Servant Leadership

Do you agree that everyone can learn to be a servant leader? I don’t and I will tell you why…

First of all, according to the servant leadership perspective, there are ten characteristics of a servant leader. These characteristics are listed as follows: listening (communication between leaders and followers as an interactive process that includes sending and receiving messages), empathy (“standing in the shoes” of another person and seeing the world from their point of view), healing (to make whole by caring about the well-being of their followers), awareness (being acutely attuned and receptive to physical, social and political environments), persuasion (clear and persistent communication that convinces someone to change), conceptualization (ability to be a visionary for an organization and providing a clear sense of its goals and direction), foresight (ability to know the future and predict what is coming based on what is happening now and what has occurred in the past), stewardship (taking responsibility for the leadership role and accepting responsibility to carefully mange the people and organization), commitment to the growth of people (helping each person grow personally and professionally), and building community (fostering the development of the community), (Spears, 2002 as cited in Northouse 2013).

I think that most people are probably capable to be servant leaders; however, I do not agree that everyone can learn to be a servant leader or even desire to be a servant leader. A servant leader as stated above has to have certain characteristics. Not everyone has all of these characteristics nor do I think these characteristics can be learned. It seems to me, either you have them or you don’t. If you don’t have all these characteristics, it would seem to me that servant leadership wouldn’t be as effective and therefore, would have greater chance of failure on both the leader and the follower. For example, some people simply do not have the ability to persuade someone through gentle nonjudgmental argument nor are they able to have foresight and predict what is coming based on what has happened in the past and what is happening right now, as Spears, 2002 cited in Northouse, 2013, p.222) suggests.

There is also, according to Norhouse (2013) a wide array of models describing servant leadership that includes a variable amount of data. A practical model of servant leadership was developed that contained 20 attributes, nine functional characteristics, and 11 accompanying characteristics that augment these behaviors (Russell and Stone, 2002, as cited in Northouse, 2013). Also, (Patterson, 2003, as cited in Northouse, 2013, p. 223), “created a value-based model of servant leadership that distinguished seven constructs that characterize the virtues and shape the behaviors of servant leaders”. The table shown on p. 224 shows the lack of agreement between researchers on what defines servant leadership. This is another example of why I have my doubts that everyone can be a servant leader. It seems as though, there is not a cut and dry method that determines what characteristics or traits a servant leader really even has, so how can I really determine on if everyone could be one or not?

Additionally, there are antecedent or existing conditions that have an impact on servant leadership. They are: context and culture, leader attributes, and follower receptivity. Context and culture states that, “servant leadership does not occur in a vacuum but within a given organizational context and a particular culture (Northouse, 2013, p. 226).” If servant leadership occurs in particular culture, then it appears to me that everyone could not be a servant leader. Leader attributes are the qualities and dispositions of the leader and how it consequently influences the servant leadership process. According to Northouse, (2013, p.226), “people differ in areas such as moral development, emotional intelligence, and self-determinedness and these traits interact with their ability to engage in servant leadership”. If those traits interact with their ability to engage in servant leadership, how can they be a servant leader? Follower receptivity is another factor that influences the impact of servant leadership. Northouse, (2013), suggests that not all subordinates want to work with servant leaders. They believe that servant leadership is an equivalent to micromanaging and they don’t want their leader to get to know them on a higher level.

There are also servant leader behaviors to take into consideration. Those behaviors are: conceptualizing (the thorough understanding of the organization by the leader), emotional healing (being sensitive to personal concerns and the well-being of others), putting followers first (using actions and words that let the followers know that their concerns are your priority), helping followers grow and succeed (knowing followers’ personal and or professional goals and helping the succeed), behaving ethically (doing the right thing in the right way), empowering (allowing the followers freedom and being independent), and creating value for the community (giving back to the community), as cited in Northouse (2013). If each behavior makes a unique contribution and the behaviors are the central focus of servant leadership as Northouse (2013) suggests, I would doubt the ability of someone being a servant leader if they were lacking in one or more of these behaviors. Some people are not equipped with being an emotional healer, for example. I doubt that a behavior like this is capable of being taught or learned. I think some people simply don’t want to put forth such a tremendous amount of behavior that is required to be a servant leader.

I think that if the right type of individual is selected, servant leadership can produce very good results not only for the leader, but also the follower and ultimately the organization. As Norhouse (2013), explains, servant leadership has been used in a variety of organizations including Starbucks, AT&T, Southwest and more. It has also been taught at many colleges and universities as well. I think that with the right individual and the right training, it is a very successful type of leadership; however, I still don’t agree that everyone can learn to be a servant leader.

References:

Northouse, P.G. (2013). Servant Leadership. In L.C. Shaw & P. Quinlin (Eds.), Leadership theory and practice (6^th ed.) (pp.219-252). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.