Servant leadership is focuses on the ways that a leader can be of service to followers, ultimately inspiring them to be servant leaders in their own right. This theory is different from the other theories we discussed in that it has emphasis on ethical behavior as well as the positive development of followers. Academic research on servant leadership is still in its infancy and relies mostly on characteristics and comparison to other theories and methods.
Finding ways to help and putting others first can be beneficiary to leaders. Leaders should want to be role models to their followers showing altruism and receiving it in return. Just because a leader demonstrates the ability to be a servant leader should not make them weak or taken less seriously than others. Servant leaders are not power hungry and in fact share their power with followers.
When someone does a good deed for another person that person feels obligated to return the service. Servant leaders do not expect the service to be reciprocated to them. The service should be reciprocated to others. Those servant leaders with negative motives can induce followers to return the service to them personally. This behavior demoralizes the meaning of what it is to be a servant leader. Beware of this type of servant leader! They are more coercive than motivating and inspiring.
References
Northouse, P. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice.
Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Stone, G. A., Russell, R. F., Patterson, K., (2003). Transformational versus Servant Leadership: A Difference in Leader Focus (2013). Retrieved on April 3, 2014 from
Sophia Wambui Mburu says
“Servant leadership emphasizes that leaders be attentive to the concerns of their followers, empathize with them and nurture them” (Northouse, 2013, p.219). I think that this is the basis of servant leadership. Servant leadership is not for everyone. It is for those who have the humility to find ways to put others first like you so well put it.
Samantha Lee Boettner says
Leaders with negative motives definitely have a negative impact on the followers. It is completely against the whole point of servant leadership. If a leader is only doing things for their followers in order to get back what they may feel they owe the leader, then they are not being a servant leader at all. Like you said, beware of the coercive and manipulative ones. A true servant leader will not expect anything in return for anything that they give or do for their followers. The respect needs to be a mutual two-way street. Respect will go a long way when something positive or negative happens and blame or praise needs to be placed.