7 Pillars of Servant Leadership - Coursework Example

Servant Leadership Leadership has been defined through various lines of thoughts but can be defined as the influence over self as well as other people. The philosophy of servant leadership has been in existent for a long time in history. It entails practices that are executed by an individual (leader) to which adds value to the lives of the followers while developing organizations that perform well. The result of such type of leadership is a society that upholds justice and care for humanity and the world at large. Robert Greenleaf developed the concept of servant leadership in his 1970 publication The Servant as Leader. In his arguments, the leader should have the urge to serve first through a conscious choice. A servant leader puts the concerns of other people as the first consideration. In addition, they ensure that their people become freer, wise, autonomous, and healthier. Power is shared between the leader and the people, their needs are prioritized, and the people are given an opportunity to develop themselves to the level best (Centre for Servant Leadership 1). The focus of a servant leader is the wellbeing of their followers as well as their growth. The view of leadership has been influence ‘from above’ by the leader over their subjects. In this is not the case with servant leadership. In this case, the power rests upon the subjects; the leader is there to harmonize the views of the subjects. The needs of the subjects are given the first consideration by the servant leader while making effort to help them execute their tasks in a better way. This means that in a servant leadership, power is not centralized. The followers have their opinion heard and adhered to. Individuals and organizations can easily provide servant leadership. Servant leadership has the capacity to change the world because every member of a given community has a voice that can be heard and used to develop the community. Greenleaf observed that a good society is established through a cross-mutual service between the less able and the most capable. The concern for each other should traverse the personal level to reach the organizational level where the relationship is impersonal and facilitates the creation of opportunities for the people (Smith 5). There are seven pillars that have been identified as the forming the framework of a servant leadership. These pillars are focused on facilitating the good of the community. They can be applied to organizations, work groups, and to individuals in order to facilitate the realization of the needs of the community at large. The first pillar is that a leader should be a person of character. This means that the individual that is placed by a given community or organization to lead them, should be a person who has a higher purpose to serve besides personal interests. In addition, they should be a person that upholds a high degree of integrity and humility. These characters make the leader to be acceptable to the people as well as having trust from them. This character of a leader is different from an aristocratic leader who will do whatever pleases them. The second pillar that supports servant leadership is the ‘people-first’ mentality. The people are the most important asset to the servant leader, they matter a lot because they form the community that is influenced by the leadership. A servant leader should have a heart for service to the people, they should be at a position of empathizing with their people while understanding their concerns and trying their best to find solutions. In a dictatorial leadership, things are forced to the people and have no choice rather that heed to the demand of a leader. There is a high sense of care and concern that is demonstrated by a servant leader. On the other hand, a servant leader puts the people first by providing mentorship to them. They may do so directly (themselves) or they may outsource mentorship that is geared towards making the followers better people and exhibit more growth (Smith 6). Communication is a key pillar of servant leadership. Contrary to an autocratic leadership where there is less participation while power is centralized, a servant leader will always invite feedback from the people. It is also their character to demonstrate empathy in their speech while having a persuasive communication. Through these communication skills, the leader is able to understand their people while the people also understand their leader. The servant leader takes time to listen and is listened to pretty well. A servant leader does not operate in isolation from their followers. They are compassionate collaborators towards their people. They are keen at developing teams while facilitating teamwork; themselves are made part of the team. It is also a characteristic of the servant leaders that they are problem-solvers; they have the discretion and the wisdom to handle conflicts while taking a neutral stand that will facilitate attainment of a permanent solution. It is also apparent that the collaborative skills of a leader make them appreciative of the subject’s input and concerns (Senjaya and Pekerti 650-653). Servant leaders have a foresight. They have a clear vision of what they want to achieve for the people and do share these visions with the people in order to get their input. This means that the leader should be very organized, creative and a good planner. In addition, a servant leader is required to make very sound judgments. On the other hand, they should demonstrate the capability to think beyond the obvious. They should be capable of adapting to changing situations, be ready to handle complex situations while considering the overall benefit to the people. The leader also leads with a moral authority. This form of leadership is contrary to the convectional leadership styles since the