The Servant Leader
“The servant-leader is servant first. It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. The conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead”(Greenleaf, 1970, p.42). The word nurse is derived from the Latin word nutriunt, which means to nourish; and it is rather apparent that in order to nourish, one must first be willing to serve; for a personal constitution that lacks the capacity to serve will always confuse wants with needs. As James Hunter institutes in his work The Servant, leaders are often faced with the choice of addressing the wants of their constituents or catering to their needs, and in order to be a true servant and create a benefit, one must truly be concerned with satisfying needs before …show more content…
Lao Tsu, a Chinese philosopher during the sixth-century B.C, wrote Tao-te-Ching: a book rooted in the philosophy of servant leadership (Valeri, 2007). Lao Tsu defines the servant leader as one who is concerned with listening to others, caring for them, and putting their concerns first; while seemingly being invisible to whoever is being led ( Valeri, 2007). Lao Tsu asserts that a leader is most effectual when people do not know that their ruler exists and that an ineffectual ruler arises when obedience is demanded and praise is necessitated (Valeri, 2007). Furthermore, Lao Tsu’s notion of the Servant Leadership aligns with The Servant by James C. Hunter, who defines servant leadership as headship focused on the needs of those whom must be led. A need is a legitimate physical or psychological requirement for the well being of an individual (Hunter, 1998). Focusing on the needs of the people is a common theme within the works of Lau Tsu, and correlates with the institutions of various other historical figures, who understand the precedence of needs before …show more content…
Floor nursing is a multifaceted job that incorporates servant leadership in every aspect of practice. As noted above, servant leadership is about meeting the needs and not the wants of patients and employees. Meeting all the needs of multiple patients is taxing along with twelve-hour shifts, lifting, bending, and critical thinking throughout. If a floor nurse tries to provide all the wants of a patient, the nurse will be utterly exhausted and not be able to perform to the highest capability. It can be difficult to decipher between wants and needs for nurses because the focus is on patient satisfaction and improving health. Servant Leadership functions well for floor nursing because it emphasizes Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs focuses on meeting lower level needs first, then working up to higher levels. For instance, lower level tiers consist of basic needs such as food, water, safety, shelter and security. Higher levels consist of love, belonging, self-esteem and self -actualization. Once the lower level tiers have been met the patient can use the upper levels for
“The servant-leader is servant first. It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. The conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead”(Greenleaf, 1970, p.42). The word nurse is derived from the Latin word nutriunt, which means to nourish; and it is rather apparent that in order to nourish, one must first be willing to serve; for a personal constitution that lacks the capacity to serve will always confuse wants with needs. As James Hunter institutes in his work The Servant, leaders are often faced with the choice of addressing the wants of their constituents or catering to their needs, and in order to be a true servant and create a benefit, one must truly be concerned with satisfying needs before …show more content…
Lao Tsu, a Chinese philosopher during the sixth-century B.C, wrote Tao-te-Ching: a book rooted in the philosophy of servant leadership (Valeri, 2007). Lao Tsu defines the servant leader as one who is concerned with listening to others, caring for them, and putting their concerns first; while seemingly being invisible to whoever is being led ( Valeri, 2007). Lao Tsu asserts that a leader is most effectual when people do not know that their ruler exists and that an ineffectual ruler arises when obedience is demanded and praise is necessitated (Valeri, 2007). Furthermore, Lao Tsu’s notion of the Servant Leadership aligns with The Servant by James C. Hunter, who defines servant leadership as headship focused on the needs of those whom must be led. A need is a legitimate physical or psychological requirement for the well being of an individual (Hunter, 1998). Focusing on the needs of the people is a common theme within the works of Lau Tsu, and correlates with the institutions of various other historical figures, who understand the precedence of needs before …show more content…
Floor nursing is a multifaceted job that incorporates servant leadership in every aspect of practice. As noted above, servant leadership is about meeting the needs and not the wants of patients and employees. Meeting all the needs of multiple patients is taxing along with twelve-hour shifts, lifting, bending, and critical thinking throughout. If a floor nurse tries to provide all the wants of a patient, the nurse will be utterly exhausted and not be able to perform to the highest capability. It can be difficult to decipher between wants and needs for nurses because the focus is on patient satisfaction and improving health. Servant Leadership functions well for floor nursing because it emphasizes Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs focuses on meeting lower level needs first, then working up to higher levels. For instance, lower level tiers consist of basic needs such as food, water, safety, shelter and security. Higher levels consist of love, belonging, self-esteem and self -actualization. Once the lower level tiers have been met the patient can use the upper levels for