Going out on a limb, trying something out of your comfort zone, coping with challenges… everyone, at some point in time, has experienced the anxiety that comes along with these scenarios. But when you have someone in your corner, cheering you on, for no other reason than they want to see you succeed can make you feel like you can do anything. Sometimes the best thing about being a leader is that you don’t actually have to be in a position of leadership to be a great one- sometimes you just have to genuinely care.
Servant leadership can turn noses in the air simply because the name initially doesn’t imply leadership. Until one takes a closer look at what servant leadership entails. A servant is defined as “a devoted and helpful follower or supporter.” And when it comes to servant leadership one has the desire to serve others without the desire for power, but a genuine desire to help others succeed. Some examples of servant leaders include Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Mother Teresa (Brown, 2013). All were concerned with the well-being of the people they represented even when it was not within popular opinion to do so. All three displayed the ten characteristics of a servant leader – listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to the growth of people, and building community (PSUWC, Module 11, p 2).
Servant leaders are truly and consciously committed to the growth and development of others with no ulterior motives. By doing so they’re able to form strong bonds with their followers. This in turn will help followers to feel empowered to pursue their goals and challenges, which will then develop them into even more productive members of the organization (PSUWC, Module 11, p2). So essentially, by helping someone to get out of their comfort zone and develop themselves, they are helping the organization become stronger, and quite possibly, developing others to become more servant leaders.
References
Brown, J. (2013, July 11). Who Are These Servant Leaders? Retrieved April 6, 2015, from http://online.ben.edu/blog/leadership/who-are-these-servant-leaders
Pennsylvania State University World Campus (2015). PSYCH 485, Module 11: Servant Leadership. Retrieved from https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/sp15/psych485/001/content/11_lesson/03_page.html