Servant leadership is defined as “beginning with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead” and that “servant leaders place the good of followers over their own self-interests and emphasize follower development” (Northouse, 2021, p. 459). With a clear definition, it is easier to see if someone is being a servant leader and then helps us to decide if servant leadership is really the way one ought to be. A true leader is someone who works for their staff, and who plays on the same team. It is one thing to be a coach and another to be a team captain. Leadership is best when the leader makes it their job to serve.
So what does it mean to be a servant leader? Northouse lays out a strong foundation for what makes a leader a servant leader. There are many qualities we can look at. For example, a servant leader has some distinct characteristics. Some of which include “empathy, persuasion, and building community” (Northouse, 2021). These characteristics come out when the leader uses empathy to “stand in the shoes of another person,” and persuade “through nonjudgmental argument,” and build community “providing a place where people can feel safe and connected wit others” (Northouse, 2021, p. 464). Taking all of this into account, a servant leader can bring their employees into the fold and convene them to be strong workers and invest themselves into the company, and feel a sense of support from others in their communities wit the option to present ideas and take on their own leadership roles within the group by being free to be innovative and add their visions to the workplace. Overall a servant leader lays the foundation for everyone to feel safe, feel understood, and feel empowered to try their best and take on responsibilities in the group/workforce, which in turn will lead to a collaborative efficiently flowing work system. When a leader uses these characteristics as a basis for how they interact with their teams, they are in service. They serve by taking time to see how their employees live their lives, what emotional motivations exist in each employee and then shaping their approach accordingly. The leader serves in a compassionate way by being objective and fair in how they coach staff, avoiding directives or making assumptions about why an employee does what they do, i.e. they don’t judge an employee for being late, but will take time to understand and then action plan and foster growth. As a servant leader, the boss will make sure there is peace and harmony and a safe space in the workplace, allowing the community to flourish. Servant leaders serve by making sure everyone is collaborative and getting support in the specific ways each staff member may need. When a boss is working hard to make sure people are happy, then they can focus on growth and caching in a safe and caring way, as a result staff will be more receptive and commit themselves to the group and also begin to support one another. The cats and effect f service is fantastic!
When thinking about servant leadership I think of an experience I had as an employee reporting to a manger in a retail shop. He was the essence of a servant leader. He had daily check ins with staff each shift to see where they were at emotionally, offer support, and then jump into a brief coaching session for that shift and goals he had for us. There was a collaborative conversation in which both of us would talk about areas of growth and goals we could achieve in each shift. This was a greta example of how a servant leader encompasses empathy and persuasion int their leadership style. The persuasion was indirect as he would discuss areas of growth and coach us aka persuade into trying things differently, but in a way that worked for us as individuals. In addition to these daily check ins and coaching sessions, he would also focus on building a community. He would have weekly breakfast donut meetings and allow for everyone to be social and express their views on various parts of the job. We all got to have a voice and express our ideas for how we could go about improving the work experience and efficiently of th store. He encouraged us to reach out to one another and highlighted everyone strengths. This gave us each he opportunity to be a leader by using our unique skills to coach others and be models for each other in our different strengths. We became a family in a weird way. We knew professional boundaries and communicated clearly and openly with one another. There was a true sense of trust ad harmony in the work place. This manger was someone who would also sacrifice his weekends and plans from the to time ignorer to step up and support staff when they needed time off for important things. This allowed for work life balance and created space for staff to feel free at work. When staff can feel free and supported, thee is a stronger sense of commitment to the leader and company itself. It is human nature to take care of those who take care of us. A servant leader capitalizes on this by means of authentic acts of service. This store was the top store in all of the US and our manager was invited to speak at company conferences to teach other mangers about how he ran his store. The company later came out with trainings on how t be a servant leader as a result of his actions. This really highlights just how effective servant leadership is, it led to a harmonious environment that also created great results for the business’s performance.
There is a reason why dictatorships typically fail. There is always going t be a revolution and war when there is no freedom or connection in a workplace. Servant leadership paves the way for harmonious work environments and involves leaders actively working side by side and for their teams. A servant leader uses human connection and service to not only grow talent and company performance, but to create an everlasting energy in the workplace that keeps staff motivated and invested and most importantly, happy!
References
Northouse, P.G. (2021). Leadership: Theory & Practice (9th e.d.). SAGE Publishing.