Servant leadership is an interesting concept, but I find the title off putting, just like spirituality to me makes me think of religion, so servant makes me think of some unfairness or inequity.
Who really wants to be called a servant? Books like Resonant Leadership by Boyatsis I think coin the same message but in a way that is for me more appealing.
Tom, I think I'm agreeing with you that the blog you quoted certainly isn't using servant leadership as Greenleaf would.
A servant leaders is someone who leads by serving others. That servant could be the the lowest paid warehouse worker in the store, or it could be the store's owner.
I enjoyed looking at book reviews of "The Resonant Leader" that Jenny Garrett above noted. It looks good, and I see why she notes the similarity to "servant leader."
I can understand her point why some people interpret "servant" as something negative. But maybe there's almost a sense of humor in Greenleaf's use of the term.
In Hermann Hesse's "Journey to the East" story, which Greenleaf got the idea from, the group "leaders" thought Leo was "just" a servant, and then they figured out he was far more of a leader than they were.
It's like in "The Empire Strikes Back" of the Star War series, when Luke Skywalker first bumps into Yoda, who pretends to be some kind of a dopey yokel, and Luke dismissively tells him he's looking for a big deal Jedi master. Luke finally figures out Yoda IS the great master he is looking for.
The humor and the wisdom is to understand great leaders can be humble servants. When coming up with the name, I'm guessing Greenleaf embraced that servant-leader contrast and wouldn't change a thing.
Jenny,
Thanks for the thoughts. At first take the name can be misleading, and I think much of that comes from how the term is misused on leadership that is not servant leadership as defined by Greenleaf. When Greenleaf talks about service work done by a servant, he is not talking about giving into someones wants or commands. He is talking about someone who at their core truely desires to serve others in a manner that leads them to be all that they can be. It is about leading them to grow to be able to meet their own needs, and ultimately that they then will be able to lead others to do the same. That is where the exponential power of servant leadership come from.
Being challanged to grow is not something I want. I like having someone wait on me and fulfill my wants. That is the servant you are talking about, but it is not servant-leadership. When you take the leader out of servant-leader, it is no longer leadership. And when you take the servant out, it is only another form of leadership.
The challenge for me is to dig deeper in the meaning behind servant-leader, not to come up with a new name.
Just some added thoughts.
Tom
Chris,
I think your two examples of servant leadership, Yoda and Leo, point out why servant leadership is misunderstood. The reason seems to be that when it is done right, it may not be noticed. Those who grow or benifit from it (Luke Skywalker or the Voyagers on the Journey to the East) go on to be known because of the growth they obtained from the servant-leader, but their leaders may go unrecognized.
I might have to add Jenny's suggestion Resonant Leadership to my reading list.
Thanks for the examples and thoughts.
Tom,
I like your point that sometimes the servant-leader goes unrecognized and it gets a little at Jenny's enlightening point: unfortunately when leadership given by a servant-leader is unrecognized, those who are led may use the term "servant" in a pejorative way.
Probably the ego of a true servant-leader would have to be tough enough to handle the potential lack of recognition.
It's like, as parents we had to change a lot of poopy diapers. Someone could ask, "Do you really think the label 'My Kid's Poopy Diaper Changer' is some sort of honor???!!" A parent watching their child become a successful adult might well say, "Yeah, it is a great honor."
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