Servant Leadership

Definition

"Servant leadership begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead...The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant—first to make sure that other people's highest priority needs are being served. The best test...is: do those served grow as persons, do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servant? And, what is the effect on the least privileged in society; will they benefit, or, at least, will they not be further deprived?"

2. Empathy

"standing in the shoes" of another person and attempting to see the world from that person's point of view

*Model of Servant Leadership*

*1. Antecedent conditions* *2. Servant leader behaviors* *3. Leadership outcomes*

Sinek

*Sinek says the responsibility of the leader is self-sacrifice when times get tough/there are threats to the organization* *Similarly, it is their responsibility if the team does well* -->They take the credit whether it fails or succeed Heroes aren't born, they're made The cost of leadership is self-interest

10 characteristics of servant leadership

1) listening 2) empathy 3) healing 4) awareness 5) persuasion 6) conceptualization 7) foresight 8)stewardship 9)commitment to the growth of people 10) building community

Servant Leader Behaviors

1. Conceptualizing 2. Emotional Healing 3. Putting Followers First 4. Helping Followers Grow and Succeed 5. Behaving Ethically 6. Empowering 7. Creating Value for the Community Con Emma put Helping and Behaving Empowering as Creating Value

1. Follower Performance and Growth

1. Expected outcome for followers is greater self-actualization 2. Favorable impact on follower in-role performance (the way followers do their assigned work 3. Followers themselves may become servant leaders

Outcomes of Servant Leadership

1. Follower Performance and Growth 2. Organizational Performance 3. Societal Impact

3. Societal Impact

1. Likely to have a positive impact on society

2. Organizational Performance

1. Positive relationship between servant leadership and organizational citizenship behaviors 2. Affects the way teams function - servant leadership enhanced team effectiveness by increasing the member's shared confidence that they could be effective as a work group

Antecedent (existing) conditions

1. context and culture 2. leader attributes 3. follower receptivity

7. Creating Value for the Community

create value for the community by consciously and intentionally giving back to the community

5. Persuasion

creates change through gentle, nonjudgmental argument

5. Behaving Ethically

doing the right thing in the right way

3. Healing

in helping followers become whole, servant leaders are themselves healed

2. Emotional Healing

involves being sensitive to the personal outcomes and well-being of others includes recognizing problems and being willing to take the time to address them

4. Helping Followers Grow and Succeed

refers to knowing follower's professional or personal goals and helping them to accomplish those aspirations At its core, helping followers grow and succeed is about aiding these individuals to become self-actualized, reaching their fullest human potential

1. Conceptualizing

refers to the servant leader's thorough understanding of the organization - its purposes, complexities, and mission allows the servant leader to think through multifaceted problems and to address problems creatively

8. Stewardship

carefully managing the people and organization one has been given to lead. Holding the organization in trust for the greater good of society

Lift

All 4 characteristics need to exist in a leader in some amount - there is a minimum floor that all leaders must meet with each characteristic to be successful Internally Directed - control *Other Focused - collaboration* Externally Open - creativity Purpose-centered - competitiveness

Follower receptivity

Ask "Do all employees show a desire for servant leadership?" Servant leadership is only effective if followers want it

Lift

If you fail to be empathetic, you end of hurting yourself • You rationalize not being sympathetic and you are harmed • We get less empathetic the more we deny people empathy***

Servant leadership focuses on the behaviors leaders should exhibit to put followers first and to support follower's personal development. It is concerned with how leaders treat followers and the outcomes that are likely to emerge.

Servant leadership BEGINS when leaders commit themselves to putting their followers FIRST, being honest with them, and treating them fairly. Servant leadership works best when leaders are altruistic and have a strong motivation and deep-seated interest in helping others. In addition, it is important that followers are open and receptive to servant leaders who want to empower them and help them grow. Servant leadership results in community and societal change.

Context and culture

Servant leadership does not occur in a vacuum, but occurs within a given organizational context and a particular culture. Because the norms differ, the ways servant leadership is performed may vary. Cultures where power distance is low and power is shared equally among people at all levels of society is where servant leadership may be more common

Servant Leadership

Servant leadership is a paradox --> Requires leadership to be both service and influence *Focuses on leadership from the point of view of the leader and his/her behaviors* *Servant leaders put followers first* *Concerned with how leaders treat subordinates and the outcomes that are likely to emerge* Emphasizes that leaders be attentive to the concerns of their followers, empathize with them, and nurture them Servant leaders put followers FIRST, empower then, and help them develop their full personal capacities Servant leaders are ethical and lead in ways that serve the greater good of the organization, community, and society at large Sometimes treated as a trait, but viewed as a behavior that can be learned in this chapter Servant leadership takes on the responsibility of making you better as a person - improve people and help them grow Servant leaders place the good of followers over their own self-interests and emphasize follower development

6. Empowering

allowing followers the freedom to be independent, make decisions on their own, and be self-sufficient a way for leaders to share power with followers by allowing them to have control builds followers confidence in their own capacities to think and act on their own because they are given the freedom to handle difficult situations in the way they feel is best

10. Building community

allowing followers to identify with something greater than themselves that they value

Summary

The model of servant leadership consists of 3 components: antecedent conditions, servant leader behaviors, and outcomes. The central focus of the model is the seven servant leader behaviors that foster servant leadership: conceptualizing, emotional healing, putting followers first, helping followers grow and succeed, behaving ethically, empowering, creating value for community These behaviors are influenced y context and culture, the leader's attributes, and the follower's receptivity to this kind of leadership When individuals engage in servant leadership, it is likely to improve outcomes at the individual, organizational, and societal levels

Leader Attributes

The qualities and disposition of the leader influence the servant leadership process ex: Some may feel a deep desire to serve vs. others may be strongly motivated to lead

1. Listening

acknowledging the viewpoint of followers and validating these perspectives

6. Conceptualization

the ability to be a visionary for an organization

7. Foresight

the ability to predict what is coming based on what is occurring in the present and what has happened in the past

3. Putting Followers First

the defining characteristic of servant leadership it means using actions and words that clearly demonstrate to followers that their concerns are a priority, including placing follower's interests and success ahead of those of the leader it may mean a leader breaks from his or her own tasks to assist followers with theirs

9. Commitment to the Growth of People

treating each follower as a unique person with intrinsic value beyond what he/she contributes to the organization

4. Awareness

understanding oneself and the impact one has on others

Application

• SL can be applied at all levels of management and in all types of organizations • SL has been used extensively in a variety of organizations for more than 30 years *• Organizations should be careful to select employees who a) are interested in building long term relationships with followers and b) have strong ethics*

Weaknesses

•The paradoxical nature of the title "servant leadership" creates semantic noise that diminishes the potential value of the approach •No consensus exists on a common theoretical framework for servant leadership •A utopian ring that conflicts with traditional approaches to leadership •Not clear why "conceptualizing" is a defining characteristic of servant leadership

Strengths

•Unique because it makes altruism the main component of the leadership process •Provides a counterintuitive and provocative approach to the use of influence where leaders give up control •Research shows that there are conditions under which servant leadership is not a preferred kind of leadership •Recent research has resulted in a sound measure of servant leadership that identifies seven distinct dimensions of the process