Servant Leadership

Fitting the pieces of the puzzle together

Jesus Christ as Servant Leader Vs. Greenleaf's Servant Leader

• What is servant leadership • What are the similarities between Jesus’s

and the apostils leadership and modern servant leadership

• What are the differences between Jesus’s and the apostils leadership and modern servant leadership

Servant Leadership (SL)

• Servant leadership (SL)is where the leader places more focus on the follower’s needs and desires in order to serve the follower first. The leader adjusts their attitudes and behaviors to be in focus with their followers. According to Patterson , “Servant leadership is a virtuous theory” (Patterson 2003, p. 2). A virtue is a characteristic of moral excellence that a person exemplifies within their internal self that is reflected in their actions.

• [Servant leadership] begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead…. The difference manifests itself in the are taken by the servant-first to make sure that other people’s highest priority needs are being served. The best test…. is: do those served grow as persons; do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants? And, what is the effect on the least privileged in society; will they benefit, or , at least, will they not be further deprived? (Greenleaf, 1970 p.15)

Similarities

• Right identity – seeing oneself as a servant• Right method – relating to others in a positive

manner• Right impact – inspiring others to serve a higher

purpose• Right Motivation- Serving God by serving others

1.Similarities10 CHARACTERISTICS OF EFFECTIVE SERVANT LEADERSHIP ListeningEmpathyHealingAwarenessPersuasionConceptualizationForesightStewardshipCommitment to the growth of peopleBuilding community (Spears 2010, p.25).

6 Pillars of CharacterTrustworthinessRespectResponsibilityFairnessCaringCitizenship (Spears 2010, p.25).

Differences

1. Right character – maintaining integrity and authenticity (Davey, Wong 2007 p. 7-8).

2. Witness based leadership- leaders participating in the suffering of Christ 1 Peter 5:91. By removing witnessing from SL we introduce leadership from a

worldly perspective lacking Christ's humanity (Niewold 2007, p. 126).

3. SL of today reduces faith to ethics, neglecting the holy spirit within us. 1. Reducing faith to ethics helps dis-form society rather than

transforming society to the Christian faith

Conclusion• Servant leadership is similar to Christ’s and the Apostil’s leadership

styles. Greenleaf’s Servant leadership is missing a few key

components. An effective means of leadership is to incorporate all these

aspects into Servant leadership.

• Witness publically where our leadership style and love comes from

• Right motivation- serving God by serving others

• Right identity – seeing oneself as a servant

• Right method – relating to others in a positive manner

• Right impact – inspiring others to serve a higher purpose

• Right character – maintaining integrity and authenticity (Davey, Wong

2007 p. 7-8)

• Transform Society by transforming people into disciples.

REFERENCESDavey, M.A., & Wong Ph.. (2007). Best Practices in Servant Leadership. School of

Global Leadership & Entrepreneurship, Regent University, Servant Leadership Research Roundtable(July 2007), 1–15.Greenleaf, R.K. (1970). The Servant as leader. Westfield, IN: The Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership Niewold, PH.D., J. (2007). Beyond Servant Leadership. Journal of biblical perspectives in leadership, Vol 1(2), 118–134. Retrieved from http://www.regent.edu/acad/global/publications /jbpl/ vol1no2/ JBPLVol1No2_Niewold.pdf Patterson, K. (2003). Servant Leadership: A Theoretical Model. School of Leadership Studies Regent University, Servant Leadership Research Roundtable, 1–10. Retrieved from http://www.regent.edu /acad/ global /publications/sl_proceedings/2003/patterson_servant leadership.pdfSpears, L. (2010). The Understanding and Practice of Servant- Leadership. The Journal of Virtues & Leadership, 25-30, 1(1), 1–8. Retrieved from http://www.regent.edu/acad/global/publications/jvl/vol1_iss1/Spears_Final.pdf