Coined in 1970 by leadership consultant and author Robert Greenleaf, his concept of \u201cservant leadership\u201d flips the stereotypical leadership model of behaviors and mindset on its head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Servant leadership focuses on putting employees first and helping team members reach their full potential. Unlike traditional \"command-and-control\" leadership that relies on authority and commands, servant leadership leads through empathy, support, and genuine care for employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The belief is that by taking care of your team, they\u2019ll take care of you and your company\u2019s goals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Given this leadership style is still talked about over 50 years after Greenleaf first wrote about it, we think there\u2019s something to learn from it. We\u2019re also big fans of any mindset that includes a more empathetic style of leadership, so we knew we wanted to give you a deep dive into this concept. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this comprehensive guide, we share with you everything you need to know about the philosophy of servant leadership. You'll learn more about its origins, how it works, its benefits and potential drawbacks, and examples of well-known servant leaders. We'll also debunk common myths and provide tips to help you adopt this people-centric leadership approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Table of contents<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n As we briefly explained above, Servant Leadership is the opposite of traditional leadership. Instead of bossing people around, you focus on really understanding and meeting your team's needs. Then, the belief is that everything else flows from there to ultimately better serve your customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This image captures the contrast well here: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Robert K. Greenleaf created Servant leadership when he was inspired after reading a book called, \u201cJourney to the East.\u201d<\/a> In the book, a character who was a servant proved to be a crucial leader in a group, which was essential to everyone\u2019s survival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Greenleaf first tried his servant approach to leadership at his job as an executive at AT&T. When he found it worked, he then left it at 49 to become a consultant to evangelize the concept. <\/p>\n\n\n\n He introduced this idea to the world in his essay \"The Servant as Leader,\" published in 1970. Later, he expanded it into a complete book called, \u201cServant Leadership<\/a>\u201d published in 1987. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s how servant leadership\u2019s creator, Robert Greenleaf, describes the leadership style: <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe servant-leader is servant first... Becoming a servant-leader begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first... <\/em> Greenleaf, R. K. (2002). Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness (25th anniversary ed.)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Put simply, Greenleaf believes that if you take care of your team, then they in turn will be better able to succeed in their work, and more likely to also take on the mindset of serving others, too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The idea of putting your team first, so they\u2019ll put the customer first may sound great, but how does it work in practice? And most importantly, does it actually work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n To answer this question, we have gathered some evidence that adopting a servant leadership management style can lead to a positive outcome for your organization. Let's look at some data:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Research shows that taking a servant leadership approach can directly improve how well your team members perform their jobs. Researchers at the Prince Sultan University in Saudi Arabia surveyed 233 supervisor-subordinate pairs<\/a> to look at how servant leadership impacted individual employee performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They found servant leadership management style strongly predicted better task performance and organizational citizenship behaviors (helping teammates, volunteering for extra work, promoting the company culture) from subordinates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The researchers explained it this way:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \"Servant leadership strongly predicted affective trust, organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs), and task performance of subordinates. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2026When servant leaders manage to develop quality relationships with their subordinates by inducing cognitive and affective trust, it results in a reciprocal exchange and the extra-role behaviors \"<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n In short, servant leadership leads to greater emotional bonds and trust between leaders and team members. This trust inspires employees to work harder and go beyond expectations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Psychological safety<\/a> is the belief that you won't be embarrassed or punished for speaking up with questions, ideas, or concerns. In his book, Serve to Be Great: Leadership Lessons from a Prison, a Monastery, and a Boardroomone<\/a>, Matt Tanney explains<\/a> that servant leadership helps with creating psychologically safe work environments. This happens through the strong bonds of trust servant leaders form with their team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen employees feel psychologically safe, they engage more with their work and their co-workers. It can impact everything from innovation to retention in an organization.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Servant leaders build trust and forge authentic connections with team members by honing their emotional intelligence and leading with self-awareness, compassion, honesty, and transparency.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n When you show compassion, act with transparency, and demonstrate care for people's well-being, they feel \"safe\" with you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your team knows you have their back. They can be vulnerable without fear of being attacked or mocked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This safety to take risks and be themselves unlocks great benefits:<\/p>\n\n\n\n These are benefits any leader would like to experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For those who want the most concrete data, and care most about the bottom line, the final data point on the value of servant leadership is the biggest one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
What is Servant Leadership?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Traditional](\"https:\/\/getlighthouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/traditional-leadership-vs-servant-leadership-1024x576.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nWho invented the servant leadership model? How did he come up with it?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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<\/em>The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant first to make sure that other people's highest priority needs are being served. <\/em><\/strong>
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<\/em><\/strong>The best test, and the most difficult to administer, is this: <\/em>Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Robert](\"https:\/\/getlighthouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/robert-greenleaf.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
Does the servant leadership model actually work?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Servant leadership boosts employee performance<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Servant leadership enhances psychological safety<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Servant leadership boosts sales and profits<\/h3>\n\n\n\n