Week 4 Learning Activities “Servant Leadership”

This idea of servant leadership has been in discussion for over 40 years (Northouse, 2019, p. 227). While there have been many definitions of a servant leader, Greenleaf (1970) gives us the most modern interpretation of servant leadership:

“[Servant Leadership] begins with the natural feel that one wants to serve, to serve first. The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant – first to make sure that other people’s highest priority needs are being served. (p. 15)

In my personal experience, servant leaders tend to doubt their leadership and their influence. This is probably because they don’t identify with the stereotypical leader. Colleen Barret states that “I am as good a follower as I am a leader (if I am one)” (Barrett) which gives the watcher the mindset that a servant leader needs. It’s incredible when you relate this definition of servant leadership and Colleen Barret’s words to John Maxwell’s five levels of leadership how different bosses are from leaders.  These are:

  (Maxwell, 2013)

From these five levels you can see that Colleen Barret is a level 5 servant leader. Servant leadership has shaped who she is and what she wants to see done in others. According to Spears (2002), there are ten characteristics from Greenleaf’s writing that are central to the development of a servant leader: listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to the growth of people, and building community. (Northouse, 2019, p. 229-230).

There is a difference between emotional intelligence and servant leadership’s awareness. Mainly that emotional intelligence focuses on looking at and understanding the follower’s emotions and then harnessing those so that the follower can become more productive and effective. Whereas awareness in the servant leadership approach allows the leader to step aside and view themselves and their own perspectives in the greater context of the situation (Northouse, 2019, p. 229).

References:

Barrett, C. (2008, July 9). Southwest Airlines’ Colleen Barrett on ‘Servant Leadership’. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TgR95vnM0c

Greenleaf, R. K. (1970). The servant as leader. Westfield, IN: Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership

Maxwell, J. (2015, August 30). John Maxwell 5 Levels of Leadership Full Video. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oe6XacmIZms

Northouse, P. G. (2019). Leadership: Theory and practice (8th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publication