Servant Leadership is a leadership philosophy where you serve first and then be the leader. This philosophy was presented by Robert K. Greenleaf in 1970 where he said:
"The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first, perhaps because of the need to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire material possessions…The leader-first and the servant-first are two extreme types. Between them there are shadings and blends that are part of the infinite variety of human nature." (courtesy - greenleaf.org)
A servant leader is identified of having the following charecteristics:
- Calling - a calling to serve others
- Listening - a keen interest to listen to others views
- Empathy - an ability to understand others situation
- Healing - to emotionally support when things are not all well for someone
- Awareness - an awareness of the surrounding and being informed of the happenings
- Persuasion - others work for you because they want to and not because they have to
- Conceptualization - an environment to encourage others to share ideas openly
- Foresight - an ability to anticipate the future happenings and trends as much as possible
- Stewardship - to work for the larger benefit of the society
- Growth - help others grow
- Building Community - develop a sense of being in a community among the team members
Does Servant Leadership appeal to you? How many of the above charecteristics do you practice? Are you a servant leader?
Thanks for reading.