Servant Leadership Theory
The magnum opus of Robert Greenleaf, Servant Leadership is a recent theory of leadership that argues that the most effective leaders are servants of their people. Servant leaders get results for their organization through whole-hearted attention to their followers and followers’ needs. Unlike many approaches to leadership, which offer suggestions on how top-level leaders can influence and motivate those further down the hierarchy, servant leaders puts its emphasis on collaboration, trust, empathy and ethics. The leader should be a servant first, leading from a desire to better serve others and not to attain more power. The assumption is that if leaders focus on the needs and desires of followers, follower will reciprocate through increased teamwork, deeper engagement and better performance.
Greenleaf first presented the theory in a 1970 essay, “The Servant as Leader.” However, numerous others theorists have contributed to our understanding of servant leadership. One theorist, Larry Spears, outlined ten characteristics of servant leaders by analyzing the writings of Greenleaf. These ten characteristics are listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to the growth of others, and building community.
Useful Lies
Servant leadership is one of the more popular theories of leadership, especially among Christian leaders who vigorously cite Jesus as the penultimate example of servant leadership. However, its effectiveness in organizations is still being debated. Many researchers and theorists argue that servant leaders can become so focus on the needs of their followers, that the needs of the organization suffer as a result. In any case, Servant leadership theory has a place within the spectrum of leadership theory, as it represents the strongest emphasis on followers of any theory.
- Intro to Leadership Theory
- Why Theory
- A Word on Theory
- Trait Theory
- Skills Theory
- Style Theory
- Contingency Theory
- Situational Leadership Theory
- Path-Goal Theory
- Leader-Member Exchange Theory
- Transformational Leadership Theory
- Servant Leadership Theory
- Strengths-Based Leadership Theory
Tags: greenleaf, Leadership, servant, Theory
“… a recent theory…”
Really?
I thought it was at LEAST a few thousand years old.
QUOTE: Many researchers and theorists argue that servant leaders can become so focus on the needs of their followers, that the needs of the organization suffer as a result.
Discussing this at our leadership roundtable right now, leadership trainer Erl Morrell-Stinson of http://www.DeepMindDynamics.com had the following statement:
“It is exactly that mis-perception you’ve just articulated that causes ‘Christian’ organizations to become sterile and ineffective. Servant leadership does not call its proponents to become inwardly focused and serve their followers. He called all his followers to focus outward and TOGETHER serve the cause for which they existed – abundant life for all. Serving each other is merely a means towards that end.
The results you point to are those of a concept incorrectly applied. Like any other management theory where the leaders of the organization don’t “Get It” and the theory fails in practice, where it has been shown to work in other places.”
Christy,
Thanks for the comment. I’ve actually been involved in an ongoing debate with several graduate students about whether or not the example of Christ is an example of servant leadership or transformational leadership. Certainly Christ advocated becoming a servant of those you lead, however in practice, he may have been more of a servant leader. For example, his disciples often wanted him to go to certain place and do certain things, yet he proceeded on his own path because he knew it was tied to the mission. He didn’t neglected his followers, he just knew that what was best wasn’t yielding to their immediate needs.
Oh, and I say recent only because Greenleaf’s writings and the theory’s acceptance into formal literature has only happened recently.