SERVANT LEADERSHIP

Servant Leadership
Name
Institution
Professors Name
Course title
Date of submission

SERVANT LEADERSHIP

ABSTRACT
Exploration of the history of Servant Leadership, tracing it through from the time it originated
and its application in the leadership of the present world. We will relate The Servant Leadership
concept with others models of leadership.
Due to its unique relationship with the subjects, Servant Leadership leaders turn out to be very
powerful personnel in social change (Greenleaf, 1977). Theories revolving around Servant
Leadership emphasize on the personality and behavior of respective leaders in the society and
their implication on their followers, then organizations, and the society at large.

SERVANT LEADERSHIP
Introduction
Its through Servant Leadership that the executives in different companies and institutions that
they can be able to build a very strong cohesion among their given workforce and this enables
the employees to feel there exist a shared like form of purpose and loyalty for the institution or
organization. It is a practical philosophy, it supports people who in most cases choose to serve
first, and then lead later on as a way of expanding service to individuals and institutions. The
servant leaders have qualities that range from encouraging collaboration, trust, fore sighting,
listening to their subjects, and empowerment and use power ethically use of power. In any
given turbulent economy, organizations are supposed to do more and even go beyond just the
thought of good workers retention to developing of good workers. The servant-leaders are equal
to the task of achieving this mission just because needs of the followers are looked after their full
potential is realized thus they perform at their best (Greenleaf, 1977). By practicing all this, its
clear that Servant Leadership has absolutely nothing to do with the position of an individual in
any given firm but his or her state of the mind.
Servant Leadership is a daily behavior modeled and also reinforced through interaction. Servant
Leadership philosophy is a philosophy which guides the response of a workforce to praise and
conflict hence it creates an atmosphere which appreciates the sense of loyalty and motivation
impacted among followers that can transcend every facet of the organization.
The servant leadership model has implications for the individual whenever it is practiced in an
organization. Most modern organizations reference to Greenleafs work (Greenleaf, 1977) where
it is argued that imperialistic leadership model was successful in history and this makes other
models unnecessary.

SERVANT LEADERSHIP
What is Servant Leadership?
Servant leadership is an ancient philosophy and set of practices that existed centuries before
Greenleaf came up the phrase in the modern time. The philosophy enriches individuals lives
resulting in better organizations being built and in the long land better organizational growth and
hence a just and a caring world. Servant leadership philosophy was being coined by Robert K.
Greenleaf in an essay The Servant as Leader that he first published in the year 1970. The essay
begins with a natural that one wants to serve, to serve first. Later conscious choices bring one to
aspire to for leadership. This person is not the same as one who is already a leader simply
because due to the need for use of unusual power or rather need to acquire some material
possessions (Spears, 2007).
There are a number of leadership models that can be compared to the servant leadership;
i.

Servant Leadership and Authentic Leadership

Authentic leadership can be said to be an all knowing and acting on whatever is true in the
perception of the leader, the leadership team and the organization at large and they have to have
knowledge on whatever that is the truth and is real in the present world (George, 2008).
Authentic leaders exhibit characters that include confidence, hopefulness, optimistic nature, and
are resilient individuals who are aware of the way they think and relate by displaying high level
of integrity and are ever committed in the building process of the organization (Avolio, 2004).
Servant leadership and authentic leadership have common characteristics in that they both; have
the desire to serve others people and they generally have interested in empowering the people
they serve, they place a higher importance on values and they remain guided with compassion

SERVANT LEADERSHIP
and passion qualities of leadership, they refuse compromising of principles, they feature on the
importance of on establishing good relationships people they lead, they rely basically on personal
charisma to have things done, the leaders lead from their personal conviction instead of desire
for status or even reward, and they focus on emphasizing building of peoples strengths instead
of focusing on where people are wrong and general their weaknesses (Gunderson, 1988).
Differences exist between Servant Leadership and Authentic Leadership in that Servant
leadership is viewed to be a single dimensional approach that does not change in response
to a situation and it recommends for listening, persuasion, and empathy even at times of a
grave crisis whereas authentic leaders are proactive and respond to adapt leadership to fit
into the immediate situation, this leaders can be inspiring and motivating in an occasion
and can be tough about occasions related to people or financial decisions (Spears, 2007).
ii.

Servant-Leadership & Relational-Leadership Styles

Leadership style in any business has an impact on the overall productivity and culture of the
organization. Two leaders can never be exactly alike, although they may be able to share some
characteristics. Servant and relational leaders have same focus on the employees and customers
who transcends the organizational profits and their general productivity (Scouller, 2011).
There exist some differences to the leadership styles that do affect the manager, employee and
customer interaction. Servant leader focus more on the ethical interactions that a business has
with its employees and the environment whereas a relational leader majorly focus on employee
relationships.

