Servant Leadership: Principles, Practice, and Implications

Abstract

While servant leadership has gained increasing attention as a potentially effective leadership approach, its practical application and impact remain debated. This review paper advances people’s knowledge in leadership by providing a detailed discussion on servant leadership evolution and the current leadership theories, which are relational leadership theories. According to the paper, a servant leadership paradigm's pervasive notion of service permeates the relationship between leaders and followers and encourages workers, which may serve as a bridge to start reestablishing community relations. The fundamental tenet of servant leadership is that those who put their followers' needs ahead of their own are the ones who will most effectively motivate their flock. Humble leaders foster great relationships with followers and motivate them to put their all into their work because they care more about others than themselves. To fully understand servant leadership, the words of Larry Spears, the Executive Director of the Robert K. Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership, are borrowed. In his description of servant leadership, he highlighted four key attributes as central to the servant leadership framework. Servant leadership focuses on the betterment and support of others by seeking to meet the interests, needs, and ambitions of others above one’s own. In the setting of larger companies, smaller firms, and some NPOs, researchers have found that a manager practicing servant leadership may have a great empowering potential towards their followers.