Servant leadership prioritizes the needs of others, emphasizing trust, communication, and empowerment over authoritarian control. Coined by Robert Greenleaf, it focuses on characteristics such as listening, empathy, and commitment to the growth of individuals within an organization. While it offers benefits like employee motivation and a positive corporate culture, it also faces challenges in measurement and effectiveness in competitive environments.

1. Servant Leadership
Leadership and Management
Topic

2. • Definitions of Servant:
 Leadership in which the leader transcends self-interest to
serve the needs of others, help others grow, and provide
opportunities for others to gain materially and
emotionally.
 Servant leadership seeks to move management and
personnel interaction away from “controlling activities”
and toward a synergistic relationship between parties.

3. Description of Servant Leaders
 Create a trusting work environment in which people are highly appreciated.
 Listens to and encourages followers.
 Visibly models appropriate behavior and functions as effective teachers.
 Have a high degree of credibility because of their honesty, integrity, and competence.
 Have a clear leadership vision and implement pioneering approaches to work.
 Have good communication with followers and exercise ethical persuasion as a means of
influence.
 Invite others to participate in carrying out their leadership vision.
 Empower people by enabling them to perform at their best and by delegating decision-making

4. The term Servant Leadership was coined by Robert
Greenleaf, a twentieth researcher who was
skeptical about traditional leadership style that
focused on more authoritarian relationships
between employers and employees.
Robert Greenleaf

5. What Robert Greenleaf Forgot to Tell You:
 Leadership demands skills & the ability to express those skills so
that those who are led grow & prosper.
 The leader’s ability to serve others is totally dependent on their
ability to function fully & to be healthy.
 The successful servant-leader leads the way to a better self!
 The successful servant-leader models self-care for those s/he leads.

6. Ten Characteristics of a Servant-Leader
1. Listening
2. Empathy
3. Healing
4. Awareness
5. Persuasion
6. Foresight
7. Conceptualization
8. Stewardship
9. Commitment to the growth of people
10.Building Community

7. Characteristics of a Servant-Leader
1. Listening:
Encompasses getting in touch with one’s own inner voice.
Coupled with reflection, listening is essential to the growth & well-being
of the servant-leader.
2. Empathy:
Acceptance & recognition of others for their unique & special spirits,
even when certain behavior or performance is unacceptable.

8. Characteristics of a Servant-Leader
3. Healing:
Recognition of the opportunity to help make whole those around you.
The potential for healing one’s self & one’s relationships from emotional hurts.
4. Awareness:
Arises from a grounded vision of who we are in God’s eyes: children, heirs,
those worth an ultimate price.
Understanding of issues involving ethics, power, & values.
The ability to view most situations from a more integrated, holistic position.

9. Characteristics of a Servant-Leader
6. Persuasion:
The ability to build consensus in a group.
The ability to convince others, rather than coerce compliance.
7. Conceptualization:
The ability to dream great dreams & to think beyond the day-
to-day realities.

10. Characteristics of a Servant-Leader
8. Foresight:
Vision that looks deeper than the surface
vision that sees beyond current appearances
Learning from the lessons of the past, the realities of the present, and the likely consequence of the
future
9. Stewardship:
The call not to selfishly use natural resources, but to shepherd & care for our natural world.
Recognition that the gifts given to the members of the body of Christ were given not for personal use,

11. Characteristics of a Servant-Leader
9. Commitment to the growth of people:
Belief in the intrinsic value of each individual
A sense of responsibility to nurture others
10. Building Community:
Willingness to show the way to others
Demonstrating the leader’s unlimited liability for the group

12. Applications…
The best leaders are so little about themselves, and so much about their people, one
does not even know they are in the building, but their influence is in every room.
 Come to an agreement on vision and mission and make sure core values are
aligned.
 Every three months review and refine your plan to reach annual goals.
 Live the vision, mission and core values. Schools without a well-planned and
articulated vision and without a process in place to follow through and implement
it - are in real trouble.

13.  Meet and talk out issues and follow three rules:
1. Be honest.
2. Be gentle, with lots of grace.
3. Listen so that you can understand other’s
perspectives
 Don’t take your work home with you.
 Put your health above the school or organization.
 Take care of your mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being.
Applications…

14.  Get to know your staff one to one. Schedule time to talk to each one
on one and listen.
 Engage each staff person in honest self-assessment about where
they are and where they want to be in the coming months.
 Every staff member needs to be plugged into where he or she most
benefits the school. Assign them where you need them most and
then equip them with the training and resources so they will be
successful with their new work.
Applications…

15.  Meet with your office staff once per month for a few hours.
 Never rush anyone out of your office.
 Keep the front office organized and presentable and be nice to people.
 School business is a people business. You, the leader, are in the business
of bridge building, not bridge burning.
 The joy of the work is not in getting away from the people but being with
the people and helping them whenever you can.
 Delegate, delegate, delegate.
Applications…

16.  During school hours remain focused on school.
 Know what is happening (be a presence in the hallway and
classrooms) and provide instructional support to your teachers.
 Conduct a mid-year survey to get feedback from students, teachers,
staff, parents, & board. Ask them what is going well, what needs more
attention, and vision for the future.
Applications…

17.  Hold all your teachers to a high standard. Support your strong teachers, work tirelessly with
your weak teachers towards their improvement. If there is evidence that a teacher is unfit for
the classroom then part ways with that teacher.
 Find ways to show appreciation to volunteers who have given so much of themselves to the
school over the years.
 Go out with the kids at recess, play with them.
 When hiring, go after the best teachers and provide all teachers with a mentor/instructional
accountability partner, and get one for yourself!
 Make staff meetings meaningful.
 Create a learning culture among your staff.
Applications…

18. Model instructional leadership by empowering and
equipping every instructional staff member to do what they are
trained to do. Hold all staff (including yourself) accountable
with ongoing growth plans and professional development.
 It should be so little about you and so much about your
people. You must be your people’s support network
Applications…

19. Some examples of historic Servant-Leaders
Mahatma
Gandhi
Mother TheresaHerb KelleherQuaid-e-Azam

20. Benefits for the employees:
 Motivation
 Moral duty to one another
 Responsibility
 Dignity
 Meaningful
 Development of Potential
 Professional Growth
 Empowerment

21. Advantages
 Long-term concept
 Leads to high loyalty of customers
 Employee identification with the company
 Excellent cooperate culture
 Leaders significance to the people
 Principle to improve the return on investment of staff

22. Disadvantages
 Many Characteristics of a servant leader.
 Needs Time to apply.
 Concepts are not well designed and difficult to measure.
 Popularity exceeds any evidence to back up the theory.
 It may or may not accounts for all aspects of leadership.
 Unclear how the concept would work in competitive or
crisis like environment.

23. Any Question….?
Thank you.