Servant Leadership in Schools

Educational Leaders’ Strategies for Successful Learning

1. Ensure that a relevant, rigorous curriculum exists.

2. Ensure that effective instructional strategies are employed.

3. Ensure that a strong mission exists in the hearts and minds of the staff.

Why is a Leader’s Style of Leadership Important?

“An institution is the lengthened shadow of one person.”

Voltaire, 18th Century French philosopher and essayist

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Leadership Style Affects the Organization

"Leaders who are arrogant, dictatorial in their approach, emotionally volatile and who adopt a bullying style under stress often leave a trail of bruised people. By resisting input from others, ordering people around and making staff feel stupid and unintelligent, leaders set themselves and their organizations up for failure."

Karen M. Dyer"Relational Leadership"School Administrator, Nov. 2001

Williams proposed that poor leaders can cause a school’s culture to become toxic and unproductive.

Williams, B. T. (2001). Ethical leadership in schools servicing African American children and youth. Teacher Education and Special Education, 24, 38-47.

A leadership style provides a leader with a focus that directs all of his/her actions and words.

A lack of leadership style leads to uncertainty or inconsistency of behavior which is confusing to followers

History of Leadership Styles for Educational Leaders

Autocratic Bureaucratic Scientific Democratic Laissez-faire Situational Relational Collaborative Human Resources Transactional Transformational Constructivist Moral/Spiritual

Stooginian Leadership Style

Publicity photo from the Three Stooges short subject Healthy, Wealthy and Dumb. Copyright Columbia Pictures, 1938.

Yamasaki asserted that rigid hierarchical structures could no longer provide adequate leadership in an era of information technology and continuously changing organizations.

Yamasaki, E. (1999). Understanding managerial leadership as more than an oxymoron. New Directions for Community Colleges, 105, 67-73.

Sewell declared that the traditional top down managerial style is no longer effective in the 21st century education system.

Sewell, S. C. (2003). Leadership: Do you manage or lead? The Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin, 69, 54-55.

Although it is recognized that schools and school leaders’ leadership styles have undergone drastic change, it is difficult to predict which leadership style would best serve public school leaders. Taylor surmised that after decades of research to find the best or most effective leadership style that no style had emerged as the best in all situations.

Taylor, T. A. (2002). Examination of leadership practices of principals identified as servant leaders. Dissertation Abstracts International, 63 (05), 1661A. (UMI No. 3052221)

Jennings reviewed the literature on educational leadership, and she found that servant leadership could fill a new role in schools:

In many cases, shared leadership among leadership teams in the school help all stakeholders to be involved in the leadership of the school. Still, the principal is the designated leader of the school. His or her leadership philosophy, beliefs, and values are evident in the school climate, the students and staff who populate the school, and the perceived success of the school. The servant leadership model supports this shift in leadership ideology by focusing on the enrichment of the community and the growing of leaders from within the community.

Jennings, D. B. (2002). Those who would lead must first serve: The praxis of servant leadership by public school principals. Dissertation Abstracts International, 63 (04), 1207A. (UMI No. 3049171)

Servant Leadership is……

Servant leadership is considered some to be more of a life-style than a

leadership style

Laub took servant leadership beyond a simple definition of leadership style when he stated, “Servant leadership is more than a style of leadership. It is a different way of thinking about the purpose of leadership, the true role of a leader, and the potential of those being led.” Laub also stated, “Servant leadership is an understanding and practice of leadership that places the good of those led over the self-interest of the leader.”

Laub, J. A. (1999). Assessing the servant organization: Development of the servant organizational leadership assessment (sola) instrument. Dissertation Abstracts International, 60 (02), 308A. (UMI No. 9921922)

Burkhardt and Spears stated that “While the term ‘servant-leadership’ was first coined in 1970, it is clearly a belief whose roots stretch back through thousands of years of both religious and humanistic teachings.” Servant leadership has existed since Jesus of Nazareth said, “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve” (Matthew 20:28a).

Burkhardt, J. C., & Spears, L. C. (2000). Servant leadership and philanthropic institutions. Voices of Servant Leadership Series, Booklet 4. Indianapolis: The Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership.

