On Easter Sunday, it seems appropriate to address the topic of servant leadership. Servant leadership, succinctly stated, is the act leading through serving followers (Northouse, 2013). The apparent contradiction has puzzled people for many years, stretching back to the days of Jesus who many consider the original proponent of servant leadership. Much as has been said about servant leadership as a function of religion (Snodgrass, 1993) (Sarros & Sendjay, 2002) (Joaquin, 2015), but some are considering servant leadership as a function of femininity.
With more and more women gaining positions of leadership, trends seem to have emerged in the leadership styles exhibited by women. Normore and Trinidad found that women tend to be less authoritarian and more likely to encourage followers, to share power, to sacrifice self-interests for the greater good, and to value interpersonal skills as a form of power (2004, p. 579). Joyce Banda, the former leader of Malawi has claimed that in her experiences women are more likely to make use of the servant leadership style (2014).
It is important to consider why women may be likely to lead via servant leadership. One theory is that servant leadership is a logical extension of biological drives. This perspective considers women to be naturally empathetic, nurturing, and encouraging. As such, they display the same traits in leadership positions that served them in the maternal roles. A counter to this argument is that women tend to lead this way due to socialization. This perspective results in the same conclusion about what styles women are most likely to employ but it suggests women arrive at that choice to due external pressures to be sociable and accommodating. Still a third explanation exists that because women are harshly criticized for displaying traditionally masculine traits in the workplace, they are left with few choices if they seek to avoid disgruntled followers (Normore & Trinidad, 2004).
Regardless of why women use servant leadership, it would be difficult to deny the similarities between the aspects of servant leadership and traditional gender roles prescribed to women. With little thought, most of the ten characteristics of a servant leader can be understood as characteristics of femininity as well: listening, empathy, healing, persuasion, commitment to growth of people, and building community (Northouse, 2013). These are all thought of as being feminine traits. That does not mean the others traits do not mesh with concepts of femininity, but I believe that the selected traits fit with little explanation needed to justify the comparison.
There seems to be a legitimate relationship between servant leadership and traditionally feminine traits. Whether that means women are better at using servant leadership than men remains to be adequately addressed, but for now, I am content to recognize famous female role models of servant leadership such as CEOs Cheryl Bachelder of Popeye’s and Denise Morrison of Campell’s, as well as Carin Stutz, president of McAlister’s Deli (Dunn, 2015).
References
Banda, J. (2014). Investigating women’s journey into public life: Above the parapet. Retrieved from http://www.malawianwatchdog.com/2014/10/16/ex-malawi-pres-joyce-banda-delivers-public-lecture-at-london-school-of-economics-full-speech/
Dunn, L. (2015, April 4). Women in business q&a: Carin Stutz president, McAlister’s Deli. The Blog. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/laura-dunn/women-in-business-qa-cari_b_7003470.html
Joaquin, B. (2015, April 6). Servant leader or self-serving leader? Philstar: Lifestyle. Retrieved from http://www.philstar.com/business-life/2015/04/06/1440706/servant-leader-or-self-serving-leader
Normore, A. H., & Trinidad, C. (2005). Leadership and gender: A dangerous liaison? Leadership and organizational development journal Vol 26 (7). Retrieved from http://www4.csudh.edu/Assets/CSUDH-Sites/Library/civic-directory/docs/n-q/normore-anthony/leadership-and-gender.pdf
Northouse, P.G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.
Sarros, J. C., & Sendjaya, S. (2002). Servant leadership: Its origins, development, and application in organizations. Journal of leadership and organizational studies, Vol. 9 (2). Retrieved from http://www.lead.fju.edu.tw/teacher/Lucia/course/Servant%20Leadership/2002-09-Servant%20leadership%20%20It’s%20origin,%20development,%20and%20application%20in%20organizations.pdf
Snodgrass, K. R. (1993). Your slaves—An account of Jesus’ servant leadership in the New Testament. In J. R. Hawkinson & R. K. Johnstone (Eds.), Servant leadership (Vol. 1, pp. 17-19). Chicago: Covenant.
You make some good points. But you do not cover the servant leadership model (Northouse, 2013) and the Antecedent conditions that might exist in a leadership position. The business culture that exist may favor a servant female leader than any other leadership style. So just considering a female leader’s attributes may not be presenting the whole picture. One must also take into consideration the follwers and their expetations of the leader. if the followers are not looking for a servant leader, will the servant leader be successful?
It was both appropriate and brilliant to post on Easter Sunday about one of the most revered servant leaders in history, Jesus Christ. As a self-professed advocate for servant leadership, I think Christ is simply the best example of it. Though I am not overtly religiously inclined, the Bible is a ready reference manual for examples of multiple forms of leadership to include the servant nature of Christ. I commend you on the bold initiative of citing the life and times of Jesus Christ in academia.
I was particularly interested in your blog because of its central focus on women in leadership positions. I feel that women are some of the most effective natural leaders because of their maternal instincts; it directly relates to servant leadership. Servant leadership requires an emotional investment in the people being led, and women tend to have a more dynamic emotional approach in their actions. I don’t particularly recognize any form of leadership as masculine or feminine, but I can understand how some may consider servant leadership as a more maternal form of leadership.
When I think about entering the work force after years of service, I accept that I need a boss or a manager to tell me what to do. More important than that, however, is that I need a leader to tell me who I can become. I think the real difference between a servant leader and a manger is that the leader is emotionally invested in me reaching the limits of my capabilities [making me become a better person/worker/leader], and the manager simply wants results.
Though I feel that women are more naturally inclined to servant leadership, it is not something holistically feminine or unique to them. The natural inclination does not necessarily translate to behavior because, as you pointed out, social influence and expectation can alter the leader approach. In then end, I though your post brilliantly highlighted the correlation between traditional gender roles among women and servant leadership.
References:
Northouse, P.G. (2013). Leadership Theory and Practice. Los Angeles: Sage Publications, Inc.
PSUWC Psych 485: Leadership in Workplace Settings. Lesson 11: Servant Leadership. Retrieved from https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/sp15/psych485/002/content/11_lesson/04_page.html