Impact of Servant Leadership in the Workplace - Assignment Example

Introduction: “Leaders can and do move the ethics centers of gravity in organizations. But they must accept that in their behavior and example reststhe capacity to do this with great good or great harm.” - (Thomas, Schermerhorn, & Dienhart, 2004, p. 63) Organizations in recent times have undergone significant transformations, following the advent of technology and the blurring of global trade boundaries. These changes have compelled the management to adopt new and innovative ways to lead people in order to achieve their strategic goals and objectives and to sustain their competitive positioning in their respective industries. However no amount of changes, restructuring or reorganizing of the workplace would be effective unless the management utilizes its most useful and crucial asset – that of human resources. The traditional forms of leadership which attributed more significance to goal oriented practices have now been replaced by a relatively more human centric approach that focuses on ethics and the betterment of individuals which include both – employees as well as communities. It is hence imperative for the leaders in present times, to ensure that they lead by example and set proper behavioral norms and ethics for the employees to follow (Skovira & Harman, 2006). People centric forms of leadership such as ethical leadership approaches ensure that organizational structure is given more significance than the accomplishment of goals and management of people is given precedence over productivity. This is because processes and systems can only function effectively if the people who are required to operate and follow them are motivated and effective themselves. It is the employees who contribute in the achievement of goals and hence a highly motivated staff is more likely to help the organizations achieve their goals effectively. Leaders are hence required to play their roles efficiently whereby they motivate their staff by leading through example (Liden, Wayne, Zhao, & Henderson, 2008). Servant leadership is one such approach that centers on ethical leadership and emphasizes on developing and focusing on the employees to enable them to achieve optimum levels of performance and improve their efficiency, through self-motivation techniques thus paving way for developing capable and efficient leaders of the future (Reinke, 2004). Statement of the problem: As more and more famed organizations continue to bite the dust due to a myriad of controversies surrounding their ethical policies and approach to business, calling into question their credibility and commitment to their stakeholders, the need for more ethical leadership grows stronger than ever before. The fall from grace of the renowned Lehman Brothers’ due to questionable accounting practices controversy in 2010 (Wolff, 2011), to the world’s largest retailer – Walmart’s Mexico Scandal in 2012 (Heineman, 2014) points to a greater and urgent need for ethical leadership. The complete lack of ethical practices on the part of the companies and the failure of the leaders to effectively lead their organizations is known to affect not only the profitability of the company but also the morale of the employees, loss of public trust and invite greater and stricter control over the companies in the form of strict legislations and regulations (Graham, 1991). The rise in number of cases exposing fraudulent and unethical practices of organizations has compelled firms to reassess their approach to leadership and management and stress on the significance of ethical leadership to ensure best practices and more transparency in their corporate activities (Plinio, Judith, & Lavery, 2010). It has also brought light the significance of ethical business practices and the fact that it is the effective approach to leadership that helps in leading and steering organizations to success rather than a form of leadership that merely emphasizes on profits and generating more revenues (Moss, 2002). According to Thornton (2009) the drastic transformations in the global marketplace due to the advent of technology and rise in competition on a global scale, has resulted in a simultaneous rise in unethical business practices within organizations. Hence it is highly imperative for the management to ensure that organizations today are led and governed by highly motivated, strong and ethical leaders who attribute greater significance to the well-being of the company as well as its resources, both – human as well as financial (Mackie, Taylor, Finegold, Daar, & Singer, 2006). Need for ethical leadership: Studies indicate that the lack of ethical leadership in organizations today is one of the most critical issues faced by the management (Plinio, Young, & Lavery, 2010). The persistent lack of ethical leadership on the part of the management and the alarming rise in scandals arising due to it has resulted in a simultaneous rise in employee dissatisfaction and a similar negative behavior among the employees. The current corporate climate reeks of increased skepticism due to the involvement and exposure of highly renowned companies engaging in unethical behavior and practices. Studies have indicated a serious ‘crisis of trust’ situation that is recently on the rise based on a qualitative study which indicated that over 66 per cent of the total participants were skeptical about the existence of ethics and /or ethical practices in organizations (Darcy, 2010, p. 200). Lack of trust in organizations is hence widely acknowledged as one of the recent outcomes of increased instances of