What is Servant Leadership?
Helping to answer the question, “what is a servant leader?”
Servant leadership seems to make a resurgence every few years. Every time, the subject seems to be addressed as a new idea or a newly discovered method. If we take a look back, especially within Christianity, we will see that history has already provided us with some pointers when answering, “what is a servant leader?”
The timelessness of servant leadership is demonstrated throughout Christian history. I am sure that there are many examples within the Old Testament, but the New Testament gives such great examples, especially in the earthly mission of Jesus, that one only needs to look there for a 2000 year tradition. And no other example demonstrates the idea of servant leadership than Jesus washing the feet of his disciples. The act itself, from a leader, speaks loud enough, but if we actually take a moment to understand who Jesus claimed to be, God in flesh, then we see how low Jesus was willing to debase himself to demonstrate a servant leader. It does not matter your opinion of Jesus as a religious figure to get this concept. It only matters what Jesus thought of himself and what his disciples thought of him to understand the lengths Jesus would go to develop the devotion of his followers.
Later in history we see other examples, but one that stands out is a monk named Pachomius. Pachomius is credited with originating the communal monastery, but his example also demonstrates what is servant leadership. Though Pachomius started his movement, was in charge of a multitude of monasteries within Egypt and countless followers, and he also enjoyed much influence within the Alexandrian Christian community which was debatably the center of Christian thought at the time, Pachomius lived just like one of his monks. He slept within a communal house and placed himself under the same authority that every monk of his order was subjected. Pachomius would wake up every day and receive his work instructions from his house leader. He participated in the same work hours, attended the same services, and fasted and ate the same meals. He appeared as just another monk working for the monastery.
The principles demonstrated by these two examples tell us tons about servant leadership. We see humility, equality, confidence of position/calling, and transparency. In fact, if I could give leadership advice to any individual, it would be to live out those aspects in the most extreme manner possible. A simple evaluation of leadership failures would more than likely come up with a lack of one of these principles, especially humility and transparency.
A blog post is not going to give you all of the nuances of what goes into defining what is servant leadership. So before addressing what a servant leader is not, here are some resources to help further define servant leadership for the individual serious about changing their leadership style. The links on the side of the image will direct you to the resource in Amazon which allows me to make a small commission if you purchase through the links.
Blanchard and Hodges offer an evaluation of servant leadership based on the life of Christ.
James Autry gives a more secular approach.
Finally, we will address what is not servant leadership. And this is a really easy list to come up with. The servant leader is not a victim. They do not focus on perceived oppression or insult. Even legitimate oppression and insults are just a distraction from the overall mission. Finally, the servant leader does not rely on position to enforce obedience, but instead uses their position as an avenue to increase relational and example driven validation.
These attributes cannot be overstated. The servant does not complain about their position or treatment. The leader recognizes their role within any hostile relationship. Both exclude any self centered responses.
When asking “what is servant leadership?” or “what is a servant leader?” the leadership part is usually already present. Therefore, the aspect that needs to be developed is the servant. Many leaders are taught many unhealthy habits concerning a leadership style that is focused on establishing their role “in charge”. There is ample evidence that demonstrates this mindset is not needed to garner loyalty, productivity, and integrity. The servant leader trusts their gifts, relies on those that compliment them, and has faith in their position within any organization or relationship.
