Activity 4.1: Servant leadership. https://create.twu.ca/ldrs591-sp18/unit-4-learning-activities/
Servant leadership: Its origin, development, and application in organizations.
http://ezproxy.student.twu.ca:3102/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=0&sid=acaea81d-e5e4-4056-a333-36eaa10867c2%40sessionmgr4007
Why is servant leadership an interesting or worthwhile topic/phenomenon to research?
The above article by Sendjaya and Sarros was published in 2002, and it seems like till then servant leadership was considered more of a philosophical idea, rather than an actual model for leadership. As per Northouse (2016, p. 225, para 3), there has been significant research on the principles of servant leadership in the last 10 years. Because of the association of the concept of a servant leader with Jesus and other religious figures, it does carry an intuitive appeal as a model of leadership. But what needs to be determined is whether it is applicable in all situations and to all kinds of personalities. It is also worthwhile it to research further whether it results in better efficiency, productivity and employee satisfaction, in direct comparison with other models of leadership.
Why would this article interest researches in the leadership field?
The authors summarise their arguments in favor of more research on the concept of servant leadership in the conclusion section of their article by proposing the following questions: “What are the differences between servant leaders and those who choose not to be? What does it take for a would-be servant leader to embrace the nature and play the role of servant leader? Are certain types of people likely to feel more comfortable with the role and nature of servant leader? Does the practice of servant leadership produce results that differ from other models/paradigms of leadership? Can servant leadership be measured? What are some organizational factors that are likely to foster and inhibit servant leadership practices?” (Sendjaya & Sarros, 2002, p. 63). The above questions, till now unanswered, call for further research.
What is already known about servant leadership?
The term servant leadership was coined by Greenleaf in 1977, “servant leaders are leaders who put other people’s needs, aspirations and interests above their own”. This article points that it was in fact Jesus who introduced the idea of servant leadership. Spears (2002) identified 10 characteristics of a servant leader, based on Greenleaf’s writings: listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to the growth of people, building community.
Servant leadership appeals to me on a philosophical level, but I am not sure if it is applicable to all situations. I would like to see more head to head comparative studies between servant leadership and other popular models of leadership such as transformational and authentic leadership
References:
Northouse, P.G. (2016). Leadership theory and practice. Thousand Oak, CA: SAGE.
Pollard, C.W. (1997, September/October). The leader who serves. Strategy and Leadership, 49-51.
Sendjaya, S., Sarros, J. C. (2002). Servant leadership: Its origin, development, and application in organizations. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 9 (2).
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on Servant Leadership from this article Simarjit. Then next 4 weeks you will be looking at the empirical evidence for servant leadership and how it works in different contexts.
Dr. Strong
I also wanted to mention that you didn’t need to create a blog post for 4.1. It was just an exercise to reflect upon the article. But thank you for sharing!