In this blog I would like to explain how personally adopting a servant leadership style has rewarded me as the leader. In a previous blog located here, I revealed how working for a pseudo-transformational leader led me to categorically reject the selfishness the was the foundation of his leadership style and caused me to adopt a servant leadership style. At the time, I was completely unaware of any leadership theory and had no idea a concept like servant leadership existed. Nonetheless, I acted in a manner consistent with the practice of servant leadership. Over time became aware of the theory, which not only explained to me why what I was doing worked. It also helped me continue to develop as a leader. I have always felt a level of satisfaction from being a servant leader, but the benefits go beyond mere gratification.
According to Northouse (2016), servant leadership is unique in its altruistic nature. Unlike every other leadership theory servant leadership stresses the importance of empowering followers by relinquishing control (Northouse, 2016). Spears (as cited by Northouse, 2016) identified ten characteristics of a servant leader. Awareness, persuasion, stewardship, commitment to the growth of people, and building community are some of those traits I instinctively performed before even hearing about servant leadership theory. My awareness centered around understanding my position as leader did not place me above my followers. In any organization, every member of that organization serves a role to the group. The leader is not above the group. They are simply performing their assigned role within the group. As an Army leader I feel that me soldiers do not work for me. I work for them and they work for the American people. It may sound like a phrase meant for propaganda, but I truly believe it and remind my soldier often of that belief.
Stewardship is another characteristic I display. Stewardship of the positions I hold. A unique characteristic of Army life is I do not own the positions I hold. I am just a caretaker for a short period of time attempting to uphold the honor of serving in that position. The Army has a long history and each organization within it does as well. For every senior position I have held in the Army, there are pictures on the wall showing the past leaders that have held the same position. There will be many more added after mine. It is this understanding that guides me in the commitment to growth within the organization.
Servant leaders are committed to the development and growth of the members of their organization (Northouse, 2016). I am keenly aware that those who follow me are the next generation of leaders in the Army. Their development ensures the Army will continue to have excellent leaders in the future. I encouraged my soldiers to seek educational opportunities both in professional military courses and seeking higher civilian education. I often did this by sacrificing my own needs. The main reason I am 46 years old and just now completing my BS in OLEAD is because I would gladly provide one of my followers the opportunity to attend courses, even if it meant I could not.
This blog, however, is not meant to show myself as some super selfless servant leader. In fact, what is important to note is the reciprocation of servant leadership by followers resulting in many direct benefits to both the organization and the leader. When a leader has the humility, they tend to the needs of the follower altruistically (Russell, 2016). When the follower recognizes their needs being met in this manner their trust and commitment to the leader solidifies the leader’s legitimate power (Russell, 2016). Organizational commitment increases resulting in low turnover and increased customer satisfaction (Russell, 2016). The organizations I lead have routinely had the highest levels of soldiers requesting to reenlist with the option to stay in the unit as opposed to transferring to another. Furthermore, I am able to direct my soldiers across the battlefield in some of the harshest conditions without fear of losing their commitment. The trust built provides me the legitimate power to order my followers to at times risk their lives without their seemingly unquestioned loyalty. It is only through their accurate belief that I have their best interests in mind with every decision I make that legitimate power is gained.
Servant leadership is a style of leadership that is personally rewarding to a selfless leader. The benefits go beyond just self-gratification though. Organizational commitment and performance are increased. Customer satisfaction and profit margins increase as well (Russell, 2016). The Army does not have customers, nor does it have profit margins. However, through servant leadership, overall organizational effectiveness is improved as well as soldier satisfaction.
References
Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and practice. Los Angeles: Sage.
Russell, E. J. (2016). Servant leadership’s cycle of benefit. Servant Leadership: Theory & Practice, 3(1), 3. Retrieved from http://csuepress.columbusstate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1009&context=sltp
jlj47 says
I specifically left out details of my specific examples, in an attempt to make the blog about the benefits of servant leadership and not seem as a search for praise for my actions. But I thank you for the praise none the less. In truth I can not think of a time where I felt placed in a moral dilemma between what the Army wanted me to do and what I believed was best for my soldiers. I do, however, believe I advanced more slowly in rank because my actions as a leader do not easily translate on evaluation reports that typically highlight quantitative measures of performance.
