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Servant Leadership
Kris
[Institutional Affiliation(s)]
Author Note
Servant Leadership
The idea of a helping others so that they reciprocate in turn is a time-tested idea. Robert Greenleaf, however, used the idea to build a leadership model that came to be known as ‘Servant Leadership’; a model that redefined the idea of serving and leading others (Greenleaf Center, 2016). In servant leadership, leaders are expected to lead their followers carrying an inner desire to serve them, providing them with appropriate support to help them attain shared objectives. In this model, leaders simply become an agent and a messenger who represents their people. The model essentially relies on transferring authority and power over to the people instead of concentrating it into the hands of a single leader.
To become a servant leader requires that one demonstrates empathy, awareness, persuasion, listening, and most importantly, a people-centric approach. Additionally, the servant leader focusses on stewardship, conceptualization, and community building. Moreover, Greenleaf explains that a servant-leader focusses on the little beginnings at first and is not afraid of taking risks. Since they are not motivated by the acquisition of power, they can happily assume themselves to be a leader second and a servant first CITATION SLI18 \l 1033 (SLI, 2018). Consequently, a strong inclination develops within servant leaders into empathizing with people’s needs and ensuring that they are met.
There are a number of reasons why more organizations, institutions and groups have begun to embrace this model. Firstly, it helps business leaders keep their employees motivated, since the focus shifts towards the growth and welfare of every stakeholder in the organization. This occurs when the employees perceive their leader to be pursuing every opportunity in creating a difference in their lives, which in turn positively impacts their behavior.
Furthermore, servant leadership is able to enhance intra-organizational relationships and creates more servant leaders leading to the propagation of positive practices in supporting and caring for everyone. This, in turn, leads to greater job satisfaction as the model generates more team cohesion, trust, shared goals and enhanced teamwork in achieving organizational objectives CITATION Vic141 \l 1033 (Trastek, Hamilton, & Emily E. Niles, 2014). A better environment is fostered in which communication within the team is encouraged, which leads to greater efficiency and consequently reduced costs.
References
BIBLIOGRAPHY Greenleaf Center. (2016). What is Servant Leadership? Retrieved February 3, 2019, from Centre for Servant Leaership: https://www.greenleaf.org/what-is-servant-leadership/
SLI. (2018). Why Servant Leadership. Retrieved January 3, 2019, from Servant Leaership Institute: https://www.servantleadershipinstitute.com/what-is-servant-leadership-1/
Trastek, V. F., Hamilton, N. W., & Emily E. Niles. (2014). Leadership Models in Health Care—A Case for Servant Leadership. Mayo Cinic Proceedings, 89(3), 374-381.
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