Servant_ONL.ppt

*
Servant Leadership
Good leaders must first become good servants.
Robert Greenleaf

*

*
Overview
Servant Leadership Defined
Servant Leaders Characteristics
Becoming a Servant Leader

*

*
Servant Leadership
Robert Greenleaf

Servant as Leader (1970)

Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership

Greenleaf.org

Westfield, IN
Information, resources, conferences, seminars, consulting

*

Servant Leadership Description
Servant Leadership – is a paradox: both service and influence

Interest in Servant Leadership
Most scholarship has been prescriptive, until recently
Past 10 years have clarified the concept and its assumptions
Focuses on leadership from the point of view of the leader and his/her behaviors
Servant leaders put followers first

*

*

*
Servant Leadership Defined
Servant-Leadership is a practical philosophy which supports people who choose to serve first, and then lead as a way of expanding service to individuals and institutions.
Servant-leaders may or may not hold formal leadership positions.
Servant-leadership encourages collaboration, trust, foresight, listening, and the ethical use of power and empowerment.

*

*
Characteristics of the

Servant Leader (Spears, 2004)
Listening
Empathy
Healing
Awareness
Persuasion

*
Listening:
identify and clarify the will of a group
listen receptively to what is being said (and not being said!).
getting in touch with one’s own inner voice, and seeking to understand what one’s body, spirit, and mind are communicating.

Empathy:
People need to be accepted and recognized for their special and unique spirits.
One must assume the good intentions of co-workers and not reject them as people, even when forced to reject their behavior or performance.

Healing:
Learning to heal is a powerful force for transformation and integration.
Many people have broken spirits and have suffered from a variety of emotional hurts. Although this is a part of being human, servant-leaders recognize that they have an opportunity to help make whole those with whom they come in contact.

Awareness:
General awareness, and especially self-awareness, strengthens the servant-leader.
Awareness also aids in understanding issues involving ethics and values.
It enables one to view most situations from a more integrated position.

Persuasion:
reliance upon persuasion, rather then positional authority, in making decisions within an organization.
Servant-leaders seek to convince others, rather than coerce compliance.
This particular element offers on of the clearest distinctions between the traditional authoritarian model and that of servant-leadership.
effective at building consensus within groups.

*
Characteristics of the

Servant Leader (Spears, 2004)
Conceptualization
Foresight
Stewardship
Commitment to the growth of people
Building community

*
Conceptualization:
Servant-leaders seek to nurture their abilities to “dream great dreams.”
one must think beyond day-to-day realities.
a servant-leader must stretch his or her thinking to encompass broader-based conceptual thinking.
Servant-leaders must seek a delicate balance between conceptualization and day-to-day focus.

Foresight:
The ability to foresee the likely outcome of a situation
Foresight is a characteristic that enables servant-leaders to understand the lessons from the past, the realities of the present, and the likely consequence of a decision for the future.
It is deeply rooted within the intuitive mind.

Stewardship:
holding something in trust for another
CEOs, staffs, directors, and trustees all played significant roles in holding their institutions trust for the greater good of society.

Commitment to the growth of people:
Servant-leaders believe that people have an intrinsic value beyond their tangible contributions as workers.
deeply committed to the personal, professional, and spiritual growth of each and every individual within the institution.
making available funds for personal and professional development, taking a personal interest in employees’ ideas and suggestions, encouraging worker involvement in decision making, actively assisting laid-off workers to find other employment, and so on.

Building community:
seek to identify a means for building community among those who work within a given institution.

Building a Theory about Servant Leadership
Greenleaf’s leadership approach – loosely defined characteristics and normative principles
Servant leadership adopted as guiding philosophy in many organizations
Recent models of SL developed using multiple variables
Russell and Stone (2002)
Patterson (2003)

*

Model of Servant Leadership

(Liden et al., 2008)

*

How does Servant Leadership work?
SL is different from many other leadership theories.
It is concerned with putting followers first and the outcomes that are likely to emerge.
SL works best when leaders are altruistic and have a strong motivation to help others.
It is important for followers to be receptive to this style of leadership.
SL results in community and societal change.

*

Application
SL can be applied at all levels of management and in all types of organizations.
SL has been used extensively in a variety of organizations for more than 30 years.
Organizations should be careful to select employees who (a) are interested in building long term relationships with followers and (b) have strong ethics.
SL is taught at many colleges and universities and is used by numerous independent coaches, trainers, and consultants.

*

*

*
How Do You Become a

Servant-Leader?
Listen to others
Involve others
Help people get what they want
Promote teamwork rather than individual decision making
Enhance problem-solving skills
Adapt to the situation
Use power honestly
Inspire others to service

*

*
Servant Leadership
Strengths
Focus on followers’ needs
Fits well with mission of non-profit organizations
Gaining popularity
Makes altruism the central component of the leadership process.

Criticisms
SL is not a panacea. It may not be effective when subordinates are not open to being guided, supported, and empowered.
May be seen as whimsical, or not really “leadership.”
Researchers are unable to reach consensus on a common definition or theoretical framework for SL.

*