To answer your question about Capt. Crozier, I do not know anything about him beyond the actions he took that has been widely reported.so it is possible he is a servant leader who took the actions he deemed necessary to protect his crew. In fact I one of the themes of my leadership philosophy I always share with new soldiers to my organization is that I love everyone of them in the organization. But the good of the organization will always outweigh the good of any one member of the organization including myself. With that as a leader philosophy you probably think I agree with his actions, Unfortunately, that is not true.
In my opinion, Capt. Crozier’s actions were careless at best, and negligent to the point where I might consider him to be a pseudo-transformational leader at worst. The letter he wrote and sent in an E-mail to the twenty individuals should have never been sent on an unclassified server. The operational readiness of an aircraft carrier is classified. The navy serves as the perimeter guard force of the country. If an Army commander sent letters on an unclassified server that leaked to the press that the west guard towers of the a camp in Iraq would not be used for over a month because many of the guard forces were sick and the towers needed to be sanitized, there is no question the safety and security of everyone on that camp would be compromised. In effect, what Capt Crozier did was the same thing bet for the entirety of our national security. How allowed it to be public knowledge that a carrier, one of America’s guard towers, was not going to be manned for over a month because many of the crew was sick and the ship needed sanitized. I do not think it is a coincidence that seven Russian Navy ships entered the English channel (Bashir & Picheta, 2020) and Chinese Navy ships attacked and sank a Vietnamese, the country the USS Teddy Roosevelt had just left, fishing boat in disputed waters (ABC News, 2020) within a week of the letters leaking to the press.
The actions of the crew cheering Capt. Cozier while he left the ship could also support a pseudo-transformational leadership approach. Northouse (2016) explains that the same positive attributes that leaders use to inspire greatness within an organization, can have disastrous outcomes if not supported by ethics. Using another analogy, children whose parents spoil them love their parents but that doesn’t make them good parents.
As I stated earlier, I do not know Capt Crozier’s motivations for doing what he did. Nor do I specifically condemn his actions. However, sending those letters on an unclassified server was either careless or intentionally negligent. Either way I support the Navy’s decision to relieve him of command.
References
ABC News. (2020, April 8). Philippines backs Vietnam after China sinks fishing boat. https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/philippines-backs-vietnam-china-sinks-fishing-boat-70037606
Bashir, N., & Picheta, R. (2020, March 26). Russian warships in English Channel prompt UK navy shadowing operation. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/26/uk/uk-navy-russia-warships-gbr-intl/index.html
Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and practice. Los Angeles: Sage.
Christopher Pristan Melchor says
I commend your actions as a servant leader within the armed forces. As a member within the Air Force, I could personally say with honesty, it is rare to find leaders who lead solely for the benefit of their troops. I too like to say that I lead as a servant to my troops because I understand, first hand, what it is like within a unit where it seems like no one cares about you. Though as a servant leader I have found myself at many times at moral dilemmas where I had to make a decision between jeopardizing the relationship with my troops or ‘doing the right thing’. I would like to ask you how many times you’ve been in these types of situations and do you chose the what is best for you people or what the Army wants you to do? One of the most recent examples that have been brought to light is the Navy Captain Crozier and what he did for his sailors. According to a New York Times article, Crozier sent a letter to 20-30 individuals that eventually leaked to news media (Cooper, Gibbons-Nef, Schmitt, 2020). He did this because he feared he was risking the lives of his crew due to the spread of COVID-19 among his ship. As the docked in Guam, he was fired because his actions were deemed ‘unable to lead a crew’. Though, as Captain Crozier walked off the ship, the entire crew aboard was giving him a round a applause for his actions. As Gergen (2006) states about servant leadership, “…it has a utopian ring because it conflicts with individual autonomy and other principles of leadership such as directing, concern for production, goal setting, and creating a vision” (Gergen as stated by Northouse, 2016, p.240). Do you think Capt. Crozier’s servant leadership effected his “concern for production” from a Navy and DOD perspective?
Reference
Cooper, H. Gibbons-Neff & T. Schmitt, E. (2020, April 3) The Navy Fired the Captain of the Theodore Roosevelt. See How the Crew Responded. Nytimes.com. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/03/us/politics/coronavirus-brett-crozier-theodore-roosevelt.html
Northouse, Peter G. Leadership. SAGE Publications, Inc. (US), 2016. [MBS Direct].