Leadership through Serving Others

Answer

Leadership through Serving Others

Servant leaders possess a natural feeling that they not only want to help but also serve first before they can aspire to lead. Servant leadership is manifested when those led become wiser, free, and autonomous to the extent that they can also become servants (Sousa & van Dierendonck, 2017). The primary focus of many servant leaders to ensure the growth as well as the wellbeing of other people and the communities that they serve. Hunter et al. (2013) assert that they share their powers and put the needs of others first. Servant leadership is related to other value-based forms of leadership. However, servant leadership ensures more cohesion and autonomy of employees in an organization.

Relationship between Servant Leadership and Ethical Leadership

Ethical leadership is pegged on the idea that leaders have various ethical responsibilities to their followers. According to ethical leadership proponents, leadership is not just the passing down of authoritarian commands from the leaders to their supporters (Jaramillo, Bande, & Varela, 2015). Ethical leaders should follow not only moral values but also exercise immense respect to the rights and dignity of those that they lead. The relationship between servant and moral leadership is that one is a detachment of the other (Hoch et al., 2016). Specifically, servant leadership advocates for the recognition of the autonomy of followers, which is a precept of ethical leadership (Waterman, 2011). As such, servant leadership stems from the principles of ethical leadership. 

Relationship between Servant Leadership and Transformational Leadership

Transformational leadership is a process whereby leaders, as well as their followers, join efforts in the quest to raise each other’s morality and motivation. Transformational leaders are models of integrity and fairness and have clear targets that they want to achieve (Choudhary, Akhtar, & Zaheer, 2013). Additionally, it is common that they will have high expectations. The relationship between transformational leaders and servant leaders is that they both look beyond their self-interests. However, according to Van Dierendonck et al. (2014), whereas servant leaders are concerned with the interests of those, they lead; transformational leaders are focused on the benefit of the organization that they work for. In servant leadership, the achievement of organizational goals is just but a secondary outcome to the building of follower commitment (Dennis, Kinzler-Norheim, & Bocarnea, 2010).

Relationship between Servant Leadership and Authentic Leadership

Authentic leadership entails both knowing and acting on what leaders consider being genuine and real inside themselves, their teams and organizations, as well as knowing and working on what the world thinks being real and true (van Dierendonck & Patterson, 2015). Both authentic and servant leaders are genuine in their quest to serve others and empower those they serve. Additionally, Van Dierendonck (2011) assert that they both do not accept any compromise on their principles. The reliance of transactional and servant leaders on personal charisma to get things done to make the two have a special relationship. Moreover, both leaders place a high degree of importance on values and are always guided by the characteristics of compassion and passion.

Assessment of a Servant Leader

One of the persons who displayed complete servant leadership is Dr. Martin Luther King. Various actions make King a real example of how servant leaders behave. One of the ways in which his actions at the helm of the Civil Rights Movement displayed servant leadership is that he was concerned about the rights of his followers. Additionally, he championed for issues, which were beneficial to those he sought to serve (Sipe & Frick, 2015). Even when he died, King was not remembered for the various prizes and accolades that he accumulated for himself but the role he played in driving social justice. King cared more about helping others than about his own life. The climax of King’s servant leadership was seen when he was assassinated for standing for social justice.

How Servant Leadership May Affect Current Organization

If all employees in my current organization were to predominantly practice servant leadership, the organization would have particular sets of principles, values, and beliefs, which will drive all activities. Additionally, according to McCann, Graves, & Cox (2014), there would be much autonomy, as leaders would use their roles to support their followers and ensure that they are empowered to undertake their mandates. Moreover, healthy relationships would be established among all employees, which would result in high productivity. Everyone in the organization would have the desire to serve others, and the organization would be described as compassionate and passionate about the needs of others (Spears, 2010). Succinctly, servant leadership would ensure a natural inclination to serve as opposed to the personal acquisition of power by leaders.

In conclusion, servant leadership ensures cohesion, respect, and autonomy in organizations. Certain moral underpinnings drive servant leaders and ethical leaders. Additionally, ethical leaders and transformational leaders are motivated by service to others and not self-interests. Servant leaders such as Martin Luther King undertake actions, which benefit their followers and empower them to become independent and autonomous. Organizations benefit immensely from servant leadership as they have higher productivity, understanding, and cohesion among the different leaders. As such, servant leadership is key to organizational values and beliefs and hence philosophy.