By Ashley Wilson
Like building blocks, Servant Leadership’s focus is for the leader to be a servant to those around them and to meet the needs of their followers first and foremost and by doing so following the Servant Leadership approach to leadership, this provides the followers with the skills necessary to themselves become servant leaders (Northouse, 2013). This is a natural part of life and makes sense on the outside, like an example provided in Lesson 11: Servant Leadership in Psych485, this is much how parents serve their children and put their children before them in order for the children to become successful members of society and make everything of themselves that they dream, self-actualizing individuals who will then do the same for their children someday (PSU, SC, 2014, L. 11). There are 10 characteristics of a servant leader and the final characteristic is building community. Through Servant Leadership, the need, want or aspiration to serve others spills over from the organizational setting into the community to help those in need. This need to help others grows from the Servant Leader and into the followers who are also aspiring Servant Leaders and wish to help the community by providing the leadership and skills that their servant leader has provided them. A never-ending circle of everyone helping everyone and working together to be independent individuals with creative problem solving skills and a feelings of safety and people who care. This is why Servant Leadership leads to support for community.
Servant Leader Behaviors
Servant Leader Behaviors foster this sense of community support and outreach. The behaviors begin with conceptualizing. This behavior allows the leader to look at the big picture and take into consideration the situation at hand while also being able to solve a problem or think of a solution that follows the values and ethics of the organization (Northouse, 2013). It is easy to see how this could easily spill over into community support. Being able to understand a problem in the community and see how a problem for a few can have lasting and over-arching effects on the entire community is conceptualizing. The sense of community support would from a servant leader would recognize this problem and have an urge to provide the support necessary to solve it or at least help and get others involved.
Emotional Healing
The next behavior is emotional healing. Emotional healing is the ability to listen and care for others, making themselves available for this type of support and taking the time to address the emotional needs of others (Northouse, 2013). In an organizational setting, this reminds me of when people say to leave outside problems at the door when you walk into work. For many, this is nearly impossible to do. If someone is struggling emotionally on the inside, it is not realistic to expect them to leave those emotions at the door and hide them while at work. If the emotions are taken care of and someone feels heard, then it is more likely that person becomes more productive and maintains their sense of self-worth. Again, it is easy to see how this could easily spill over into community support. This behavior allows the servant leader to lend and ear or a shoulder to cry on when the community needs it. Whether this is at the individual level or at the community level, emotional support plays a big role in fulfilling the needs of others. Imagine a disaster strikes a community such as a tornado, a school shooting, etc… a servant leader is needed in these harsh times to listen and address problems and concerns and help the community come together and support each other. Without some of our basic mental health needs met, it can be difficult to move forward, at work or in the community.
Behaving Ethically
Another behavior exhibited by servant leaders is behaving ethically, meaning doing the right thing, maintain honesty and integrity and being fair (Northouse, 2013). A community in need of any kind of support will not listen to or follow someone whom they do not trust. This is an essential behavior for a servant leader again, in the organization and in the community. A want to help the community, serve the community and bring value to a community is a great thing, but it will only be taken seriously if the leader is ethical, truthful and forthcoming.
Creating Value for the Community
The last behavior we will discuss that is essential to a servant leader is the behavior of creating value for the community (Northouse, 2013). Not only does a servant leader themselves feel an obligation to serve the community and give back, but they also need to promote this kind of activity and help followers understand the value of giving back and what that means for an organization and for the community and people they are supporting. By creating value for the community, the servant leader creates a sense of urgency in others to want to give back and foster the never ending circle of everyone helping everyone and getting the support that everyone needs.
Outcome-Community Impact
The outcome of these behaviors (along with the other behaviors described by Northouse) provide a couple of different outcomes, but the most important here is the significant impact on society and the community. By putting others above yourself and in essence, the community needs above yourself, the servant leader draws attention to those needs and gains support from followers to also help. An example provided by Northouse is that of Mother Teresa and how she dedicated her life to those in need and how those actions lead to a sustained greater society. She recognized the need, gained support, took action and in the end has been recognized for her efforts because of the things she did to create a better community. While recognition is not what is sought after by a servant leader, sometimes it is impossible to hide behind the curtains when extraordinary accomplishments are made.
Examples of Servant Leaders in the Community
Northouse provides a case of the Kalamazoo community that was struggling economically from job loss and segregation of schools and community. Anonymous donors provided a ‘Promise’ for those children who graduated high school from the district that they would go to college and provided enough funds to make that promise a reality. In turn, the economy grew and brought the community back together (Northouse, 2013). This example highlights how servant leaders improve and serve their community from the leader behavior to the outcomes and strong community impact. In my own experience, where I work, the organization as a whole strongly encourages community outreach and volunteering. They advocate that a strong community makes for strong business. They provide us with paid time off even to volunteer so we can make a difference in our communities. An investment in the community is ultimately an investment in the organization. A former boss of mine, who I would consider showcased many of these servant leader behaviors was a strong advocate for a particular organization in our city. It is a shelter for children in crisis situations and they provide care, food, clothing, counseling, shelter, etc…whatever they need to survive and thrive when in tough situations for any reason. My former boss scheduled time for us during work hours to visit the shelter and take a tour. He told us of the many reasons he devotes his time and money to this community cause on the way. When we got there, none of us knew how touched we would be. From that day forward, I have helped with many volunteer efforts for this organization, I devote time and money for this great cause and all because a previous servant leader taught me about their goals and vision for not only these children, but how helping these children and their families could help the community and make this a better place. A true example of how servant leaders support and improve community.
Conclusion
Servant leaders…while the name itself may be tarnished by thinking that these types of leaders are a lesser servant than what most think of as a leader, a bit of understand in what this type of leadership really means may change your mind. Servant leaders serve their follows by meeting their needs and teaching their followers to become leaders of their own to continue to pass down this tradition-like leadership style. By allowing followers to become leaders and providing the skills and tools necessary to do so, a sense of community and common good arise. The leader behaviors exhibited by servant leaders promote a need to service the community because good community leads to good business. Putting followers above yourself as the leader, letting them take the reins so to say and guide them to make ethical and good decisions for all involved sets followers up to advance themselves and become more or better. Just like parents raising their children and putting those children’s needs above their own, helping them become responsible citizens of society destined to do great things, servant leaders do this with their followers. These behaviors create the never-ending circle or building blocks to society that allows us to grow and achieve more and most importantly pass that along to others who are struggling. This is why servant leadership leads to support for communities.
References
Northouse, P. (2013). Leadership Theory and Practice (Sixth ed.) Sage Publications.
Pennsylvania State University World Campus (2014). PSYCH 485 Lesson 11: Servant Leadership. Retrieved from https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/fa14/psych485/002/content/11_lesson/printlesson.html