Review Questions – Chapter 10: Servant Leadership

1. Be able to summarize the ideas of Robert Greenleaf and the historical basis of servant leadership. What are the unique, underlying values of his perspective?
Servant leadership, which originated in the writings of Greenleaf in 1970, is a paradox, in the sense it runs counter to the common-sense approach. It is unique from other perspectives as it focuses on leaders being servants and influencers at the same time. Historically, this form of leadership was mainly based on prescriptive writing and contained little empirical research in peer-reviewed journals. More recently however, multiple publications and peer-reviewed research entries have help to clarify servant leadership and its basic assumptions. Servant leaders compared to other leaders are unique in the sense that they attend to the needs of their followers first, empowering them, before developing their personal capacities. Furthermore, a servant leader demonstrates strong moral behavior towards followers and organizations. This servant leader also has a social responsibility to be concerned with the less privileged

2. How can a person be a leader and a servant at the same time?
A person can be a leader and servant at the same time through using less institutional power and control, seen in the more conventional forms of leadership, as well as shifting authority to those that are being led. In other words, a servant leader, will put others first as through shifting their authority to focus on the followers.

3. In what ways is servant leadership like a trait?
Servant leadership to some could be treated like a trait as it may come more naturally to some than others. The definition of a trait is a characteristic that is innate.

4. How does a person become altruistic? Is this an inborn trait or a learned behavior?
Altruism defines a someone who leads out of the selfless concern for the well-being of others. While altruism can be seen as both a trait and a learned behavior or characteristic, it is often seen as most natural in those that are born or have grown up with it.

5. Distinguish between the following terms: leadership principles, leadership philosophies, leadership approaches, leadership models, and leadership theories.
• Leadership principles; are the characteristics that make up the core of a form of leadership. These principles generally come with a change of reasoning as to why they were chosen.
• Leadership philosophies; are the beliefs surrounding a particular area or form of leadership. This often contains many different perspectives and act as the guiding principle of behavior.
• Leadership approaches; are different ways leadership can be applied dependent on the environment and situation. Leadership approaches often focus on direct action on the part of the leader.
• Leadership models; are a logical way of describing an abstract concept such as leadership. They provide a guide as to what form of leadership should be used within a context.
• Leadership theories; are a system of idea used to describe and explain leadership.

6. How are servant leaders different from other types of leaders?
Ten characteristics of servant leadership as identified through Greenleaf’s writings separate servant leadership from other forms of leadership. In particular, servant leaders listen and show empathy. Through listening first, servant leaders show acknowledge the viewpoint of the follower as well as validating them. Furthermore, compared to other forms of leadership servant leaders have a sense of healing, awareness, stewardship, commitment to growth and community building. Servant leaders under these characteristics are committed to their follower and take responsibility for their growth and making a leader whole. Finally, a servant leader has characteristics of foresight, conceptualization and persuasion. These characteristics allow servant leaders to be visionaries for the organization as well as clear and consistent with their communication.

7. What are the three antecedent conditions for servant leadership in the Liden et al. (2008) model? What other conditions might you add to the list?
The three antecedent conditions needed for servant leadership as identified by Liden et al. in their 2008 model are 1. Context and Culture, 2. Leader attributes and 3. Follower Receptivity. Another condition I might add would be organizations prior success (if applicable) and impact.

8. What are the five servant leader behaviors in the Liden et al. (2008) model?
1. Conceptualizing; in reference to the leaders understanding of the organization
2. Emotional Healing; in reference to concerns of the well-being of others
3. Putting Followers First; is the defining characteristic of servant leadership
4. Helping Followers grow and succeed; otherwise known as their professional goals
5. Behaving Ethically; refers to doing the right thing in the right way
6. Empowering; refers to allowing the follower to be independent and self-sufficient
7. Creating Value for the Community; in which servant leaders purposefully give back to the community and encourage followers to follow suit

9. How might contingency theory (a leader-match theory) explain follower receptivity in the servant leadership model?
The leader-match theory could be used to explain follower receptivity in servant leadership as servant leadership is grounded on an effective leader-follower match, in which the follower allows the leader to lead them in a trusting and supportive manner. This theory is important in leader follower relationships as effective relations results in successful outcomes within an organization.

10. According to the most recent research, what specific leader traits are important to servant leadership?
According to the most recent research servant leadership there are 10 key characteristics or traits important to servant leadership. These include listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to the growth of people and community building.

11. How does servant leadership affect workers’ performance on the job?
Initial research has shown that servant leadership has an influence on workers job performance. In particular, studies have shown a positive relationship between servant leadership and organizational citizenship behaviors – follower behaviors that go beyond the basic requirements and duties and in turn help the overall functioning of the organization. Furthermore, research has shown that servant leadership can enhance teamwork through enhancing group processing and clarity.

12. Explain how servant leader behaviors can create a ripple effect in followers.
Servant leader behaviors can create a ripple effect in followers through paving the way of leadership. In the example of Mother Theresa after watching her lead, may followers were prompted to follower in her footsteps in order to initiate change. As a result, the Missionaries of Charity organization was started, that now has more than a million workers in over forty countries.

13. How is awareness in the servant leadership approach different from emotional intelligence, or self-awareness in the psychodynamic approach? Can you identify a person who exemplifies this component of the model?
Awareness in servant leadership is different from emotional intelligence in the psychodynamic approach, as servant leaders are acutely attuned to their environments including their social, physical and political environments. Awareness in servant leadership characterizes the understanding of oneself and the impact it has on other, which in servant leadership means stepping aside to view the greater perspective of the community.

14. How does servant leadership fit with the influence component of leadership?
As the servant leader places, the interest of the followers first, influence is a major component of this form of leadership. Through listening and show empathy towards follower, the leader is setting an example for the follower of effective leadership. If done effectively, this leadership will resonate with the follower as particularly impactful and will influence them to not only complete their task, but to utilize this strategy in the future when they are also leaders.

15. What are the strengths and criticisms of the servant leadership approach?

Servant leadership has four key strengths as described below:
1. Servant leadership makes altruism the central component of the leadership process; which argues that leaders should unequivocally put followers first.
2. Servant leadership provides a counterintuitive and provocative approach to the use of power and influence; in which it is argued leaders should not be dominant
3. Provides clear guidelines as to when servant leadership should be used; thus avoiding ineffective use of this leadership
4. Backed up by research; which has led to the creation of the Servant Leadership Questionnaire
Conversely servant leadership has four main criticisms as described below:
1. Paradoxical nature of servant leadership diminishes the potential value of the approach; as a result, causing servant leadership to often be perceived as finical or whimsical
2. Debate around the core dimensions of servant leadership; resulting in the lack of a common definition or theoretical framework
3. Has a prescriptive overtone; causing the need for the validity of the approach to be measured
4. Unclear as to why conceptualizing is included as one of the servant leadership behaviors; as to some it is not considered a behavior.