Covey clarified the role of a servant leader by stating that servant leaders ensure the growth of other servant leaders by stating, “You don’t just serve. You do it in a way that makes them independent of you, and capable and desirous of serving other people.”

Covey, S. R. (2002). Servant-leadership and community leadership in the twenty-first century. In L. C. Spears & M. Lawrence (Eds.), Focus on leadership: Servant leadership for the 21st century (pp. 27-33). New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Servant Leadership Quotes

www.servantleadersineducation.com

History of Servant Leadership Theory

Robert K. Greenleaf (The Father of Modern Servant Leadership) Greenleaf is widely recognized as the one who coined the term, servant leadership.

Greenleaf spent 40 years at AT&T as a manager of research, development and education. Upon retirement, Greenleaf spent the next 25 years in a pursuit of creating a better, more caring society. Greenleaf remarked that he had great concern for leadership in America, “the outlook for better leadership in our leadership-poor society is not encouraging.” Greenleaf founded the Center for Applied Ethics in 1964 which was renamed the Robert K. Greenleaf Center in 1985 (www.greenleaf.org)

Greenleaf stated in his 1970 ground-breaking essay for servant leadership entitled, The Servant as Leader, “The servant-leader is servant first…It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead.” Blanchard (1999) agreed with Greenleaf that servant leaders are first servants before they become leaders when he stated, “Strong natural servants…will assume leadership only if they see it as a way in which they can serve.”

Greenleaf, R. K. (1977). Servant leadership: A journey into the nature of legitimate power and greatness. New York: Paulist Press.Blanchard, K. (1999). The heart of a leader. Colorado Springs, CO: Honor Books.

History of Servant Leadership Theory

Larry C. SpearsSpears became CEO of the Greenleaf Center shortly before Greenleaf’s death on September 29, 1990. Spears defined servant leadership as a leadership style based upon teamwork, sense of community, participative decision-making, strong ethical and caring behavior, and concern for growth of people.

Spears, L. C. (1996). Reflections on Robert K. Greenleaf and servant leadership. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 17, 33-35.

Ten Characteristics of Servant LeadershipSpears (1996)

1. Listening – Servant leaders’ communication skills are enhanced through a deep commitment to listening intently to the followers. Servant leaders seek to identify and clarify the will of the group. Receptive listening and reflection are essential to the growth of a servant leader.

2. Empathy – Servant leaders strive to understand and empathize with others. They accept and recognize followers for their unique spirits; and they assume others have good intentions, even if they disagree with behavior or performance.

3. Healing – Servant leaders are adept at healing others as well as themselves. They help make others whole by facilitating the healing of broken spirits. Servant leaders share with followers the search for wholeness.

4. Awareness – Servant leaders exhibit a general awareness of what is happening in the organization. They possess a keen sense of self-awareness and an understanding of issues involving ethics and values. Servant leaders are often described as disturbers and awakeners.

5. Persuasion – Servant leaders employ persuasion rather than position authority when making decisions within the organization. They prefer to convince rather than coerce followers. Servant leaders are very effective with building consensus within the group.

6. Conceptualization – Servant leaders do not deal only with short-term goals and thinking. They are able to stretch their thinking to encompass broader-based conceptual thinking. Servant leaders can nurture the abilities of others to “dream great dreams” and to think beyond day-to-day realities.

7. Foresight – Servant leaders are capable of understanding lessons from the past, seeing the realities of the present, and predicting likely consequences of decisions. They are adept at intuitive thinking.

8. Stewardship – Servant leaders are dedicated to holding their institutions in trust for the greater good of society. They are committed to serving the needs of others.

9. Commitment to the Growth of People – Servant leaders believe in the intrinsic value of people beyond their tangible contributions as workers. They feel responsible for nurturing the personal, professional and spiritual growth of employees.

10. Building Community – Servant leaders are dedicated to rebuilding the sense of community that has been lost with the shift to large institutions.

Seven Virtuous Constructs of Servant LeadershipPatterson (2003)

Patterson, K. A. (2003). Servant leadership: A theoretical model. Servant Leadership Roundtable. Regent University School

of Leadership Studies, Virginia Beach, VA.

