Servant Leadership: Why it is the best for leading an organization?
Definition & Behaviors
Why is Servant Leadership the best means for leading an organization? Simply put, Jesus did it. Jesus lead through and from a servant leadership style and he is arguably the greatest leader to walk the face of the earth. It is the most selfless approach to leadership. Henry Greenleaf, the founding father of Servant Leadership defined a servant leader as one who serves first (Greenleaf Center, 2016, p. 1). These leaders “focus primarily on the growth and well-being of people and the communities to which they belong” (Greenleaf Center, 2016, p. 1). According to Dr. Donald Philip Valeri’s research paper, The Origins of Servant Leadership, it is important …show more content…
However, the concept of servant leadership has been ever-present for at least 2,500 years, beginning in “ancient Greece and Rome” before the “emergence of Christianity in the West” and ultimately did not begin within religion (Valeri, 2007, p. 51, 56). The origins of Servant Leadership also “date back thousands of years in both Eastern and Western philosophy” as there were “numerous ancient writers, philosophers, historians, poets and playwrights” who “were also aware of the values, ideas and truths imbedded in Greenleaf’s concept of servant leadership” such as “Plato, Sophocles, Xenophon, Cicero”, all “in the time before Christ” (Valeri, 2007, p. 54-56). Most of which were quite public about their thoughts on rulers ruling “ruled first and foremost on behalf on his followers” (Valeri, 2007, p. 56). According to Valeri, “servant leadership flourishes most naturally in democratic institutional environments” (Valeri, 2007, p. 51). Thus, “traces of it can be found in the Bible (Mark 10: “He who would be great among you must be the servant of all.”), and the writings of Plato, Aristotle and many other great thinkers through the ages” (Valeri, 2007, p. …show more content…
57). Furthermore, Servant Leadership holds many strong correlations to James MacGregor Burns’ transforming leadership” and “moral leadership” (Valeri, 2007, p. 51). For Robert Greenleaf, Servant Leadership “was a statement of what his life stood for, what he had learned from his own experiences, and what the world needed in order to become a better place for us to live in. He truly believed that it was each person’s task in life to leave his or her place in the world a better one after they had departed” (Valeri, 2007, p. 54). Robert Greenleaf was heavily influenced by E.B. White, Herman Hesse and his relationship with his father and his father’s example through the Quaker faith (Valeri, 2007, p. 54). Greenleaf “founded the Center for Applied Ethics in 1964, now the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership, which provides a clearinghouse and focal point for research and writing on servant leadership” (Northouse, 2015, p. 226). Greenleaf’s life work was to find the connection of servanthood in
Definition & Behaviors
Why is Servant Leadership the best means for leading an organization? Simply put, Jesus did it. Jesus lead through and from a servant leadership style and he is arguably the greatest leader to walk the face of the earth. It is the most selfless approach to leadership. Henry Greenleaf, the founding father of Servant Leadership defined a servant leader as one who serves first (Greenleaf Center, 2016, p. 1). These leaders “focus primarily on the growth and well-being of people and the communities to which they belong” (Greenleaf Center, 2016, p. 1). According to Dr. Donald Philip Valeri’s research paper, The Origins of Servant Leadership, it is important …show more content…
However, the concept of servant leadership has been ever-present for at least 2,500 years, beginning in “ancient Greece and Rome” before the “emergence of Christianity in the West” and ultimately did not begin within religion (Valeri, 2007, p. 51, 56). The origins of Servant Leadership also “date back thousands of years in both Eastern and Western philosophy” as there were “numerous ancient writers, philosophers, historians, poets and playwrights” who “were also aware of the values, ideas and truths imbedded in Greenleaf’s concept of servant leadership” such as “Plato, Sophocles, Xenophon, Cicero”, all “in the time before Christ” (Valeri, 2007, p. 54-56). Most of which were quite public about their thoughts on rulers ruling “ruled first and foremost on behalf on his followers” (Valeri, 2007, p. 56). According to Valeri, “servant leadership flourishes most naturally in democratic institutional environments” (Valeri, 2007, p. 51). Thus, “traces of it can be found in the Bible (Mark 10: “He who would be great among you must be the servant of all.”), and the writings of Plato, Aristotle and many other great thinkers through the ages” (Valeri, 2007, p. …show more content…
57). Furthermore, Servant Leadership holds many strong correlations to James MacGregor Burns’ transforming leadership” and “moral leadership” (Valeri, 2007, p. 51). For Robert Greenleaf, Servant Leadership “was a statement of what his life stood for, what he had learned from his own experiences, and what the world needed in order to become a better place for us to live in. He truly believed that it was each person’s task in life to leave his or her place in the world a better one after they had departed” (Valeri, 2007, p. 54). Robert Greenleaf was heavily influenced by E.B. White, Herman Hesse and his relationship with his father and his father’s example through the Quaker faith (Valeri, 2007, p. 54). Greenleaf “founded the Center for Applied Ethics in 1964, now the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership, which provides a clearinghouse and focal point for research and writing on servant leadership” (Northouse, 2015, p. 226). Greenleaf’s life work was to find the connection of servanthood in