unethical behavior by leaders in reputed organizations. The abuse of privilege by the unethical leadership displayed by renowned organizations increasingly indicates the high level of corruption, deception, lack of integrity, and irrational abuse of power and authority by leaders (Frank, 2002). Employees in such organizations are hence likely to lose their trust in not only the leaders but also in the organizations as a whole. Such rise in scandals concerning unethical practices adopted by organizations indicating a clear lack of responsibility and integrity has prompted researchers to study and explore the concept of ethics in leadership in contemporary era, and explore the type of leadership that is relatively more relevant in today’s changed corporate environment. Various authors exploring the concept of ethical leadership have identified and acknowledged servant-leadership as displaying various key traits that make leadership an ethical affair. Greenleaf (1996) states that servant leadership effectively embodies one of the key traits of ethical leadership – that of ‘service to followers’ (p. 20). Servant Leadership: Meaning & Definitions: The concept of servant leadership was first popularized and conceptualized by Robert K. Greenleaf. Servant leadership is defined as: “A new kind of leadership model – a model which puts serving others as the number one priority. Servant-leadership emphasizes increased service to others; a holistic approach to work; promoting a sense of community; and the sharing of power in decision-making (Greenleaf, 1996, p. 33). Significance and impact: Servant leadership is one of the most efficient and appropriate styles of leadership that perfectly fulfills the needs of organizations in this highly dynamic and rapidly changing corporate environment. The current corporate climate demands a highly effective style of leadership that focuses and emphasizes on ethical behavior and uses ethically and morally right approaches for achieving their organizational goals of profitability. The servant leadership best fits the management style needed today by organizations because it primarily focuses on the human aspect of leadership and attributes greater significance and relevance to the well being of the employees and individuals associated with the organization including all its key stakeholders (Russell & Stone, 2002). Furthermore, servant leadership ensures greater investment in its human resources which in turn leads to increased motivation among employees, improved ideals of empowerment; drastic rise in performance and productivity as well as effective team building and team performance. It also encourages and adopts a participatory approach to management whereby all employees across all levels of the organization are welcomed to share their inputs and are allowed free and open communication regardless of any corporate hierarchy (Patterson, 2003). The key focus of this type of leadership is to encourage activities that are aimed at serving the community by adopting a holistic work approach. Servant leadership encourages greater involvement and commitment to the community and decentralizes power and authority, thereby enabling better and effective decision-making in the process. Since this type of leadership removes all barriers to communication and encourages employees to participate in decision making process regardless of their level or designation in the organization, it results in improved performance and highly motivated group of employees (Quay, 1997). The adoption of servant leadership approach is known to contribute to improved job satisfaction among the employees regardless of the type of work required of them (Horsman, 2001; Laub, 1999; Thompson, 2002). Various studies have been conducted over the years to establish, understand and explore the benefits, need and impact of servant leadership in workplaces. These studies have indicated that servant leadership results in increased employee loyalty and motivation (Northhouse, 1997; Yukl, Gordon, & Taber, 2002; Dennis & Winston, 2003; Dennis & Bocarnea, 2005; Joseph & Winston, 2005). Furthermore, employees are more likely to respect and follow their leaders who apply and use servant-leadership approach as compared to other forms of leadership (Russell & Stone, 2002). Trust is one of the most crucial attributes in ensuring leadership effectiveness in organizations. Studies have indicated that an increased trust between employees and the leaders / organizations directly influences improved honesty, sincerity and motivation among the employees at workplace, and a significant improvement in their values (Kouzes & Posner, 2003; Yukl, Gordon, & Taber, 2002). The increased trust and the resultant impact of such trust based relationship between the employees and the leaders, ensures improved organizational performance. Improved trust further leads to the development of a positive organizational culture, which in turn paves way for improved organizational values and the establishment of a healthy and positive workplace (Fairholm, 1994). However although servant leadership adopts the inclusive approach to managing organizations as well as its employees, it does reserve the right to impose penalties and negative consequences for employees for their lack of participation or poor performance. Thus, contrary to their sweet and positive image, servant leaders are also highly goal and task oriented and effective in enforcing the organizational code of conducts and ethics, at the workplace and ensure compliance to generate positive results (Kahl & Donelan, 2004). The followers or employees