The Integrity Deficit: Is Servant Leadership the Cure?
“Leadership is an extreme sport. People who participate in extreme sports grow in both courage and humility.”
Cheryl Bachelder, CEO Popeye’s
The last decade has presented many examples of failed leadership. The media has covered men and women whose leadership has left organizations in chaos, followers financially depleted, governments divided, and the public questioning. Some of these leaders who have taken a walk on the dark side have been sentenced to jail time but others have walked away unscathed, except perhaps their reputation. After Enron, WorldCom, and the mortgage meltdown, America has come to realize the importance of business ethics and leader integrity. Northouse (2016) states that leadership is not an amoral phenomenon and ethics should be included in the process because leadership involves using influence to affect other people and their futures. He stresses that leadership behavior should be based upon values, but theories developed before transformational, servant and authentic did not address ethics (Northouse, 2016, p 348). A research study in 2002 by the Barna Group determined that Americans held little confidence in government leaders and executives of large corporations and were rated very low on the scale (Parolini, J. 2004).
Burke in his study of leadership effectiveness states that leaders fail for many reasons but the two main causes stem from ineffective or unethical behavior (Burke, 2006 p. 237). Both types of behavior damage the organization but unethical behavior destroys the trust relationship between leaders and followers and indicates a lack of integrity on the part of the leader (Burke, 2006, p.238). Lack of integrity has become an issue for organizations who suffer the consequences of unethical leaders, but often the organizational culture is the force behind the behavior. Today’s corporate environment demands that their leaders are “prophets for profit”, “trendsetters”, and “standouts” (Kaiser, R.B., Hogan, R. & Craig, S.B.2008).These terms indicate personal success but not necessarily indicate a leader with integrity. Determining effective leadership based on outcomes alone may not indicate ethical behavior and positive leader-follower relationships but rather success at any price. Leadership at its best involves influencing others to attain a goal in positive, creative, and caring ways. Influencing others in these ways requires values and integrity (Kaiser, R.B., Hogan, R. & Craig, S.B., 2008).
Northouse describes servant leadership as a process that puts followers first, serves their needs, empathizes with them, and helps them develop to their fullest potential, He explains that servant leadership has at its very core, ethical behavior (Northouse, P. , 3016, p225). The servant leader must be honest first with himself/herself as to make the choice to serve. The principles of servant leadership listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to the growth of the person, and the building of community are geared to the relationship between the servant leader and the follower. By focusing on people within the organization, including employees, customers, and stakeholders the leader is ethically focused. Robert Greenleaf the founder of servant leadership believed that by promoting the need to put others first in business would translate into healthier organizations, happier employees, and in the long term a better society (Northouse, P., 2016).
Yes, this all sounds a little like a fairy tale but imagine working among people who all had the same ideals of putting people before profit. Any unethical behavior would tend to stick out like a sore thumb. Working in an environment that emphasizes social conscience and the nurturing of future leaders sounds like an ideal place to spend your workday. There are companies who have adopted this leadership theory and found it successful. The list of companies embracing servant leadership includes Starbucks, SAS (Software), Wegmans, Zappos, AFLAC, Men’s Warehouse, Whole Foods and Southwest Airlines. These are not small business firms struggling to show success but successful firms who have embraced the people first moto. Perhaps there is some profit in putting people first, practicing honesty and integrity, and nurturing future leaders.
References:
Burke, R.J. & Cooper, C.L., (2006), Inspiring leaders, (pp.237-244). New York, NY: Routledge.
Kaiser, R.B., Hogan, R. & Craig S.B., (2008) Leadership and the fate of organizations, American
Psychologist, Feb.-March.
Lichtenwalner, B. (2012), Fortunes best companies to work for with servant leadership, Modern Servant
Leader. Retrieved from https://www.modernservantleader.com/servant-leadership/fortunes-best- companies-to-work-for-with- servant-leaders
Northouse, P.G., (2016), Leadership: Theory and practice, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications
Parolini, J.L., (2004), Effective servant leadership, School of Leadership Studies, Retrieved from
https://www.regent.edu/acad/global/publications/sl_proceedings/2004/parolini_effective_ser