Servant leadership is important because it creates a nurturing environment in which workers feel they are in the lead, appreciated and respected. It can help companies build stronger work cultures with high employee morale and engagement. Servant leaders support lower-level employees and teams. They support them to make decisions, have more responsibility and have both the skills and the tools to do their jobs.
This means they can respond and adapt quickly when conditions or needs change. Servant leadership is a style based on a desire to serve and give back to their community. By putting the needs of others first, you empower people to do their best. When community members see your passion and commitment through your actions, they want to be connected to you.
Servant leadership goes against the belief that leadership is defined as hierarchical, patriarchal and related to wealth or status. Instead, as the name suggests, it focuses on serving others to help them grow, often without the title or recognition that comes with many leadership roles. Robert Greenleaf, the originator of servant leadership theory, chose the name because it is contradictory and the polar opposite of typical leadership theories. The goal of servant leadership can be summarised as empowering your employees and keeping them happy.
This leadership style makes employees more committed to the company and more enthusiastic and energetic about keeping customers happy. In addition, the organisation as a whole needs to maintain a work culture in which this type of leadership can thrive. Servant leadership is a management style that can help you create strong teams with members who are both personally and professionally satisfied and who contribute high-quality work that helps your company succeed. Within the framework established by these leadership decisions, the servant leader puts himself at the service of his people.
Servant leaders value the opinions of all members of their team and encourage them to share them and actively contribute to the team on a regular basis. It should come as no surprise that servant leadership has become one of the most popular leadership styles in the modern workplace. Another challenge is that unless servant leadership has been embedded in the company from the beginning, it takes a lot of work to establish it. Greenleaf, who died in 1990, went on to found the Atlanta-based Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership.
If serving staff is the core principle of servant leadership, two fundamental practices to achieve that goal are listening attentively and asking questions. Giving employees ownership and accountability accelerates the leadership capacity of individuals. One of the most popular examples of the impact servant leadership can have on an organisation is Southwest Airlines. According to this leadership philosophy, the more you invest in scaffolding your team, the more productive your team will be.
Servant leaders are a revolutionary group that takes the traditional power leadership model and turns it completely upside down. Practising servant leadership builds confidence in employees, who can be inspired by their manager's competence and character and convinced by their manager's "serve first" practice that he or she has their best interests at heart. Of course, it is purposely designed to showcase the fact that the best leaders serve their community, but some people revert to thinking that servants are not the ones who should be in charge. This style of leadership can be used in any type of business, but it is especially popular in non-profit organisations.