are known to be influenced by the type of leadership they are exposed to in organizations and hence are more likely to look up to their leaders for inspiration, motivation and support (Dasborough, 2006). Hence if the leaders use and encourage the use of ethical and moral practices, the employees are likely to follow suit and be encouraged to do the same. Studies have indicated that servant leaders are known to be highly committed to their causes and are consistent in their approach to lead the organizations and their employees in the most ethical manner possible (Jenkins & Stewart, 2010). Research suggests that organizations using the servant-leadership model are likely to contribute to a better and positive workplace environment, and encourage loyalty among the employees (Laub, 1999). Although servant leadership is perceived as a drastically different approach to other conventional forms of leadership, this type of leadership approach is deemed to be equally or highly capable of enabling and /or motivating their followers to operate in a relatively control-free environment where they have the required freedom to undertake their assigned tasks and improve their abilities in the best manner possible (Russell & Stone, 2002). The rising popularity of servant leadership approach can be attributed to the recent changes in the corporate environment, the rise in globalization, the advent of technology and the eventual blurring of global trade boundaries that has given rise to a new form of leadership which has moved far away from the centralized and control oriented leadership styles to a relatively more laid back and participatory approach to leadership. This type of leadership is hence posited to be one of the most effective leadership approach that holds the promise to deal with corrupt business practices and work like an antidote in this corruption ridden corporate environment of recent times (Wong & Page, 2003). According to Senge et al., (1994) “In an era of massive institutional failure, the ideas of servant leadership point toward a possible path forward, and will continue to do so” (Selladurai & Carraher, 2014, p. 64). The followers / employees tend to offer or withdraw their support to leaders based on their management philosophy and approach to managing the organization as well as individuals around them, thus playing a key role in their success. Thus, it is the employees / followers that contribute to the success of the leadership approach adopted by the leaders, through their actions and shape the formation of leadership attributes (Hollander, 1992). Thus when the leaders are perceived to be genuine, honest, kind, transparent, and ethical the employees are likely to support them and respond positively to their guidelines by following them as expected (Sendjaya & Sarros, 2002). Unlike any other forms of leadership styles, the servant leaders tend to put the interests of those around them first, thus facilitating a positive environment that encourages sharing, caring, trust and responsibility in the organizations thus leading the employees to follow suit and respect the leaders in the process (Laub, 1999). Servant leadership is synonymous with attaining the corporate goals of profit and increased revenues, through shared responsibility and a strong commitment to the well being of their employees, the organization, the customers, as well as the community at large. The employees in a servant-leadership corporate environment hence are motivated to respond to the positive behavior and approach of the leaders by being equally selfless and by engaging in behaviors as displayed by the leaders (Ehrhart, 2004). Furthermore the employees are also highly likely to work effectively and seamlessly together in teams and perform well as team players and display an exceptionally high level of leader-member exchange (LMX) behavior in their interactions with the leader. Furthermore the followers / employees under servant-leadership, are also highly likely to share the responsibilities of the leaders by assuming informal leadership roles within their respective groups and ensure effective and appropriate fulfillment of the assigned tasks in a timely fashion (Liden, Wayne, Zhao, & Henderson, 2008). Employees in a servant-leadership work environment are likely to become highly motivated and transform into servant-leaders themselves. They are likely to display similar traits as those observed in their leaders including those of a strong commitment to organizational values while maintaining constancy in terms of achievement of organizational goals (Wayne, Shore, & Liden, 1997). Companies such as Chick fil A and South West Airlines are prime examples of servant leadership in recent times whereby both the companies have displayed exceptionally high level of organizational performance and a strong commitment to the well being of the community as well. To conclude, servant leadership offers a highly innovative and novel approach to leadership whereby the behavior of the employees are likely to be influenced by those of the leaders and where the leaders successfully walk the fine line between profitability and commitment to the community. Works Cited Thomas, T., Schermerhorn, J. R., & Dienhart, J. W. (2004). Strategic leadership of ethical behavior in business. Academy of Management Executive , 18 (2), 60-65. Liden, R. C., Wayne, S. J., Zhao, H., & Henderson, D. (2008). Servant leadership: Development of a multidimensional measure and multi-level assessment. The Leadership Quarterly , 19 (2), 161-177. Reinke, S. J. (2004). 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