SERVANT LEADERSHIP: Clarifying the Paradox Christine Edwards LIS 5023:995

This paper represents my own academic work and has not been previously submitted for credit in any other course. Name Christine Edwards Date May 3, 2012

Outline I. Introduction II. What? A. Ten Characteristics 1. Listening 2. Empathy 3. Healing 4. Awareness 5. Persuasion 6. Conceptualization 7. Foresight 8. Stewardship 9. Commitment to the growth of people 10. Building community III. Who? A. Greenleaf 1. Concept 2. Hesse Journey B. Spears 1. Ten Characteristics 2. Center for SL C. Hunter, Block, etc. IV. Where? A. Church (Tidball) B. Physicians C. Education D. Business E. Library and others V. Why? A. Studies and Comparisons B. Movement towards teams VI. Conclusion

Abstract Conceptualized by Robert Greenleaf nearly forty years ago, servant leadership

has grown in popularity and is now being implemented in a variety of prot and nonprot organizations nationwide. A review of the ten characteristics associated with servant leaders and the researchers who developed the methodology provides insight into this emerging leadership style. While the combination of two opposing terms, servant and leader, might seem incompatible, the practice of serving followers is argued to be a sign of true leadership. An investigation into the organizations currently using servant leadership reveals the growing favor of the method in modern society. (98)

Introduction How can one simultaneously be a leader and a servant? Are not the roles of

leader and servant irreconcilable? Do they not call for opposing abilities and characteristics? These questions, posed by theologist Derek Tidball, are common responses to hearing the title servant leader (2012). The two words seem to be opposites of one another, both oxymoronic and incongruent. Servant leadership, however, is one of the foremost methods of leadership being used today (Spears, 2004; Sendjaya, 2008; Eicher-Catt, 2005). The practice can be found in business (Babakus, 2010), education (Crippen, 2005 & 2010), church/seminary (Tidball, 2012), libraries (Anzalone, 2007), medical professions (Howatson-Jones, 2004; Waterman, 2011), and other prot and non-prot organizations (Sendjaya, 2008). The paradoxical terms of servant and leader have not kept the concept from becoming wide-spread. Indeed, the logos itself may have played a signicant role in increasing the methods popularity (Eicher-Catt, 2005). The following pages will explain what servant leadership is, how it came into practice, and where it is currently being applied. What is Servant Leadership? Servant leadership is the idea that to lead one must rst serve (Greenleaf, 1977).

Proponents of servant leadership impress that true leadership comes from the deep desire to help others (Spears, 2004; Crippen, 2010). Thus, serving others is an internal motivation, not an external one. Developing this style of leadership necessarily involves the development of certain characteristics (Crippen, 2005). There are ten generally agreed upon characteristics that servant leaders strive to exemplify: listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment

to growth of people, and building community (Anzalone, 2007; Crippen, 2010; Spears, 2004). A closer look at these characteristics will assist in clarifying the relationship between service and leadership. Listening A deep commitment to intentional listening reinforces the communication and

decision-making skills that have been traditionally valued in managers and leaders (Spears, 2004). Dr. Carolyn Crippen takes this commitment one step further and emphasizes listening to self as well as others (2010). It is also important to note that listening is not a passive activity, but one that involves energy and hard work. Active listening to both self and others would prevent careless or dismissive thinking from entering the conversation (Anzalone, 2007). Empathy Servant leaders are called to care and empathize with their employees

(SanFacon, 2010). Empathy includes demonstrating respect for followers by knowing them and seeing them as more than a pair of hands or a body occupying a cubicle or a desk. (Anzalone, 2007). This means recognizing the humanity of employees. The awareness of different worldviews and relying on experiences and challenges faced in the past can assist a leader in empathizing with his/her employees (Howatson-Jones, 2004). Healing Like with empathy, healing involves relating to the whole person. Servant leaders

have the potential to not only heal themselves, but also to heal others (Spears, 2004). Creating these relationships in the work place can lead both parties, leader and follower,

towards integration and wholeness (Anzalone, 2007) and potentially reverse the very human aspects of suffering, broken spirit, and emotional hurts (Spears, 2004). Awareness Effective managers nd regular self-appraisals a necessity (Anzalone, 2007).

