Servant Leadership Characteristics

Servant Leadership: Its Characteristics and Individual Impact Servant Leadership is a style in which the leader works for their employees rather than the employees working solely for the leaders. As told by Page and Wong (2000), servant leaders are distinguished not by their decisions specifically, but how they come to their resolutions and what means are used to make evaluations as a whole. Typically speaking, leaders are considered a “higher authority” which causes employees to feel that they do not have a voice, with no input to into the governance. Rather than simply telling employees what to do, servant leaders take input from those beneath them and implement change that benefits those working the front-lines. A primary responsibility …show more content…
However, several of these features stand out as unique to the servant leadership style. Empathy, foresight, and stewardship each take on a different aspect of servant leadership – from listening and community building, to the practicality that is needed to build a successful organization. By acknowledging these differences, it is possible to implement this leadership style into practice and create a working environment where everyone involved is striving for a common goal.
Characteristics
According to Spears (2004), ten main characteristics illustrate servant leadership as a whole. While each of them is important, several of them stand out as especially particular to the concept of servant leadership. As noted by Reinke (2004) servant leaders strive to create balance between traditional leadership tactics and servant characteristics and ground themselves in serving the needs of others before all else. …show more content…
According to Page and Wong (2000), servant leadership is successful because of the society that it creates. Understanding and acknowledging each member of the organizational team allows servant leaders creating a well-rounded and trusting bond between members (Page & Wong, 2000). Regardless of title within an organization, each person brings to the table a new perspective and a different opinion and set of ideas with them. Being empathetic is more than just understanding the feelings and needs of others. A servant leader then takes those needs and wants and harnesses them into a useful, productive community of people all serving one central purpose. By listening to the needs of others and implementing change in order to fulfill their needs, the servant leader empowers team members to work harder and more efficiently for their