Servant-Leader
Servant and leadership, two contradicting words that triggered my curiosity while coming across the essay Servant Leadership by Robert K. Greenleaf in the book The Leader’s Companion edited by J. Thomas Wren. As I researched, I have learned that, Robert Greenleaf was a well known writer who coined the concept servant-leadership in the year 1970 when he published his book The Servant as Leader (Greenleaf.org, 2002). Other authors as well as Greenleaf later produced other writings that were inspired by the concept servant-leadership (Greenleaf.org,2007, p.3-4).
Greenfield explains that a servant leader is a servant first which is different from being a leader first, he says, “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. The difference manifest itself in the care taken by the servant-first to make sure that other people’s highest priority needs are being served” (Wren, 1995, p.22)
This concept however is not new but rather thousands of years old. For example, the ancient Indian writer Kautilya was a famous strategic thinker who wrote in his 4th century book Arthashastra describing the duties of a king (leader) "In the happiness of his subjects lies his happiness; in their welfare his welfare; whatever pleases himself he shall not consider as good, but whatever pleases his subjects he shall consider as good” (Halsall, 1998).
For a clearer definition, the Greenleaf Center for Servant-Leadership describes servant-leadership as follows: “Servant-Leadership is a practical philosophy which supports people who choose to serve first, and then lead as a way of expanding service to individuals and institutions. Servant-leaders may or may not hold formal leadership positions. Servant-leadership encourages collaboration, trust, foresight, listening, and the ethical use of power and empowerment” (Greenleaf.org, 2002).
There are ten characteristics of a servant-leader that were identified by Larry C. Spears, the Chief Executive Officer of The Greenleaf Center for Servant-Leadership:
“1. Listening: …deep commitment to listening intently to others… Listening also encompasses getting in touch with one's own inner voice. Listening, coupled with periods of reflection, are essential to the growth and well-being of the servant-leader.
2. Empathy: The servant-leader strives to understand and empathize with others. People need to be accepted and recognized for their special and unique spirits…
3. Healing: The healing of relationships is a powerful force for transformation and integration. One of the great strengths of servant-leadership is the potential for healing one's self and one's relationship to others…servant-leaders recognize that they have an opportunity to help make whole those with whom they come in contact…
4. Awareness: General awareness, and especially self-awareness…helps one in understanding issues involving ethics, power and values. It lends itself to being able to view most situations from a more integrated, holistic position.
5. Persuasion: Another characteristic of servant-leaders is a reliance on persuasion, rather than on one's positional authority, in making decisions within an organization...The servant-leader is effective at building consensus within groups…
6. Conceptualization: Servant-leaders seek to nurture their abilities to dream great dreams. The ability to look at a problem or an organization from a conceptualizing perspective means that one must think beyond day-to-day realities…
7. Foresight: … 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…
8. Stewardship: Peter Block (author of Stewardship and The Empowered Manager) has defined stewardship as "holding something in trust for another."…
9. Commitment to the growth of people: ...The servant-leader recognizes the tremendous responsibility to do everything in his or her power to nurture the personal and professional growth of employees and colleagues…
10. Building community: The servant-leader…seek to identify some means for building community among those who work within a given institution” (Spears, 2002).
I see servant-leadership being used today in organizations that encourage and follow a democratic type of leadership rather than an authoritative one. Servant-leadership encourages work that serves the better good and brings positive change in society. Greenleaf says “the only way to change a society…is to produce people, enough people, who will change it” (Wren, 1995, p.22) thus we need to produce more servant-leaders in order to make change in our societies.
References:
Greenleaf.org (2002). What is servant-leadership?. Retrieved June 5, 2007 from , Robert
K. Greenleaf Center for Servant-Leadership Web site:
http://www.greenleaf.org/leadership/servant-leadership/What-is-Servant-Leadership.html
Greenleaf.org (2007, Winter). Greenleaf center timeline 1964-2005. The Servant Leader: Newsletter of
the Robert K. Greenleaf Center, 59, 3-4. Retrieved June 5, 2007 from Robert K.
Greenleaf Center for Servant-Leadership Web site: http://www.greenleaf.org/ServantLeader_Winter07.pdf
Halsall, P (1998, June). Indian History Sourcebook: The Arthashastra, c. 250 BCE .
Retrieved June 5, 2007 from Fordham University, Internet Indian History Sourcebook Web site: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/india/kautilya1.html
Spears, L. C. (2002). On character and servant-leadership: Ten characteristics of
effective, caring leaders . Retrieved June 5, 2007 from , Robert K. Greenleaf Center for Servant-Leadership Web site: http://www.greenleaf.org/leadership/read-about-it/articles/On-Character-and-Servant-Leadership-Ten-Characteristics.htm
Wren, J. T. (1995). Leader's companion: Insights on leadership through the ages. New
York: The Free Press.