This self-awareness, as well as a general awareness, can be developed through selfreection, listening to what others tell us about ourselves, through being continually open to learning, and by making the connection from what we know and believe to what we say or do. (Crippen, 2005). Situations can then be viewed from a more holistic, integrated position and issues involving ethics and values can be better understood (Spears, 2004). Dirk van Dierendonck adds humility to this characteristic of awareness, explaining that leaders who show humility by acknowledging that they do not have all the answers, by being true to themselves, and by their interpersonal accepting attitude create a working environment where followers feel safe and trusted. (2011). Persuasion Leadership is synonymous with inuence. (Hunter, 2004). Servant leaders seek

to use this inuence to convince others rather than coerce compliance (Crippen, 2005). Relying on persuasion instead of positional authority to make organizational decisions builds group consensus (Spears, 2004). Persuasion, however, is not manipulation. James C. Hunter describes this difference by stating having power over people is one thing. Having authority with people is quite another. His denition of authority itself involves getting others to willingly do a leaders will because of his/her personal inuence (2004). Some tactics that can be used to persuade are explanations,

reasoning, factual evidence, apprising, inspirational appeals, and consultations (Dierendonck, 2011). Conceptualization Conceptualization means seeing beyond the day-to-day to long-term goals which

the leader can hold on to, work towards, and eventually achieve (Anzalone, 2007). The servant leader can dream big dreams while nurturing the abilities of employees to reach those goals (Crippen, 2005). Larry C. Spears takes care to point out that this requires discipline and practice by many managers (2004). The decisions and actions of a servant leader are thus based on the motives, means, and ends that balance the legitimate needs of all affected (SanFacon, 2010). Foresight Websters Dictionary denes this as being the power to foresee or a looking

forward with thoughtful regard or provision for the future (1975). Filppa Marullo Anzalone applies this to leadership and connects it to the characteristic of conceptualization by saying moving toward a goal requires leaders who are acutely aware of the present, able to learn from history, and able to divine possible consequences of proposed future actions. (2007). Due to the possible consequences and implications of decisions, it is unfortunate that foresight has been left unexplored in most leadership studies (Spears, 2004). Stewardship Stewardship indicates trust between partners and service among all for the

greater moral good of society (Crippen, 2010). If leaders regarded their employees as volunteers, they would foster relationships that were covenantal instead of contractual

(Anzalone, 2007). Stewardship assumes that the priority is to serve others rst. By honoring what is given (power), using it with a sense of grace, and pursuing purposes beyond self-interest, leaders can serve organizations and be accountable without taking control (Block, 1996). Growth Commitment to the growth of people is another important characteristic of

servant leadership. Servant leaders do whatever they can to nurture others and contribute to their individual growth as human beings (Crippen, 2005). This is because poeple have an intrinsic value beyond their tangible contributions as workers. (Spears, 2004). Servant leaders are aware that impersonal institutions have created this need for growth and to build community, perhaps even more so than ever before (Anzalone, 2007). Community If service is what leaders aspire to provide, community is where this is

expressed. This quote from Harold Waterman (2011) perfectly illustrates why the building of community is important to servant leadership. There are several ways for leaders to approach this concept of building community. Some examples would be caring about the community, giving back to the community, or investing nancially in the community (Crippen, 2005). Although the sense of community has been somewhat lost in modern society, servant leaders can seek to recreate this idea within the business by being a compassionate collaborator and serving others without rancor or the need to be defensive, even when provoked (Spears, 2004; Waterman, 2011). Where Did Servant Leadership Originate?

The concept of servant leadership is not necessarily something new, although

the terminology and pairing of the two words has been a fairly recent occurrence. Seven Greek words were often used to denote servanthood when referring to leaders: diakonos, doulos, huperetes, therapon, oiketes, sundoulos, and pais. Service is also taught in all major religions - Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism - and in nonreligious philosophies - Taoism, Siddha yoga, moral philosophy (Sendjaya, 2008). Additionally, the idea comes close to what Plato might have been suggesting as the ultimate form of leadership in his work The Republic: leadership that focuses on both the good of the whole and of those in it (Dierendonck, 2011). The actual coining of the term servant leadership is attributed to Robert

Greenleaf and his 1970 essay entitled The Servant as Leader. (Spears, 2004). This essay begins with the retelling of a story from Hermann Hesses Journey to the East in which Leo, introduced as servant, joins a group of seekers. During the course of the story Leo disappears. The band of travelers bicker and fall into disarray without his assistance, for Leo took care of all their needs. It is not until the end of the story that the reader discovers Leo is actually the noble head of the spiritual order towards which the group was traveling (Anzalone, 2007; Ebener, 2010). It is from this story that Greenleaf concluded the meaning that a great leader is rst a servant to others and that this primary motivation to help others is the mark of true leadership (Spears, 2004). Greenleafs writings are the promotion of a hopeful vision of a better society and a transformational approach to life and work that has the potential to create that positive change (SanFacon, 2010; Spears, 2004).

