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Summary of servant leadership
Summary of servant leadership
The Power of Servant Leadership
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Being a servant leader is a person who doesn’t just care about themselves, but cares about the people around them. Not everyone has this in them. I have learned many things about being a leader. I have a little brother who is physically and mentally handicap. He goes through so much each and everyday. I’ve learned that I need to be strong for him, i’ve learned that he needs someone there to keep him going, he needs a leader. Not only can I be a leader for him but I can do this for many different people. My little brother is involved in Special Olympics so I decided to volunteer for that. When i’m working with kids there it is very easy to see that they strive to be the best, but it’s easier for them to do that when they can look up to someone.
What is a servant leader? A servant leader is a individual that wants to serve first and is selfless. “The servant-leader is servant first. It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first.” (Keith) A servant leader can be anyone in a group setting from a work place, education, religion and cultures. Jesus was a servant leader. He was selfless he died on the cross for our sins. He was selfless and while here on earth was always helping people and teaching the way of the lord.
Servant leadership is a designation coined by Robert Greenleaf in 1970 in an essay entitled The Servant as Leader. In this essay, he describes the servant leader and a servant first contrary to one who is a leader first. The difference is the servant chooses to put others needs before his own while the leader first may later become a servant from the promptings of a sense of right and wrong or simply because they are coerced in that direction (Greenleaf, 1991).
The importance of servant leadership should not be underestimated and it can be simplified and embodied in one timeless phrase: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. When applied to leadership the result can be phenomenal. Those who wish to serve do so with their hearts, it is not forced nor is it with resentment. The servant leader serves out of acceptance and ownership of their ability and duty.
A servant leader is someone, regardless of level, who leads simply by meeting the needs of the team.
Primary service is the key. Many view this as a contradiction because the leader is leading and serving. How can a person do both? Good servant leaders are good listeners. The communication between the leader and the follower being served allows the leader to listen to the follower first, in order to understand what the other person has to say and to understand their needs. These leaders practice empathy as well. Understanding what the follower is facing or feeling is comforting to the follower because it validates their importance to another person. The ability to heal a person through care and the concern for a person’s well being is another quality of a servant leader. These are only a few of the characteristics that generate a strong servant leader. Mother Teresa said, “The miracle is not that we do this work, but that we are happy to do it.” Her words describe exactly what servant leaders do. Servant leaders serve others willingly because they find joy and pleasure in doing so. The outcome of serving others in this manner is growth and social impacts for a greater good. When there is an improvement in self-actualization, followers improve in their goal reaching or task completion by understanding their full potential to do
Servant leadership is becoming a more “sought-after” concept in today’s society, but what exactly is servant leadership? Does it mean different things to different people? Although the three books, The Servant as Leader, The Servant, and Lead Like Jesus, all center around servant leadership, each author takes a different perspective on the meaning of being a servant leader. Robert Greenleaf addresses leadership from a straight-forward stance; saying that a good leader must be a servant-first by finding the will within themselves to put the needs of their group before their own. James Hunter discusses servant leadership through a story involving everyday people that the reader can relate to. He uses Jesus as a guide to explain how to initiate character development that will, in turn, fashion servant leadership. Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges offer a new perspective on servant leadership by bringing Jesus into the picture on an even deeper level than Hunter. They explain that by knowing Jesus Christ and developing an intimate personal
3). Through the service of others, servants as leaders create positive changes in the lives of others that lead those served to act more autonomously (Block, Blanchard, Wheatley & Autry, 2006). The goal of a service leader is to help others achieve their highest level of functioning. Those served are then motivated to become service leaders as well (Block, Blanchard, Wheatley & Autry, 2006). Thus, servant leadership focuses on commitment to helping the individual served grow in their abilities. In turn this gives the served individual confidence in their work and personal abilities which then transforms into a desire to help others do the
Leading by example is the main idea. Servant leaders do not want to be in the first line and they prefer to guide their employees from a distance. They distinguish because of their personality, their behavior and their values. The only disadvantage is that in a competitive financial environment it is difficult from them to be recognized.
Servant leadership is both a leadership philosophy and set of leadership practices. Traditional leadership generally involves the
The modern use of the term servant leader derives from the act of servant leadership which has been around for many ages, but was made a final common phrase when Robert K. Greenleaf wrote his essay called "The Servant as Leader". Robert used this term to represent someone who has a natural feeling to serve others as well as someone who aspires to lead. People can now use the philosophy of leadership to try and pinpoint characteristics and behaviors that can further determine if someone should be named a servant leader. Individuals who are called to represent themselves as servant leaders better the world by setting a positive impression on young children who are growing up in a society where they are only expected to take care of themselves.
Servant leadership consists of leaders helping their followers become leaders themselves. The use personal skills such as empathy, compassion and listening to help their followers succeed. It is not necessarily the most popular form of leadership but, it has been proven successful b those leaders who implement it in their work practices. Servant leaders typically have a strong bond with their team. They are the base and the foundation of their teams.
My definition of leadership would have to be a person who helps other people reach their goals. My fear of leading people in the wrong direction or not helping them reach their fullest potential is the ultimate reason why I never thought I could lead. I have always viewed leadership as severing others and helping others reach their fullest potential. I also believe that any person in a leadership role should be trustworthy. Northouse (2016), defines servant leadership as a leader who make the needs of their followers a priority while taking an interest in their advancement. The word leadership is not so scary when I view it as being of service to others. This definition of a servant leader will influence me every day in my future role as an educator to my students and diabetic patients. Another excellent point made by Northhouse (2016), is servant leaders make sure that their followers goals are achieved and give them the encouragement needed to met those goals. For instance, the students that I teach will need overwhelming support during nursing school to succeed in becoming a nurse. Diabetic patients I educate will also need the same support in order to reach their goals in becoming managers of their care. Most importantly, servant leaders allow followers to be autonomous and the power becomes shared between the leader and the follower (Northouse, 2016). Nevertheless, in order to help
To be a servant leader you have to have certain qualities. Not only have the qualities but
Servant leadership can be described as the ability of serving other people, placing the collective objectives before one’s objectives and working hand in hand with your followers so as to achieve them. This type of leadership involves empowering and inspiring people as they work to achieve the set collective goals. Nelson Mandela adopted the servant leadership role in that he placed the need of the citizens before his own. While he was in jail, his desire to be free was overcome by the need for all the citizens to be free. Therefore, Mandela worked very hard to ensure that the South Africa citizens became free, and the apartheid rule that was oppressing them was abolished. Despite his imprisonment, he continued to encourage the people they had been imprisoned together through his courage. That is because he knew that his citizens needed a leader like him so that they could be
Servant Leadership means to serve others and to lead. It puts everyone else first teaching to put others before yourself, with this leading qualities emerge. Just being or having leadership qualities doesn’t always work. Most leadership models show possessive towards the better for themselves, some work out while others don’t, mostly I think because the unwillingness to see others before yourself is a hard concept for some to understand and use. You can be a great leader but if you don’t understand servant qualities or serve for the benefit of others your probley not much liked. Most I don’t think know what Servant Leadership is or means, I didn’t until this course opened it up to me.