Leading to Serve: Strategies on the Servant Leadership Approach

Why would I want to practice servant leadership as a professional or volunteer supervisor?

Practicing and embodying servant leadership can provide you and the organization with a variety of benefits. Both you, as the leader, and the followers can benefit from servant leadership (Russell, 2016). Personal growth occurs for followers and for leaders (Savage-Austin, 2011).

The Concept of Servant Leadership

The concept of servant leadership is not new, but has recently received more attention. The concept is important to consider as you work on your projects or develop and deliver your programs. In 1977, Greenleaf first described the concept of a servant leader. He mentioned that servant leadership is the desire to serve. To reflect on "what we do" and "why we do it" can help us better understand ourselves from the perspective of servant leadership.

To determine if you are a servant leader, ask yourself the following questions.

• How am I serving my community members, team members, clientele, or stakeholders?
• What are my strengths as a leader and how am I demonstrating these to followers?
• How well do my community members, team members, clientele, or stakeholders know me?
• What can I do to serve my community members, team members, clientele, or stakeholders better?

In 2004, Reinke defined a servant-leader as "one who is committed to the growth of both the individual and the organization, and who works to build community within organizations (p. 33)." Many people strive to embody at least some aspects of servant leadership, even without being aware of the concept. Previous research identified lack of knowledge as a major barrier to intentionally practicing servant leadership within the workplace (Savage-Austin & Honey Cut, 2011). Leaders in the workplace can model servant leadership, and followers can become servant leaders (David & Bosco, 2010). In addition, servant leadership, when practiced in volunteer organizations, positively influences satisfaction, commitment, and lower turnover intention among volunteers (Scheider & George, 2011). The following strategies will help you embody servant leadership within your professional and volunteer endeavors.

Different Components of Servant Leadership

Servant leadership is very similar to Taosim. According to Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu in the Tao Te Ching, Taoism rejects the power of leadership that encompasses winning, competing alliances, and manipulation. Both the servant leadership and Taoism approaches focus on self-awareness, reliance on service to others, and developing a sense of humility. The Tao Te Ching (LaFargue, 1992) explained the nature of a servant leader through the following points:

• One who promotes himself won't become famous
• One who shows off will not shine
• One who glorifies himself will not become a leader
• One who boasts of himself will get no credit (p. 4).

Greenfield (1977) identified ten principles of a servant leader:

• Awareness
• Building community
• Commitment to the growth of people
• Conceptualization
• Empathy
• Healing
• Foresight
• Listening
• Persuasion
• Stewardship

Van Dierendonck (2011) synthesized the literature and defined the following six key characteristics of the servant leadership concept:

• Empowering and developing people,
• Humility,
• Authenticity,
• Interpersonal acceptance,
• Providing direction, and
• Stewardship.

Tips for Practicing Servant Leadership in Organizations

We would like to provide you with practical tips for working to embody each of Van Dierendonck's (2011) traits of servant leaders within your work. Tips were adapted from Van Dierendonck's (2011) and Van Dierendonck and Nuijten's (2010) works.

• Empowering and developing people: Encourage your followers by providing them with the tools they need to be successful. Do not just do things for them.
• Humility: Acknowledge other's contributions to projects. Do not worry about recognition or prestige. Be open to criticism. Be willing to admit when you are wrong.
• Authenticity: Be honest with yourself and others. Do not be afraid to show emotions, if appropriate. Be transparent.
• Interpersonal Acceptance: Encourage your followers. Do not continually bring up past mistakes of others.
• Providing Direction: Guide your followers.  Communicate the vision. Discuss expectations.  
• Stewardship: Develop a vision. Reflect on where the organization is and where you would like it to go. Share short- and long-term goals with followers.

We hope this article gave you a better understanding of servant leadership. Understanding components and strategies of servant leadership will help you successfully implement a servant-leadership approach in your workplace. For more reading and research on servant leadership, check out the reference list.

References and Resources

Greenleaf, R. K. (1977). Servant leadership: A journey into the nature of legitimate power and greatness. New York: Paulist Press.

LaFargue, M. (1992). The Tao of the Tao Te Ching. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

Melchar, David E. & Susan M. Bosco. (2010). Achieving high organization performance through servant leadership. The Journal of Business Inquiry 9 (1), p. 74-88.

Reinke, S. J. (2004). Service before self: Towards a theory of servant-leadership. Global Virtue Ethics Review, 5(3), 30-57.

Russell, E. J. (2016). Servant leadership's cycle of benefit. Servant Leadership: Theory & Practice, 3(1), 3.

Schneider, S. K., & George, W. M. (2011). Servant leadership versus transformational leadership in voluntary service organizations. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 32(1), p. 60-77.

Van Dierendonck, D. (2011). Servant leadership: A review and synthesis. Journal of Management, 37(4), 1228-1261.

Van Dierendonck, D., & Nuijten, I. (2011). The servant leadership survey: Development and validation of a multidimensional measure. Journal of Business and Psychology, 26(3), p. 249-267.