leader may force things to the people against their will. TDIndustries has adopted servant leadership that has helped catapult the organization to one of the best companies to work for in the United States. The leadership model adopted by the company is based on Robert Greenleaf’s essay, The Servant as Leader as well Herman Hesse’s novel, Journey to the East, both of which depicts the characters of a servant leader. The organization achieves this by equipping its people with trainings that empower them to serve. This starts with the Basic Servant Leadership training, more time is spent on performance-oriented trainings for individuals who would like to first serve and then become leaders. Based on this philosophy, there has been a mutual trust that exists between the partners and the management (TDIndustries Website 1). TDIndustries was established in 1946 and was named Texas Distributors at the time. It was a family-owned business providing repair and installation services for refrigerators, freezers, and water fountains. The business has a focus on taking into perspective the concerns of the employees. One major advantage of this model is the ease in transitions that has made the company to remain vibrant. Its founder Jack Lowe, Sr believed that it was the mandate of the leader to facilitate the achievement of the personal and professional needs of the employees. He went ahead to use the propositions of Robert Greenleaf’s essay to build a leadership culture that still remains core to the company. The service by both partners and the management serve the organization beyond self-gains. The series of training opportunities makes TDIndustries to equip its employees for service. Their leadership trainings include, Catch the Spirit, TDOpportunities, TDPartners in Quality, Introduction to Servant Leadership, Empowerment for High-Performing organizations, Growing Servant Leaders at TDIndustries, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Performance Management, and the Effective Utilization of partner Annual Plan and Development Tool (Whittington & Maellaro 134). Partner and employee satisfaction for TDIndustries is clearly identifiable. The success of the company is highly attributable to the servant leadership that allows the employees to be empowered to take up leadership through service. Through this strategy, the company has achieved so much. Its stock value rose from $ 19.1 to $ 44. 46 per share between 1992-1997. This was accompanied by a rise in revenue from $ 65 million in 1992 to $ 234 million in 2005. On the other hand, the company has consistently featured in Fortunes’ “100 best companies to work for in America” (Whittington & Maellaro 140). The company has achieved many other awards, benefits, and recognitions courtesy of its leadership model. Servant leadership is a wonderful leadership model. Personally, the model means to me three things. First, it is centered on the people hence the leader is capable of tapping on the potential of their team to steer their organization to greatness. People are a very important asset that can be very productive if given the chance to express themselves in the right way. Secondly, servant leadership is based on the view of working together instead of working in isolation or working under a command. The leader plays their role in providing a vision to the organization but the employees are also given a chance to express themselves through providing their input to the leader’s suggestions. Thirdly, servant leadership gives a chance for empowerment of the followers. This can be done through trainings or through mentorship. The followers are therefore aware of what is expected of them and will be motivated to achieve that. One characteristic that I would endeavor to develop that is entrenched in servant leadership is viewing situations through the eyes of the followers. This means that whatever comes up the leader should be able to consider not only the input of the followers but also the effects on them. The followers should be considered because the leader is their servant and should constantly engage them. For example, as a manager I should know and act appropriately on how a certain decision affects each one of my staff members. In conclusion, servant leaders are a good leadership model that gives a moral consideration for the wellbeing of the subjects at the expense of that of the leader. It requires that both the leader and the followers should work together to grow the organization (teamwork), leaders should be first servants, leaders should have followers and leaders are supposed to see situations through the eyes of their followers. Works Cited Senjaya, Sen, and Andre Pekerti. "Servant Leadership as Antecedent of Trust in Organizations." Leadership & Organization Development Journal 31.7 (2010): 643-63. ProQuest. Web. 28 Apr. 2014. http://search.proquest.com/business/docview/756102183/C05078F4E4284056PQ/17?accountid=45049 Whittington, Lee & Maellaro, Rosemary. The Principles and Practice of Servant leadership: The case Study of TDIndustries. 2006. 28 Apr. 2014. http://aa.utpb.edu/media/leadership-journal-files/2006-archives/The%20Principles%20and%20Practice%20of%20Servant-Leadership.pdf "Servant Leadership Institute; Servant Leadership Institute to Exhibit at Greenleaf International Conference."Transportation Business Journal (2012): 75. ProQuest. Web. 28 Apr. 2014. http://search.proquest.com/business/docview/1021358569/970355F4FE444D52PQ/1?accountid=45049 TDIndustries Website. To lead, You Must follow. 2014. 28 Apr. 2014. http://www.tdindustries.com/about/servant-leadership Smith, Carol. The Leadership Theory of Robert K. Greenleaf. 2005. 28 Apr. 2014. http://www.carolsmith.us/downloads/640greenleaf.pdf Centre for Servant Leadership. What is servant leadership? 2014. 28 Apr. 2014. https://greenleaf.org/what-is-servant-leadership/ Read More