Servant Leadership & Diverse Contexts
Mario Hernandez
GCU MGT: 410
October 2, 2015
Servant leadership isn’t applied or adequate to only one type of culture or even one type of culture. Servant leadership can actually be applied to all walks of life and all parts of the world. For example, the culture of the Japanese and the religion of the Hindu people both embrace a sense of what we call servant leadership. All religions and cultures have their own unique way in which they apply servant leadership, either based on their beliefs, history, or lifestyles. The significance of servant leadership is demonstrated in different ways within each culture and religion even when some cultures are not aware that what they are implying is servant leadership. As religions and cultures change and expand through time the concept of servant leadership is adapted and applied in different ways. First off, servant leadership has had a vast “emphasis on service to others and recognition that the role of organizations is to create people who can build a better tomorrow” (Peachey and Parris, 2012). Present organizations keep booming and growing, as they grow the leadership roles created within the organizations have become very important to the success of the business. This type of servant leadership is very evident in the Japanese culture, workplace, and their everyday household lives. Japanese culture is very prominent on giving back to their elders, it is especially enforced to those in
K: The commitment to treat the people with compassion and kindness is the basis of servant leadership in the global perspective.
The type of leadership most noticeable in the service activity was servant leadership. Servant leadership was first introduced in 1970 by Robert K. Greenleaf in the essay “The Servant Leader”. In his essay Greenleaf 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. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first, perhaps because of 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 of the infinite variety of human nature.” (Greenleaf, 1970) Greenleaf essentially
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).
Barbuto, J. & Wheeler, D. (2007). Becoming a servant leader: Do you have what it takes?
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 begins when a leader is selfless and understands the nature of being a servant. The term servant leadership was coined by Robert K. Greenleaf in “The Servant as Leader” essay which was published in 1970. The mindset of a servant leader is one who wants to give back to others first and believes in selfless service. The ability to lead and aspire to be selfless is a skill every leader does not have. Over time, servant leaders like Nelson Mandela and Angela Merkel have been seen in their perspective countries. From childhood to young adults, both Mandela and Merkel has should servant leader qualities in their demographics.
Introduction Servant leadership is an emerging leadership principle that was developed by Robert K. Greenleaf in 1970 (Keith, 2015). The main idea behind this principle is based on the assumption that in order to become an effective leader, one must first become an able servant. In his essay ‘The Servant as Leader,’ Greenleaf posits that man, in nature, is a servant (Greenleaf, n.d.). And being a servant, man will also follow leaders that are servant, themselves.
He further explains that servant leaders are not motivated by material possessions and are not usually driven to lead for the power that comes from the position (Greenleaf et al., 2002). Instead, the servant leader will ensure that the needs of their followers, the organization, or the community are met first and are treated with the utmost priority over their own needs (Greenleaf et al., 2002). Northouse (2016), also notes that servant leaders are attentive to the needs, concerns, and the wellbeing of their followers. Servant leadership also helps to promote employee satisfaction through helping them grow, succeed, and empowering them to be more independent and successful (Northouse,
From the group Biblical Integration Paper, it was understood that servant-leadership is not only a gift of purpose that God places in the hearts of His people, but it is also a calling in one’s life to truly touch the lives of others in need. Living a successful life, as a servant-leader is not one that focuses on self-fulfillment, rather it is in seeking a fulfillment that comes from Christ when one pours him/herself out for the sake of others. It is through servant-leadership that one is able to bring hope into hopeless situations (Group Integration Paper,
Throughout this past week I have had several misconceptions resolve regarding servant leadership that have resolved. The main misconception or preconception that I had was that servant leaders were pushovers and that they would have difficulty in leading others to reach a common goal. Through the readings that were assigned, specificially in chapter 6, I now understand that a servant leader values relationships with their follwers and by doing so that they can use the gained trust to influence them to reach a common goal (DelHousaye & Brewer, 2004). I had never really thought about how much influence played a part in the success of a leader until this class and yet I completely agree. I think back to the mangers that I have had
Michelle’s life embodies the idea of a person who has the x-factor, she shows that leadership is something that is developed over time and learned through experiences. The x-factor is when individuals in a society spark creativity, it is a multi-discipline that borrows and synthesis existing intellectual resources to generate new ones and approach causation. (Burns, 2003). Michelle is a prime example of the ideals of the x-factor that crates a leader.
The shared themes discussed in these articles aligned with my thesis – caring for the least able, service before leading. Liden, Wayne, Chenwei, and Meuser (2014) suggest a servant leader must guide followers to emulate the leader’s behaviors by prioritizing the needs of others above the leaders'needs. Liden et al. (2014) further attest that servant leaders cultivate servant leadership attributes among those they lead, creating a serving culture which influences performance and enhances followers’ traits and skills through mediating influence of personal identification. For leaders to operate under ethical leadership framework, the leader must possess character, competence, and commitment. The leader must also lead by example, thrive on the
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.
As written in the lines above, employee engagement has a significant impact on an employee and their engagement. Although there has been many articles and research written about leadership and servant leadership, in this study, it will provide and overview, key traits and influences that servant leaders use in collaboration to address significant problems with strategy and other individuals. Therefore, how do managers and leaders facilitate the engagement of their employees? Leaders do this through their leadership style. In 1970, Robert K. Greenleaf identified servant-leadership, which was different from the traditional views of leadership. According to Greenleaf, “The servant-leader is a servant first. Servant
The department, when servant leadership is implemented, has great possibility and visionary accomplished goals. Servant leadership in this department may decrease the voluntary turnover rate tremendously. The organization workload is demanding comparing to others organization with equal pay. As turnover is costing organization 150% more when placed in these situation, the cost of replacing an employee is damaging. A study on servant leadership on turnover intention indicated that servant leader led to the decrease in turnover that involves ethical level, person-organization fit, and organization commitment (Jaramillo, Grisaffe, Chonko, & Roberts, 2009). When servant leader demonstrate genuine compassion to the people they lead, the