1. Agapao Love – Love is the cornerstone of the servant leader-follower relationship. Servant leaders see followers as whole persons with different gifts and talents. They are able to focus on followers first, then on their talents and how those talents benefit the organization.

2. Humility – Servant leaders are able to keep their accomplishments and talents in perspective. They focus on others rather than themselves. Servant leaders have an authentic desire to help others, and they search for ways to serve others through staying in touch with their followers.

3. Altruism – Servant leaders help others just for the sake of helping. They have an unselfish concern for others which often involves personal sacrifice. Servant leaders’ behaviors are directed toward the benefit of others even when those behaviors are against their own personal interests.

4. Vision – Servant leaders have a vision for their individual followers. They help others to see the big picture by enabling them to develop a clear sense of purpose and direction. Servant leaders develop within others the mission to serve and encourage followers to become more than they thought possible.

5. Trust – Servant leaders develop trust through demonstrating integrity and concern for others. They create open environments where everyone has a voice and they work collaboratively.

6. Empowerment – Servant leaders empower others with the best interest of those being served in mind. They teach and develop people as leaders through shared decision-making and shared responsibility. Servant leaders make it a priority to grow new servant leaders.

7. Service – Servant leaders choose the interests of others over self-interests. They see leadership as a calling - a life mission. Servant leaders accept the responsibility for serving others; and they are committed to an authentic, personal involvement with followers through the giving or their time, energy, care, and compassion.

Page and Wong’s Servant Leadership Traits

Page and Wong created the earliest servant leadership survey, the Self-Assessment of Servant Leadership Profile (SASLP). Through a study of the literature, they first generated a list of 200 descriptors of servant leadership. By eliminating redundant descriptors and combining items, they were able to reduce the descriptors to 100 items. They then classified the descriptors into 12 categories: Integrity, Humility, Servanthood, Caring for Others, Empowering Others, Developing Others, Visioning, Goal-Setting, Leading, Modeling, Team-Building, and Shared Decision-Making.

Page, D., & Wong, T. P. (2000). A conceptual framework for measuring servant leadership. In S. Adjibolosoo (Ed.), The human factor in shaping the course of history and development (pp. 1-28). Oxford: University Press of America.

Page and Wong performed a factor analysis on their original SASLP and created the SLPR. The SLPR consists of 62 items employing a Likert scale of (1) strongly disagree to (7) strongly agree. These 62 items are grouped into 7 factors.

Page, D., & Wong, T.P. (2003). Servant leadership: An opponent-process model and the revised servant leadership profile. Servant Leadership Roundtable. Regent University School of Leadership Studies, Virginia Beach, VA.

Page and Wong’s 7 Factors of Servant Leadership

1. Empowering and Developing Others

2. Vulnerability/Humility

3. Serving Others

4. Open, Participatory Leadership

5. Visionary Leadership

6. Courageous Leadership (Integrity/Authenticity)

7. Inspiring Leadership

Spears’ 10 Characteristics of Servant Leaders (1996)

Patterson’s 7 Virtuous Constructs of Servant Leadership (2003)

Page & Wong’s 7 Factors of Servant Leadership (2003)

•Commitment to Growth of People

•Empowering and Developing Others

•Empathy•Humility •Vulnerability/Humility

•Healing•Stewardship

•Agapao Love•Service

•Serving Others

•Listening•Building Community

•Open, Participatory Leadership

•Conceptualization•Foresight

•Vision •Visionary Leadership

•Awareness•Altruism •Courageous Leadership

(Integrity/Authenticity)

•Persuasion•Trust •Inspiring Leadership

Why Servant Leadership?

Teachers are servant leaders themselves, and they prefer to follow other servant leaders.

According to Greenleaf, servant leaders want to be led by servant leaders. He stated, “Those who choose to follow this principle (servant leadership) will not casually accept the authority of existing institutions. Rather, they will freely respond only to individuals who are chosen as leaders because they are proven and trusted as servants”

How thoroughly has

servant leadership

been studied?

Studies of Servant Leadership in Business, Government, Religion and Higher Education

Qualities of Servant Leaders

Job Satisfaction The more strongly respondents

perceive that servant leadership exists in their organization, the higher is their job satisfaction level.

