Emerging Leadership Theories Analysis: Servant Leadership
I sometimes wonder whether Robert Greenleaf, originator of the term “servant leadership” had any idea of the extent of the impact that his seemingly oxymoronic concept would have decades after he introduced it. He was the first to recognize it as a managerial model of leadership, where the highest priority needs of the follower are being served by the servant who is the leader (Greenleaf Center, 2008). This theory is one that is exemplified by the teachings of Jesus Christ in Matthew 10:43 NIV, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant.”
According to Dierendonck, (2011). one of the attributes of the servant leader is humility. It is an attitude by the servant leader that acknowledges that workers may have more knowledge and experience than they may. I have found that when people are approached in humility, whether in a workplace or community setting, the results are very interesting. People begin to empathize with management and an environment of trust and value emerges. This goes hand in hand with an environment where learning occurs in a give and take manner.
I worked in a department where no one, except the executives had been there longer than a few years. Although I was not a manager, I emerged as servant leader by being humble and willing to help other workers attain the knowledge they needed to set them up for success at their job. It was an environment of collaboration and teamwork and resulted in a higher level of interest in the daily tasks as well as a higher level of morale. A year and a half later, I was chosen to be the department lead in a system migration. They brought in consultants to handle the IT part of it but I taught the others how to manage the