SERVANT LEADERSHIP
Relational leadership style puts emphasize on bringing employees together, servant leaders are
least concerned with inclusivity building in their organizations. Relational leaders combine
several views of an organization and all this viewpoints on a project or goal are put into
consideration an example, a given project team may consist only males, a relational leader can
see this and look for a female employee and place her on the team for gender equality and at the
same time add another perspective (Sullivan, 2009).
Organization description
Delta Consulting Engineers is registered to deal with building and Civil Engineering projects. It
was established with the aim of it being a project and programme manager. It is also a cost
consulting practice, though due to change of the ever growing environmental and clients needs,
it is necessary for a strategic plan to broaden the services and even add more, that can be
provided by Delta, in order to give an activity that is multi-disciplinary encompassing the
consultation services, information technology and civil engineering all in one. Delta is ever
struggling for it to strive towards it achieving complete multi-disciplinary capability to clients.
Delta acknowledges teamwork on. Delta has believes in a hands-on approach on any projects
that is being undertaken. Delta is aimed for an excellent service.
The reason why I chose Delta Company is because of the kind of leadership exhibited by the
company and how things are being done within the company. Over time the Delta Company will
be among the re-known Consulting Engineers Company. Its through it that some world visions
and goals can be realized quickly. Delta being a multi-disciplinary organization offering a wide
range of services can boost the development strategies.

SERVANT LEADERSHIP

Servant leadership application to the organization

Servant leadership is viewed to be beneficial to many companies, corporations and even nonprofit making organizations a reason why it is being widely used. Servant leaders focus on the
growth and well-being of people and the communities where they are part of whereas the
traditional leadership greatly involves the accumulation and exercise of power. Servant leaders
shares power, and put the needs of people first assisting them to develop and yield out-put as
highly as possible.
Servant leadership is to be applied in several ways by the servant leader and observes some
principles.
i.

The servant leader at any given time must not be the master of everything but a servant
to all. The leader looks for the best for other co-employees as this help build a strong,
and self-sustaining organization. Through this premise, the organization will move to
greater heights to fulfill the demands of the customers.

ii.

Servant leaders have to take the focus away from their personal issues, and put focus on
the issues of other people. By this the organization will achieve in that the executives
will not be focusing on their bonuses and salaries but on the best interest of the
employees and the customers.

iii.

The servant leader is always seeking to build teams that are strong and complement each
others strengths and weaknesses. .

iv.

It is good practice for organizations to adopt goals which financially driven.

SERVANT LEADERSHIP
The implementation of servant leadership would impact the organization ability in realization of
its vision and accomplishing its speculated goals in the world. Servant Leadership is being
characterized by the fact that leadership development is a continuous, life-time process hence
commitment should be continual in development.
You can implement servant leadership in an organization with the aim of customizing the way
things are done in the organization. By this the organization yield is bound to increase by a
greater height.
Individuals who strive to be servant leaders find it very challenging, but at the end of it all it is
very rewarding. Like other leaders servant leaders are not an exception, they still face the
normal challenges that many other leaders face. However, servant leaders understand that the
most important resource for company is the employee.
Servant leadership has a gradual process transition, and this requires a through-out learning while
in the career. It is not a simple practice as many might think, but most people believe it creates an
environment that allows for focus of business to shift from a selfish purpose to a selfless
purpose.

SERVANT LEADERSHIP
References
(Gunderson, 1988) (George, 2008) (George, 2008) (Spears, 2007) (Avolio, 2004) (Scouller,
2011) (Greenleaf, 1977) (Sullivan, 2009) (Schnorrenberg, 2007)

Bibliography
Avolio, B. G. (2004). Authentic leaders.
George, B. &. (n.d.). Authentic Leadership. 2008: ISBN.
Greenleaf, R. (2010). Servant Leadership. ISBN 0-8091-0554-3.
Gunderson, D. (1988). The Leadership Paradox: A Challenge to Servant Leadership in a PowerHungry World. ISBN.
Schnorrenberg, L. J. (2007). Servant Leadership. ISBN.
Scouller, J. (2011). The Three Levels of Leadership. ISBN 9781852526818.
Spears, L. C. (2007). Character and Servant-Leadership. ISBN.
Sullivan, j. J. (2009). Servant First! Leadership for the New Millennium. ISBN 1.