Servant Leadership Paradox

A person can successfully operate and perceived as both a servant and a leader simultaneously. Perhaps my CEO said it best. He said, ‘As a leader, it's a privilege to serve both our people and our customers.’ Hess (2013) states many people believe great leaders are charismatic, have a commanding presence, and are visionary and educated at ivy-league schools. But most of the leaders of the high-performing companies that I studied had none of those traits. Instead, they are what I call servant leaders: I discovered them while researching well-run organizations such as Costco – Jim Sinegal, Starbucks - Howard Schultz, and Southwest Airlines – Colleen Barrett. These leaders share common characteristics. They lead by example. They are servants and leaders in the best sense of the word. They are people-centric, valued service to others and believed they had a duty of stewardship. They are humble and passionate operators who deeply involved in the details of the organization. They had long tenures in their organizations. But they had not forgotten what it was like to be a line employee. …show more content…
Explain.

The perceptions of servant leadership as a paradox show that people-centric environments and high performance are not mutually exclusive. Based on my experience and worldview, I will say that workers in those companies have a strong emotional commitment, loyalty, and productivity, and outperform the opposition on a daily basis over long intervals of time. Meanwhile, the relationship between high performance, high employee engagement and how leaders is compelling. My analysis clearly demonstrates that employee satisfaction drives customer satisfaction and