays have been sold worldwide. Traditional management, that once viewed employees as tools to accomplish a goal, has over the last couple decades experienced a significant shift from this view. As the workforce becomes more complex, for-profit and nonprofit organizations who once embraced the traditional, autocratic, and hierarchical modes of leadership, are now seeking leaders that can respond differently. Leaders who can influence work by engaging teamwork and community, involving others in decision making, promoting ethical and caring behavior, and enhancing the personal growth of people while improving the caring and quality of those institutions.

Expected practices have quickly moved toward the ideas put forward by Greenleaf. As evidence by the work of Stephen Covey, Peter Senge, Max DePree, Margaret Wheatley, Ken Blanchard, and many others, Servant Leadership is a better way to lead and manage our organizations.

Ann McGee-Cooper and Duane Trammell in their essay, “From Hero-as-Leader to Servant-as-Leader” suggest that a servant-leader defines profit beyond financial gain to include meaningful work, environmental responsibility and quality of life for all involved. Servant leadership puts the emphasis on very different qualities.

Traditional Boss	Servant as Leader
Motivated by personal drive to achieve	Motivated by desire to serve others
Highly competitive; independent mindset; seeks to receive personal credit for achievement	Highly collaborative and interdependent; gives credit to others generously
Understands internal politics and uses them to win personally	Sensitive to what motivates others and empowers all to win with shared goals and vision
Focuses on fast action. Complains about long meetings and about others’ being too slow	Focuses on gaining understanding, input, buy-in from all parties
Relies on facts, logic, proof	Uses intuition and foresight to balance facts, logic, and proof
Controls information in order to maintain power	Shares big-picture information generously
Spends more time telling, giving, riders. Sees too much listening or coaching as inefficient	Listens deeply and respectfully to others, especially to those who disagree