Learning Activity 4.1

Learning Activity 4.1

• Why is servant leadership an interesting or worthwhile topic/phenomenon to research?
• Why would this article interest researchers in the leadership field?
• What is already known about servant leadership?

Servant leadership is a worthwhile topic to research because it is a paradox – “an approach to leadership that runs counter to common sense” (Northouse, 2016, p. 225). Without insightful research and thorough reflection, servant leadership should not exist. How can a leader lead effectively if he or she acts as a servant for others? Servant leadership is a relatively new phenomenon, originating from the writings of Greenleaf (as cited in Northouse, 2016, p. 225) in the 1970s and not until recently in the past ten years have more publications been made to help clarify servant leadership and substantiate its basic assumptions (Northouse, 2016, p. 225).

Sendjaya and Sarros’ (2002) article Servant leadership: Its origin, development, and application in organizations is helpful for researchers in the leadership field because it thoroughly describes the background and basis for servant leadership. The article also discusses the similarities and differences between servant leadership and it’s close counterpart, charismatic leadership (Sendjaya & Sarros, 2002, p. 61). Sendjaya and Sarros (2002, p. 62) also briefly discusses the application of servant leadership in organizations. A research who is in the early stages of researching servant leadership is able to understand a broad history of servant leadership and it’s practical applications after reading this article. The researcher may be able to narrow down a more specific and detailed research topic based on the information from Sendjaya and Sarro’s (2002) article.

One issue with Sendjaya and Sarro’s (2002) article is it was written over 16 years ago in 2002. Northouse (2016) states that prior to the last 10 years, “most of the academic and nonacademic writing on this topic has been prescriptive, focusing on how servant leadership should ideally be, rather than descriptive, focusing on what servant leadership actually is in practice” (p. 225). While Sendjaya and Sarro’s article is useful to understand the basis of servant leadership, a researcher should ideally be looking at more current research on this topic in order to know the current state of knowledge on servant leadership.

Servant leadership is a form of leadership where the leader places the well-being of the followers above all else (Northouse, 2016, p. 226). There are ten characteristics of a servant leader: listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to the growth of people, and building community (Northouse, 2016, p. 227-229). Servant leadership focuses primarily on the behavior of leaders and how these actions promote each followers’ personal and professional growth (Northouse, 2016, p. 230).

References

Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Servant Leadership: Its Origin, Development, and Application in Organizations. (2002). Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 9(2), 57-64.

Original assignment post found here.