Servant leadership

Question 1

Servant Leadership Description

Answer 1

-a paradox; both service and influence
-Unlike many other leadership approaches, servant leadership goes against many of our natural human tendencies

Question 2

Interest in servant leadership

Answer 2

-most scholarship has been prescriptive, until recently
-past 10 years have clarified the concept and its assumptions
-Focuses on leadership from the point of view of the leader and his/her behaviors
-servant leaders put followers first

Question 3

Historical basis of servant leadership

Answer 3

-Advocating for building consensus in groups rather than using coercive leadership
-Inspired by Hesse’s novel, Journey to the East, where the travelers discovered the true leader of their group was the servant
-Leaders have a social responsibility for the “have-nots”
-Leaders shift authority to those who are being led

Question 4

What are the 10 characteristics of a servant leader

Answer 4

-Listening
-empathy
-healing
-awareness
-persuasion
-conceptual thinking
-foresight
-stewardship
-commitment to the growth of people
-building community

Question 5

Listening

Answer 5

acknowledging the viewpoint of followers and validating these perspectives

Question 6

empathy

Answer 6

“standing in the shoes” of another person and attempting to see the world from that person’s point of view

Question 7

healing

Answer 7

in helping followers become whole, servant leaders are themselves healed

Question 8

awareness

Answer 8

understanding oneself and the impact one has on others

Question 9

persuasion

Answer 9

creates change through gentle, nonjudgmental argument

Question 10

conceptual thinking

Answer 10

the ability to be a visionary for an organization

Question 11

foresight

Answer 11

the ability to predict what is coming based on what is occurring in the present and what has happened in the past

Question 12

stewardship

Answer 12

carefully managing the people and organization one has been given to lead. Holding the organization in trust for the greater good of society

Question 13

commitment to the growth of people

Answer 13

treating each follower as a unique person with intrinsic value beyond what he/she contributes to the organization

Question 14

building community

Answer 14

allowing followers to identify with something greater than themselves that they value

Question 15

Model of Servant Leadership

Answer 15

-Three main components: antecedent conditions, servant leader behaviors, and leadership outcomes
-The model is intended to clarify the phenomenon of servant leadership and provide a framework for understanding it complexities

Question 16

Antecedent conditions

Answer 16

three antecedent, or existing, conditions that have an impact on servant leadership: context and culture, leader attributes, and follower receptivity.

Question 17

Context and culture (antecedent condition)

Answer 17

-Servant leadership occurs within a given organizational context and a particular culture
-The nature of these effects the way servant leadership is carried out
-Cultures influence the way servant leadership is able to be achieved

Question 18

Leader attributes (antecedent condition)

Answer 18

-The qualities and supposition of the leader influence the servant leadership process
-People differ in areas such as moral development, emotional intelligence, and self-determinedness, and these traits interact with their ability to engage in servant leadership

Question 19

Follower receptivity (antecedent condition)

Answer 19

-The receptivity of followers is a factor that appears to influence the impact of servant leadership on outcomes such as personal and organizational job performance.
-“Do all followers show a desire for servant leadership?”
-Some followers do not want to work with servant leaders
-It appears that, for some followers, servant leadership has a positive impact and, for others, servant leadership is not effective.

Question 20

What are the Servant Leader Behaviors within the Model of Servant Leadership?

Answer 20

-Conceptualizing
-Emotional Healing
-Putting followers first
-Helping followers grow and succeed
-Behaving ethically
-Empowering
-Creating value for the community

Question 21

Leadership outcomes of the Model of Servant Leadership

Answer 21

-Follower performance and growth -> greater self actualization
-Organizational performance -> enhancing it
-societal impact -> having a positive impact on society

Question 22

How does Servant Leadership work?

Answer 22

-Leaders commit themselves to putting their followers first, being honest with them, and treating them fairly
-Servant leadership works best when leaders are altruistic and have a strong motivation and deep-seated interest in helping others.
-In addition, for successful servant leadership to occur, it is important that followers are open and receptive to servant leaders who want to empower them and help them grow.

Question 23

Strengths of Servant Leadership

Answer 23

-Unique in the way it makes altruism the central component of the leadership process
-provides a counterintuitive and provocative approach to the use of influence, or power, in leadership
-Research shows that there are conditions under which servant leadership is not a preferred kind of leadership
-Recent research has resulted in sound measure of servant leadership

Question 24

Criticisms of Servant Leadership

Answer 24

-Title creates semantic noise that diminishes the potential value of the approach
-debate among servant leadership scholars regarding the core dimensions of the process
-a large segment of the writing on servant leadership has a prescriptive overtone that implies that good leaders “put others first.”
-it is unclear why “conceptualizing” is included as one of the servant leadership behaviors in the model of servant leadership