Introduction
Servant leadership refers to a method of leadership where an employee individual co-operates and co-exists with the management and other employees to obtain authority in an organisation rather than seeking power.
The organisation generally has a decentralised structure. The employee seeks to achieve the welfare of the people around them.
Understanding Servant Leadership
In servant leadership, an individual displays the characteristics of leadership, empathy, attention, and committed to the growth of the employees and the organisation.
Servant leadership helps build a relationship between the employees and the management. It is capable of achieving synergy in the organisation. It moves away from the traditional ‘controlling’ method of organisation and the authoritative method of management.
In a servant leadership form, the servant leader keeps the interests of the servant first and seeks to meet the objectives of an organisation from the perspective of the servant.
They place the needs of the organisation above the leadership. The method of servant leadership is distinctly different from leader-first, where a person seeks to gain control, influence and potential gains.
A servant leader seeks to develop and mentor their team to follow the instructions to meet the customer’s requirements and the needs of a client above their own personal gain in an organisation.
A servant leader motivates team members to work together for the overall good. Such a servant leader looks to share power with the others and also promotes the development and growth of others.
Such a leader tends to listen to their team members or followers to understand them, their needs, empathise with them and work with them for their development. The leaders hold themselves and their team members accountable for their decisions and actions.
Even when a servant leader attains a place on the management team, the leader encourages the juniors to work and serve the company.
Conclusion
A servant leader is focussed on serving the members and employees of a company, unlike a self-first or a power-seeking attitude.
A servant leader seeks out opportunities to uplift employees belonging to the lower strata in an organisation before seeking to be part of the management or leadership team of the organisation. A servant leader is committed to serving an organisation.
