Servant Leadership  

These two words coupled are becoming more common and more popular among business leaders in Corporate America. Before 2016, I personally had never heard of servant leadership. As I began advancing in my own career, I began hearing the two terms used together as a pair more frequently. The terms signify a type of leadership that puts others first. The term “servant” can be defined as a person who performs a duty or service for other people. The term “leadership” if often defined as the position or act of a leader. Together, these two terms refer to the leadership style where leaders serve their followers.  

I have been reading a book for my leadership class titled, “The Learning of Love: A Journey Toward Servant Leadership”. This book was written by William B. Turner of Columbus, Georgia. Part of the reason why I have this book to begin with is because I attended a workshop many years ago where it was being given out for free.  Because I am also from Columbus, Georgia I thought I would give the book a read. This book has given me a great viewpoint to servant leadership and helped me to better understand the intention of this leadership style.

In the book, Turner describes how he had great role models who were leaders in his family. His father and grandfather were known in Columbus for running successful million dollar companies such as the W.C. Bradley Company and Columbus Bank and Trust (CB&T) which was later renamed as Synovus Financial Corporation. His family was well known in the Columbus, Georgia area and were successful in completing numerous community projects. In this book, he describes servant leadership as the leader being at the bottom in an effort to support those individuals who actually perform the work. I enjoyed reading this book because as a successful owner of many businesses, he gave all of the praise to his workers and made them feel as though they were of such value to his company.

As I read this book, I have to compare the information to how much of a servant leader I currently am to how much of a servant leader I wish to be. By reading this book and taking in the information I am learning from my leadership class, I have realized that I am not that much of a servant leader as I desire to be. When I completed the Servant Leadership Questionnaire (SQL) this week as a homework assignment, I was a little disappointed at the results. The result revealed to me that I lack in my efforts to give back to the community and in the area of empowering others. Because my results were what I considered to be low, I have made these two areas goals of which I plan to advance in.

As I look at my current role, I can clearly see how I lack in empowering others. The textbook from my leadership course defines empowering as the freedom to be independent. The book suggests that managers empower their subordinates when they allow them to make decisions on their own and have their own level of control. I struggle with this greatly. The managers that report to me are responsible for making decisions regarding the lives of young adults. If the wrong decisions are made, the result of making a poor decision could mean citations, fines, or even program closure.

I have never worked under the leadership of anyone who has exhibited this style of leadership so I have not been able to witness firsthand what this may look like or even feel like. I am a believer of treating employees well, so learning to demonstrate servant leadership will not be that hard of an adjustment to make. I also believe that when employees are treated well, they are more likely to become devoted to the work they perform and will most likely demonstrate loyalty toward their teammates or supervisor.

Servant leadership will help companies with retention and with motivating employees. It is a method that supervisors could use to boost employee morale. It makes the employee feel valued and like what they offer to the company is appreciated. It puts the supervisor is a very humbling position. This makes the employee feel like an equal when working with their superiors on assignments. There is a huge difference in feeling like you are working with someone versus when you feel like you are working for someone. When you feel that you are working with someone, you feel that you are an equal part of the team and that your contributions are significant toward the end result.

Servant leadership can also be viewed as a biblical principal. Below are a few scriptures from the Holy Bible that support the servant leadership style. Below the scriptures, you can also find a short Biblical video clip on Servant Leadership.

Matthew 20:26
It shall not be this way among you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,

Matthew 23:11
The greatest among you shall be your servant.

Mark 9:36
Then He had a little child stand among them. Taking the child in His arms, He said to them,

Mark 10:43
But it shall not be this way among you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant.

Mark 10:44
and whoever wants to be first must be the slave of all.

Luke 22:26
But you shall not be like them. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who leads like the one who serves.

Servant Leadership (short video)