This document discusses servant leadership and compares it to traditional leadership approaches. It defines servant leadership as putting other people's needs and interests above your own, with a focus on serving others first rather than leading. The document outlines 10 characteristics of servant leaders identified by Larry Spears based on Robert Greenleaf's work, including listening, empathy, awareness, persuasion, and commitment to others' growth. It presents paradoxes that servant leaders must balance, such as being humble while also leading, and discusses how becoming a servant leader is a lifelong learning process rather than a set of steps.

1. Lead.
Servant Leadership and Values
Formation
Inspire.
Serve.

2. Question:
What is the difference
between a boss and a
leader?

3. A boss Versus A leader
A boss manages A leader motivates
A boss already knows it all A leader has an open-minded
A boss dictates A leader collaborates
A boss keeps a watchful eye A leader empowers
A boss puts the blame on others A leader takes the blame
A boss makes an example out of
people
A leader sets an example

4. Are you a boss or a
leader? Which one works
for you?

5. Ask yourself these questions to
discover whether you are a boss vs a
leader:
1. Do I do my best to make sure everyone’s voice is heard?
2. Do I prioritize self-improvement and continuous growth?
3. Do I help my members learn from their mistakes?
4. Do I actively look for untapped talent within my
organization?
5. Do I help others fulfill their potential?
6. Do I listen more than I talk?
7. Do I hold myself to the same standards I’ve set for my
team?

6. • If you’ve answered ‘Yes’ to
some or all of these
questions, then you are
indeed a leader.
• If not, examine the areas in
which you answered ‘No’
and consider what you can
improve on.

7. Servant Leadership:
A Power of leadership
through Service

8. Origin: Servant
leader
• The concept of servant-leadership is thousands of years old.
375 B.C. Chanakya’s Arthashastra:
The [leader] shall consider as good, not what pleases himself but what pleases his
subjects.
First Century A.D., Jesus of Nazareth:
But the greatest among you shall be your servant (Matthew 23:11); The one who is the
greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant. (Luke
22:26)
600 B.C. Lao Tzu:
The greatest leader forgets himself and attends to the development of others.
1970’s Robert K. Greenleaf:
The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to
serve, to serve first.

9. Definition: Servant leader
• Adapted from “The Servant as Leader” written by Robert. K
Greenleaf (1970):
• The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural
feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious
choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different
from one who is leader first…
• …The best test, and difficult to administer, is: Do those served
grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier,
wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become
servants? And, what is the effect on the least privileged in society?
Will they benefit or at least not be further deprived?"

10. Larry Spears’
Ten
Characteristics
of a Servant
Leader
(from
Greenleaf’s
work)
Listening
Empathy
Healing
Awareness
Persuasion
Conceptualization
Foresight
Stewardship
Commitment to
the Growth of
People
Building
Community

11. Characteristic
Breakout
Breaking out Spears’ characteristics into 3
dimensions…

12. Characteristic
Breakout
Breaking out Spears’ characteristics into 3
dimensions…

13. Servant
Characteristics
Focusing on serving others through these
characteristics…
LISTENING
This communication skill is essential for a servant
leader and needs to be developed.
Verbal: Listen actively to others and support them. Be
silent or ask only clarifying questions.
Body Language: Pay attention to what remains
unspoken.
Seeing: Going to Gemba, sitting with the team, silently
observing and acknowledging without trying to influence or
judge.

14. Servant
Characteristics
Focusing on serving others through these
characteristics…
EMPATHY
Ability to understand and share the feelings of
another.
Helping
Others
Helping
Self
“The task of leadership is not to put greatness into humanity, but to elicit it, for the greatness is already there.”
- John Buchan

15. Servant
Characteristics
Focusing on serving others through these
characteristics…
HEALING
Ability to heal one’s self and others.
• A servant leader may be able to help heal an individual or
system through listening, empathy, understanding, and
creativity.
• A servant leader helps people solve their problems and
conflicts in relationships and encourages the personal
development of individuals and the creation of trusting
teams and cultures.

16. Characteristic
Breakout
Breaking out Spears’ characteristics into 3
dimensions…

17. Leader Characteristics
Focusing on Leading others through these
characteristics…
AWARENESS
View situations from an integrated and holistic
position
Based on: Improved general awareness and Self-
awareness
Leads to: an Improved understanding of ethics and values
Outcome: Aim to increase awareness among all team
members.

18. Leader Characteristics
Focusing on Leading others through these
characteristics…
PERSUASION
Focus on convincing rather than coercion, be open to the best
outcome and other’s sides
Based on: Trust, Honesty, Knowledge
Not Based on: Emotions, Hierarchy in the Organization, Power
(Coercing compliance)
“People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. The leader leads, and the boss drives.”
-Theodore Roosevelt

19. Leader Characteristics
Focusing on Leading others through these
characteristics…
CONCEPTUALIZATION
Being able to imagine a better future
 To communicate and spark excitement in this future vision.
 A servant leader helps others to conceptualize, to encourage the
belief in the possibility of change through sustained effort, and by
carrying forward and helping to unify a common conceptual vision
in a team.
 Skill and the ability to teach systems thinking, innovation, and
accelerated learning are important characteristics of an effective
servant leader- stimulating aspiration, and not desperation.

20. Leader Characteristics
Focusing on Leading others through these
characteristics…
FORESIGHT
Ability to foresee the likely outcome of a situation
Based on:
• Knowledge
• Insight
• Experience
• Ability to identify patterns
Leads to:
• Learning about the past to understand the current reality
•Identifying consequences about the future
•Translating patterns to achieve outcomes

21. Characteristic
Breakout
Breaking out Spears’ characteristics into 3
dimensions…

22. Combined Characteristics
Characteristics emerging from the combined Servant & Leader
dimensions
Building Community
• Effectiveness
• Camaraderie
Stewardship
• Entrusted with
resources of others
• Return on investments
Commitment to the Growth of
People
• “Green and growing or ripe
and dying” (Hunter)
• Not just your favorites

23. Greenleaf’s Model of Servant Leadership
•Servant leaders are leaders who put other
people’s needs, aspirations and interest above
their own.
•Servant leaders deliberate choice is to serve
others.
•Servant leader’s chief motive is to serve first, as
opposed to lead.

24. Paradoxes:
Servant-Leadership, itself a paradox, requires a constant
balance…

25. Paradoxes are not easy to balance.
Here are a few examples…
Great Enough to be Without Pride
• Team gets the credit, you get the
blame
Compassionate Enough to Discipline
• Must not be soft – set high
expectations and follow through
Right Enough to Say, “I’m Wrong”
• Leaders make mistakes too, admit
you are human
Wise Enough to Admit You Don’t
Know
• Find out quickly, but do not
mislead
Busy Enough to Listen
• Beware the busy manager –
they do not lead

26. Greatest Paradox:
Just a few of the underlying paradoxes inherent in service and
leadership…
Leading Enough to Serve
• Focus on the Organization
• Humble, no ego or pride
• Emphasize the role of others in success
• Accept responsibility in failures
• Constantly seek opportunities for improvement
• Roll up your sleeves
• Stress what is best for the organization, not the few
• 360° Support
• Listen to Stakeholders
• No job too big, no job too small
• Participate, listen and build consensus to lead, not manage
Far more…

29. How Does One Become A Servant
Leader?
•From what we can understand, becoming a
servant leader is more a state of mind than a
set of directions.
•Becoming a servant leader does not follow a
step -by -step process.
•This style of leadership development is an on-
going, life-long learning process.

30. Are you a
Servant
Leader?