The Essence of Servant Leadership

Servant leadership is a leadership philosophy focused on supporting the growth and well-being of people.  In the context of an organization, a servant leader supports and empowers their employees to help them achieve their goals, improve their skills and grow as both employees and individuals.  Servant should not be confused with subservient.  In other words, servant leadership does not mean that the leader is bossed around by their employees doing whatever is asked of them.  Furthermore, a traditional top-down leader leverages authority and power to direct an outcome. They would say, “Do this work for me so that I can be successful and I will let you share my success.”  On the contrary, the relationship between a servant leader and their employees is one of mutual respect and benefit where the leader is focused on the best interest of their employees to ensure mutual success at the individual, team and organization levels.  A servant leader would say, “How can I help you achieve your goals? If you are successful, then I have succeeded.”

The concept of servant leadership is thought to be a timeless concept demonstrated as far back as biblical times, but the term servant leadership was originally introduced by Robert K. Greenleaf in an essay published in 1970. More recently, Dr. Ken Blanchard has published multiple books and spoke at many conferences about servant leadership. Dr. Blanchard says that there are two aspects of servant leadership.  The first is vision and direction; this is the “leadership” part of servant leadership.  Leadership is about movement and outcomes.  If you have no destination, not trying to achieve anything, there is nothing to follow.

A servant leader sets the direction, describes the vision of what success looks like, and establishes goals and priorities for the team. If you imagine a group of people needing to travel to an unknown location, the servant leader would identify the direction to travel and describe a vision of the unknown location so everyone could recognize when they get to where they’re going (achieved their goal). The second aspect of servant leadership is the “servant” part.

Serving is about turning the company hierarchy upside-down, providing support and resources to employees to help them achieve the vision and goals.  An effective leader who sets a clear direction and vision enables employees to have autonomy and choose how they will approach their roles and tasks to achieve the vision and goals.  As a servant, the servant leader creates a psychologically safe environment for their employees.  This means that the workplace is an environment where people can feel comfortable to take risks, communicate transparently and be themselves without fear of negative consequences. Employees must be able to thrive both as individuals and as a team to successfully achieve the vision.

Check out the references below for more information about servant leadership!

https://www.greenleaf.org/what-is-servant-leadership/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOVV7Tl1PKI

https://www.servantleadership.ca/servant-leadership-defined

Blanchard, K., & Hodges, P. (2019). Servant Leadership in Action: How You Can Achieve Great Relationships and Results. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

Greenleaf, R. K. (1970). The Servant as Leader.

Northouse, P. G. (2018). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Sage Publications.

Spears, L. C. (Ed.). (1995). Insight on Leadership: Service, Stewardship, Spirit, and Servant-Leadership. John Wiley & Sons.