While servant leadership is the conceptualization of Greenleaf, it was his protege

Larry C. Spears who identied its essential characteristics (Anzalone, 2004). Spears extracted these ten characteristics (listed earlier in this paper) from Greenleafs writing and believes they are central to the development of servant leaders. He has continued Greenleafs work through his own writings and as the president and CEO of the Robert K. Greenleaf Center for Servant-Leadership (Spears, 2004). While his characteristics can be intuitively understood, Spears never formulated a model that would be reliable and valid for the empirical research and study of servant leadership (Dierendonck, 2011). Perhaps to the detriment of the method, many write about the ideology of servant

leadership without providing any practical application (Dierendinck, 2011). Barbuto and Wheeler added an eleventh characteristic, that of calling, or the desire to make an impact on the lives of others even at the sacrice of self-interest (Crippen, 2010). Joe Batten expanded this further to thirty-seven values and there are over forty-four total characteristics that have been assigned to servant leadership thus far(Tidball, 2010; Spears, 2004). Some authors have chosen to be more specic and focus on one or two of the characteristics developed by Greenleaf and Spears. Peter Block, for example, has a book dedicated to a single aspect of servant leadership, Stewardship: Choosing Service Over Self-Interest (1993/1996). James C. Hunters how-to book, The Worlds Most Powerful Leadership Principle, is perhaps one of the best sources for practical application of the skills and characteristics required in becoming a servant leader (Hunter, 2004). With the impression that Greenleafs initial writings have made, servant leadership can be found in a wide variety of organizations.

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Who Uses Servant Leadership? The church may be the most obvious eld for servant leadership. The Bible is

centered around a man, a savior, who did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many. (Mark 10:45). True leadership involves always seeking the best interest of those being led, nding satisfaction in the peoples progress, willingly accepting the obligations of leadership, being accountable, and listening with caring love (Tidball, 2004). These same leadership qualities are exemplied in the medical community. The

eld of medicine allows opportunity for servant leadership to be practiced on multiple levels: nursing, general practice, surgery, specialty. Physicians ofces and hospitals are moving towards team approaches which require collaboration and a servant heart for all involved (Howatson-Jones, 2004). This does not mean offering service in all situations, but rather bearing the idea of being a servant in mind when decisions are made or actions are taken (Waterman, 2011). For teams to operate effectively, leadership cannot be claimed by any single person, but needs to be rotated and suited according to the circumstances of the situation and the skills of the physicians and nurses involved (Howatson-Jones, 2004). Education is another profession where servant leadership is permeating the

administration. Dr. Carolyn Crippen believes that servant leadership provides the promise of an effective educational leadership and management model. (2005). She emphasizes that the need for moral leadership development is enabled through servant leadership (2010). Tim Grothaus shares the opinion that moral leadership is lacking in modern educational institutions and that serving the common good and promoting the

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welfare of local, national, and world communities is something that should be a lifelong commitment starting in adolescence (2004). Private sector businesses are also using Greenleafs concept of servant

leadership, adopting the method as part of their corporate philosophy or as a foundation for mission statements. Some such companies are ServiceMaster Company (Downers Grove, IL), the Mens Wearhouse (Fremont, CA), and Southwest Airlines (Dalls, TX) (Spears, 2004). A research study by Babakus, Yavas, and Ashill revealed that servant leadership has positive effects on worker burnout and turnover intentions. Additionally, there was a decrease in emotional exhaustion, the creation of a trusting and empowering work environment, and an increased desire to deliver excellent customer service by those surveyed. The results indicate that frontline employees who perceive a SL [servant leadership] style in their organizations will be motivated, eager to learn and grow, and will do their best to serve customers due to the personal examples set by their leaders. (Babakus, 2010). Why Choose Servant Leadership? Servant Leadership has many advantages: it values people as the ends, rather

than the means; it enables others to develop and ourish; it shows commitment to the community; it seeks to improve through encouragement and facilitation rather than through power and authority; it improves performance by developing and nurturing followers (Waterman, 2011). Critics of the approach cite the negative connotations of the word servant (Eicher-Catt, 2005), but the use of the word service is also applied to Civil and Military Service, which do not imply unskilled tasks or menial labor (Tidball, 2012). In the midst of several popular modern leadership methodologies

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(transformational leadership, authentic leadership, spiritual leadership), servant leadership is the only one that takes a holistic approach and focuses on the development of the follower instead of the development of the organization (Sendjaya, 2008; Dierendonck, 2011). If leaders place themselves in humble service to their organization, recognize the gifts and talents of others, and call them forth through empowering actions, then the people will respond with organizational citizenship behaviors by helping each other, taking initiative, participating in various activities, and taking responsibility to continuously develop themselves as potential leaders of their organizations. (Ebener, 2010).