Studies of Servant Leadership in Pk-12 Public Education

Qualities Taylor-Gillham (1998)

Interviewed twelve well-known Servant Leaders in education and described educational servant leadership qualities using Spears’ 10 s.l. characteristics

Wheaton (1999) Interviewed staff members from each of six school districts in

Washington State: compared perceptions of effective qualities with servant leadership qualities - Found little correlation with effectiveness and servant leadership

Lubin (2001) phone interviews with eighteen selected visionary school

leaders: found behaviors described were congruent with 9 of 10 servant leader characteristics

Jennings (2002) Narrative stories of the five practicing school principals

and compared results to Greenleaf’s taxonomy of servant leadership – wrote very little on specific actions principals take to operationalize their servant leader

beliefs L. Walker (2003)

Interviewed Illinois public school superintendents recognized as Superintendent of the Year between 1991 and 2003: identified 15 characteristics similar to s.l.: calling, love, listening, empathy, etc.

Studies of Servant Leadership in Pk-12 Public Education

Academic Success Herbst (2003)

Relationship between the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) and the degree of servant leadership exhibited at 24 high schools in Florida. He found that schools with greater practices of servant leadership achieve at a higher rate than schools with lower degrees of servant leadership practice. Strong positive correlations were found between levels of servant leadership in school and the areas of 9th grade math achievement, 10th grade math achievement, annual gains in reading, annual gains in math, gains in lowest quartile, and achievement scores for African American students.

Lambert (2004) FCAT scores and servant leadership surveys from seven middle schools and

one high school in Florida to measure relationships between the constructs of servant leadership and student achievement. Lambert found a significant relationship between servant leadership and student achievement on the 2004 FCAT Sum Score. She also found a strong relationship between servant leadership and positive school climate.

Studies of Servant Leadership in Pk-12 Public Education

Job Satisfaction Girard (2000)

Found a positive correlation between a superintendent’s self-perception of servant leadership and job satisfaction and a strong positive correlation between the principals’ perceptions of the superintendents’ servant leadership and their own job satisfaction.

Miears (2004) Collected data from teachers of 15 different Texas high

schools in the Region X Educational Service Center area which demonstrated a strong relationship between servant leadership and job satisfaction.

Servant Leadership: An Examination of Public School Principals’ Perceptions of Servant Leadership as a Successful Leadership Style

Matt Stephen, Ed.D.

Research DesignThis mixed-method study utilized the sequential, explanatory design to analyze both quantitative and qualitative data to examine servant leadership and public school principals by first analyzing quantitative data and then following up with gathering qualitative data in a second distinct phase.

Quantitative Results

Principals selected as POY are not more likely to perceive themselves as servant leaders as those principals not selected

Female principals are more likely to perceive themselves as servant leaders than male principals

Elementary principals are more likely to perceive themselves as servant leaders than secondary principals

Female principals at the elementary level are more likely to perceive themselves as servant leaders than female principals at secondary levels

African American principals are more likely to perceive themselves as servant leaders than Anglo or Hispanic principals

Humility and Service to Others were the two servant leader traits rated lowest by all principals’ self perceptions

Qualitative Results

The qualitative portion of this study was a phenomenological study utilizing a narrative inquiry to examine the importance of servant leadership actions to the success of public school principals.

How do principals utilize servant leadership?

7 Servant Leadership Traits 1. Empowering and Developing Others2. Vulnerability/Humility3. Serving Others4. Open, Participatory Leadership5. Visionary Leadership6. Courageous Leadership (Integrity/Authenticity)7. Inspiring Leadership

A study of the qualitative data yielded 25 general actions and 60 specific actions that principals take to act upon their servant leadership beliefs.

www.ServantLeadersInEducation.com

Empowering and Developing Others

Servant leader principals get to know their people on a personal level so they can match their abilities and interests to delegated tasks.

Servant leader principals use a team approach to delegating tasks by assigning responsibilities to all staff members and holding them accountable.

