“Servant leadership begins when leaders commit themselves to putting their followers first, being honest with them, and treating them fairly. Servant leaders make it a priority to listen to their followers and develop strong long-term relationships with them.” (Northouse, 2017, P 239). Northouse tells us that servant leaders center their values around the needs of others instead of their own needs. Servant leaders use their power to enable others. They do not use power for selfish reasons. “Rather than using their power to dominate others, leaders should make every attempt to share their power and enable others to grow and become autonomous.” (Northouse, 2017, P 239). A servant leader is someone who “develops and empowers others to reach their highest potential.” (Beck, 2014, P 300).
Emotional intelligence is the ability to monitor one’s own and other’s’ feelings, beliefs, and internal states and to use the information gained to guide the thinking and actions of both self and others (Barbuto et al. 2014, P 315) Emotional intelligence is an antecedent of servant leadership. (Beck, 2014). “Studies have found that emotional intelligence is an important leadership construct.” (Beck, 2014, P 301). Being trained in emotional intelligence, enables an individual to communicate and listen more effectively which are key components of servant leadership. (Northouse, 2017).
“The psychodynamic approach defends the idea that psychological, social and emotional processes between leaders and followers have a great influence and need to be taken into consideration.” (Northouse, 2017, P 305).
Both emotional intelligence and the psychodynamic approach provide insight into the control of our emotions and the motivational patterns that people exhibit. In servant leadership, the leader needs to be able to understand their own emotions, as well as the emotional patterns of others so that they can influence people. “In other words, to get people to do things that they would not otherwise do.” (Northouse, 2017, P 306). If a leader possesses emotional intelligence, as well as components of the psychodynamic approach, they will be more insightful and interested in why people do what they do and they will be more able to influence their followers. (Northouse, 2017).
John Maxwell suggests that in order for a leader to be in the higher levels of leadership, they will need a deep dedication to their followers. “You need to understand what people live for, strive for, and what excites them. You need to commit yourself to the people.” Better understanding our own emotions will enable us to be more effective in doing this.
“We define servant leadership as an altruistic-based form of leadership in which leaders emphasize the needs and development of others, primarily their followers. (Barbuto et al., 2014, P 316). An example of a servant leader would be Martin Luther King. Greenleaf proposed 5 attributes of a successful servant leader. These included listening, empathy, imagination, intuition and foresight. He noted that servant leaders begin leading with the deep desire to serve others. (Gordon, 2007, P 1). Martin Luther King was a leader who placed the needs of others above his own needs. Martin Luther King “put followers first, empowered them, and helped them develop their full potential.” (Northouse, 2017, P 225).
References
Barbuto, J.E., Gottfredson, R., Searle, T. (2014). An Examination of Emotional Intelligence as an Antecedent of Servant Leadership. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies
Derwing, T. M., Rossiter, M. J., & Munro, M. J. (2002). Teaching native speakers to listen to foreign-accented speech. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 23(4), 245-259. Vol 21, Issue 3, pp. 315 – 323
Gordon, Raymond Daniel. “Leadership, Servant.” International Encyclopedia of Organization Studies. Ed. . Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 2007. 786-89. SAGE Reference Online. Web. 30 Jan. 2012.
Maxwell, J. [JohnMaxwellCo]. (2013, September 10). John Maxwell The 5 Levels of Leadership [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPwXeg8ThWI
Northouse, P. (2017). Leadership: Theory and Practice.
“Both emotional intelligence and the psychodynamic approach provide insight into the control of our emotions and the motivational patterns that people exhibit.” -This was a great definition.
I found Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, key to understanding how leaders can manipulate people from a psychodynamic approach. I do feel that servant leaders must be aware of the emotional and motivational patterns of their followers, but I do not see servant leaders manipulating or as you said influencing people, through satisfying a persons needs. A servant leader models moral and upright behaviour through action, and a servant leader puts the growth of their followers above themselves.
Great definitions, and thoughts throughout your article. You have a really clear understanding of psychodynamic leadership and emotional intelligence. Thanks for your insights.