Bibliography

Anzalone, Filippa Marullo. 2007. Servant leadership: a new model for law library leaders. Law Library Journal 99(4): 793-812. Provides the background of servant leadership including its origins, characteristics, and theorists and discusses ways in which the leadership method can be used in library organizations.

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Babakus, Emin, Ugur Yavas, and Nicholas J. Ashill. 2010. Service worker burnout and turnover intentions: Roles of person-job t, servant leadership, and customer orientation. Services Marketing Quarterly 32(1): 17-31. The effects of servant leadership on worker burnout and turnover intentions is examined by studying 530 frontline bank employees in New Zealand.

Block, Peter. 1996. Stewardship: Choosing Service Over Self-Interest. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers. A practical how-to book for managers who desire to implement stewardship into their leadership and organization.

Crippen, Carolyn. 2005. Servant-leadership as an effective model for educational leadership and management: First to serve, then to lead. Management in Education 18(5): 11-16. Examines the servant leadership model and ten characteristics in relation to educational institutions. Also provides educator feedback and recommendations for implementation of the method.

Crippen, Carolyn. 2010. Serve, teach and lead: Its all about relationships. InSight: A Journal of Scholarly Teaching 5: 27-36. Relates the moral aspects of servant leadership to the mantle of teaching. Namely, that the calling to become an educator is the call to become a servant leader.

Dierendonck, Dirk van. 2011. Servant leadership: a review and synthesis. Journal of Management 37(4): 1228-1261. doi:10.1177/0149206310380462.

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Presents an overall conceptual model of servant leadership by rst reviewing the historical background, key characteristics, and relevant measurement tools from studies conducted thus far.

Ebener, Dan R., and David J. OConnell. 2010. How might servant leadership work? Nonprot Management & Leadership 20(3): 315-335. doi:10.1002/nml.256. Examines the enhancement of organizational citizenship and effectiveness through the mechanics of servant leadership. Makes suggestions to leaders on how to improve performance through servant leadership techniques.

Eicher-Catt, Deborah. 2005. The myth of servant-leadership: a feminist perspective. Women and Language 28(1): 17-25. Looks at the syntax of the terms servant and leader and questions whether the combination of the more feminine and more masculine oriented words creates a genderless approach to leadership.

Greenleaf, Robert. 1977. Servant Leadership. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press. One of several books written by the author explaining his concept of servant leadership - the idea of leading by rst serving others.

Grothaus, Tim. 2004. Empowering adolescents as servant-leaders: Promoting resiliency, positive networking, and community stewardship. Reclaiming Children and Youth 12(4): 228-231. Examines some problem issues in leadership among adolescents and suggests the implementation of servant leadership practices to empower youth to create a better, more moral community, society, and world.

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Howatson-Jones, Isis Lioba. 2004. The servant leader. Nursing Management 11(3): 20-24. Explores the ways in which servant leadership is particularly applicable to the nursing profession, especially the characteristic of cognitive empathy.

Hunter, James C. 2004. The Worlds Most Powerful Leadership Principle: How to Become a Servant Leader. New York, NY: Crown Business. A practical guide to actionable servant leadership. Addresses the specics of implementing the servant leadership principles.

SanFacon, George, and Larry C. Spears. 2010. Servant-leaders. Leadership Excellence 27(2): 17. This short article from a longer series of articles focuses on the motives, means, and ends of practicing the art of servant leadership.

Sendjaya, Sen, James C. Sarros, and Joseph C. Santora. 2008. Dening and measuring servant leadership behaviour in organizations. Journal of Management Studies 45(2): 402-424. Examines possible tools for measuring servant leader behavior through both qualitative and quantitative studies. Results, along with theoretical contributions and practical implications, are discussed.

Spears, Larry C. 2004. Practicing servant-leadership. Leader to Leader (Fall 2004): 7-11. Denes servant leadership, lays out the ten characteristics of servant leadership, and discusses the growing impact of the servant leadership movement in organizations nationwide.

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Tidball, Derek. 2012. Leaders as servants: a resolution of the tension. Evangelical Review of Theology 36(1): 31-47. Looks at servant leadership from a theological perspective, addressing how the Bible not only calls disciples to be servant leaders, but presents examples of servant leadership in the lives of Christ and Paul.

Waterman, Harold. 2011. Principles of servant leadership and how they can enhance practice. Nursing Management 17(9): 24-26. Examines servant leadership in the context of service, community, and vision for modern social and health care.

Websters New Twentieth Century Dictionary. 1975. USA: Williams-Collins and World Publishing, Co., Inc. Contains the denitions of a multitude of words used in the English language in an alphabetical listing.

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