Servant leader principals approach shared decision-making through the formal establishment of teams and committees. through utilizing participative decision-making processes and

activities which allow others to initiate ideas. Servant leader principals build trust with their people so they will

not fear or shy away from participating in shared decision-making activities.

Servant leader principals encourage shared decision-making through promoting collaboration among all school community members.

Serving Others

Servant leader principals support stewardship of the community through a desire and sense of responsibility to open the school to

the community. by being active and present within the community. through expressing the philosophy of service to the community

through serving its children. Servant leader principals focus on the best interests of others

through promoting what is best for students as a bottom line. through the dedication of providing a valuable service to others.

Servant leader principals demonstrate selflessness and self-sacrifice

through extra personal time spent on the job even to the point of losing time with family.

by expressing a need for and striving to achieve a balance between their professional life and personal life.

Servant Leadership

Personal Character

Connecting with People

Service Attitude

Personal Reflections1. Humility

2. Serving Others

3. Courageous Leadership

4. Visionary Leadership

Actions with Others5. Empowering and Developing Others

6. Open, Participatory Leadership

7. Inspiring Leadership

Humility

“Who am I?” Self-reflection as a tool for personal growth

Humble Character Providing a role model of Humble Leadership

Absence of ego, jealousy, and self-promotion Putting needs of others first Team membership (walk and talk)

Elevating and praising others

Vulnerability - Risks and rewards of an open, humble leadership style

Tenderhearted Leadership

Serving Others

Personal Mission of Serving Others Servant role and attitude – Master vs. Servant Leadership Living and articulating a personal mission of service

Nurturing Leadership Healing Leadership – Making People “Whole”

Listening and empathy Understanding others’ situations Accepting others’ unique gifts and spirits

Stewardship – Accountability to the Community Holding an institution in trust for the greater good of society Active service in the community

Making Service-minded Decisions Sacrifice

Living a life of giving to others Balancing personal and professional life

Courageous Leadership

Integrity Examining one’s integrity – values, beliefs, and guiding principles Actions of high integrity leaders – taking the high road Integrity killers

Authenticity Genuine leadership Admitting to mistakes and asking forgiveness

Awareness Self-awareness and awareness of others Understanding issues involving ethical dilemmas

Altruism – Doing what is right How Fear Affects Leaders and Organizations

Visionary Leadership

Conceptualization Seeing the big picture and dreaming great dreams Reflecting on the organization beyond day-to-day issues

Foresight Leader intuition Using lessons from the past and realities of the present

to predict consequences of decisions for the future

Vision Providing direction and purpose for an organization

Articulating personal vision Creating a shared vision and buy-in from the team

Navigating an organization through shared vision

Empowering and Developing Others

Connecting with Others Getting to know and understand one another on a personal level Getting to know and understand one another on a professional level Building long-lasting relationships

Commitment to the Growth of Others Making a commitment to grow others How to help others grow

Professional and Personal Development Focusing on the needs of those in the organization - personal, professional, and

spiritual Learning for continuous improvement

Fighting isolation Creating professional learning communities

Growing New Leaders Providing a model for servant leadership Mentoring new leaders Delegating

Matching abilities and interests to tasks Sharing power

Open, Participatory Leadership

Effective Communications in an Organization Listening

Listening to individuals Listening to the will of the group

Promoting kindness, trust, honesty, and openness in all interactions

Setting high standards for self and others Promoting vital conversations in organizations Dealing with confrontations

Visibility and Accessibility

Building Cooperative and Collegial Teams (School and Community)

Shared decision-making and shared power Trust building Building positive culture

Inspiring Leadership

Influencing Others Persuasion vs. position authority Becoming a leader of influence Getting others to embrace the vision and mission

Getting the Best from Others What makes a leader inspiring Connecting with, believing in, and motivating

people

Questions to Ask Ourselves

Teachers: How can I best serve my kids?

Principals: How can I best serve the servant leaders who serve my kids?

Support: How can I best serve the servant leaders who serve the servant leaders who serve my kids?

Next Study

Create surveys to gather data to answer the following questions:

Which servant leader traits/actions do school leaders perceive as their strengths?

Which servant leader traits/actions do school faculty and staff believe to be most important?

How can administrators utilize this information to improve their servant leadership?

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