Servant Leadership
"The essence of leadership is not giving things or even providing visions. It is offering oneself and one’s spirit." - Lee Bolman & Terence Deal
What is Servant Leadership?
- Servant leadership was developed by Robert K. Greenleaf, 1970.
- Servant-Leadership is a realistic philosophy which supports people who choose to serve first, and then lead as a way of expanding service to individuals and institutions.
- Servant-leadership encourages collaboration, trust, foresight, listening, and the ethical use of power and empowerment.
What Do Servant Leaders Do?
- Devote themselves to serving the needs of organization members.
- Focus on meeting the needs of those they lead.
- Develop peers to bring out the best in them.
- Coach others and encourage their self expression.
- Facilitate personal growth in all who they are in contact with.
- Listen and build a sense of community.
10 Principles of Servant Leadership
"True compassion compels you to act." - Devri L. Pratt
Listening
Traditionally, leaders have been valued for their communication and decision making skills. Servant-leaders must reinforce these important skills by making a deep commitment to listening intently to others. Servant-leaders seek to identify and clarify the will of a group. They seek to listen receptively to what is being said and not said.
Empathy
Servant-leaders strive to understand and have compassion for others. People need to be accepted and recognized for their special and unique spirit. One must assume the good intentions of peers and not reject them as people and realize we all are different.
Healing
Learning to heal 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 others. In “The Servant as Leader”, Greenleaf writes, “There is something subtle communicated to one who is being served and led if, implicit in the compact between the servant-leader and led is the understanding that the search for wholeness is something that they have.”
Awareness
General awareness, and especially self-awareness, strengthens the servant-leader. Making a commitment to foster awareness can be intimidating—one never knows that one may discover!
Persuasion
Servant-leaders rely on persuasion, rather than positional authority in making decisions. Servant-leaders seek to convince others, rather than coerce compliance. The servant-leader builds consensus within groups.
Conceptualization
Servant-leaders seek to nurture their abilities to “dream great dreams.” The ability to look at a quandary from a conceptualizing perspective means that one must think beyond day-to-day realities. Servant-leaders must seek a delicate balance between conceptualization and day-to-day focus.
Foresight
Foresight is a characteristic that enables servant-leaders to understand lessons from the past, the realities of the present, and the likely consequence of a decision in the future. It is deeply rooted in the intuitive mind.
Stewardship
Robert Greenleaf ’s view of all institutions was one in which CEO’s, staff, directors, and trustees all play significant roles in holding their institutions in trust for the great good of society.
Commitment to the Growth of People
Servant-leaders believes that people have an intrinsic value beyond their tangible contributions as workers. As such, servant-leaders are deeply committed to a personal, professional, and spiritual growth of each and every individual within the organization.
Building Community
Servant-leaders are aware that the shift from local communities to large institutions as the primary shaper of human lives has changed our perceptions and caused a send of loss. Servant-leaders seek to identify a means for building community among those who work within a given institution.