Traditional Leadership Vs Servant Leadership | Servant Leadership Theory

10 min readOct 16, 2021

Introduction

Though the leader word includes lead, it doesn’t mean that exactly. Leadership is not just about leading, instruct, command, order, get the work done, sit and tell others to do work. Then what makes a leader? Being a leader consists of teamwork, engagement, helping, coaching, leading, improve communication, listening skills, cognizant of what an organization needs, and being able to produce quality work out of those who they are leading.

A leader is a person who motivates people to do things they are not willing to do willingly. A leader is a servant of all. But it doesn’t mean that all of his followers and employees will give him work to do or will instruct him. There is a major difference between traditional leadership and servant leadership which I will tell you. You will also learn the difference, similarities, which is best, how to induce servant leadership, and many more.

What is Traditional Leadership?

By the definition, A traditional leader is defined as a person who, by his ancestry, occupies the throne or stool of an area and who has been appointed to it by the customs and tradition of the area. A current example of traditional leadership would be the kings, dictators, some family-owned business leaders, and even political leaders.

But as a whole, a traditional leader generally is a person who enforces people to do work and whose main goal is the company. What it means is, that the goal of a traditional leader is to complete the company goals, traditional leaders generally do not much care about their employees or followers.

With a traditional leadership approach, the leader encourages people to do their jobs by providing them with motivation, a roadmap, and direction. The main focus of a traditional leader is to improve the business position of the company or the organization in the market, rather than the employees who work to do that.

What is Servant Leadership?

Servant leadership is a philosophy, where the leader’s main goal is to serve his subordinates, employees, and followers. It is a concept where people in managerial positions use their power and privilege to make sure that their subordinates or employees have access to better resources and a better work environment. Their main goal is to make their subordinates productive by helping them and making their tasks easy to do.

It is a set of practices that aim towards building better organizations by serving humans(called employees) who are working there. It aims towards building a cohesive and compassionate work environment, intending to serve first. The people who work for the organization are humans, they have emotions and limited energy. So a leader is required to serve them, help them and motivate them to do different types of tasks effectively.

Servant leadership occurs when the leader’s main goal and responsibility is to provide service to their people(as a leader from word means to lead, a servant from words itself says to serve). A servant leader focuses on the people that are directly below them, rather than the company as a whole. In servant leadership, the leader ensures that the followers are growing in all areas — their profession, knowledge, autonomy, and even. their health and physical development.

Example of servant leadership!

Servant leadership is not bad. Though many people get offended by the word servant or to serve. But servant leadership is the key to modern leadership. But Nobody could dispute that Gandhi was a good leader who inspired a loyal following through his own self-sacrifice and in the service of a cause. Servant Leadership, as it is known, has its roots in ancient philosophy, but it is also increasingly seen as relevant to leadership within today’s modern organizations. Some other examples are of servant leaders are Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., and Mother Theresa. No one could tell that they were not a good leader. A servant leader always first thinks to serve like mother Theresa and others. Those leaders who support their subordinates will always succeed.

Traditional leaders think first of always the organization, manager, CEO, company position but servant leaders think of employees. Every organization runs because of great employees. So the job of a servant leader is to work not the roots to produce the fruits.

I truly believe that Servant Leadership has never been more applicable to the world of leadership than it is today. Not only are people looking for a deeper purpose and meaning when they must meet the challenges of today’s changing world; they are also looking for principles and philosophies that actually work. Servant leadership works. Servant leadership is about getting people to a higher level by leading people at a higher level.
Blanchard

How is servant leadership different from traditional leadership?

The main difference between traditional leadership and servant leadership is that traditional leaders focus on the organization and its growth. But servant leaders focus on employees’ work, efficiency, and growth. We know that an organization is made up of employees i.e. employees who help the organization to work. We can call them the roots. And servant leadership focuses on roots to improve the plant.

Some other differences between traditional leadership and servant leadership like rank, power, control, believes, the output is given below:-

Traditional LeadershipServant Leadership

Traditional leadership and servant leadership

Also, traditional leadership often tends to become self-centered, with the leader being the center of attention. This is not the case with servant leadership.

Nowadays traditional leadership cannot endure, as traditional leadership was in the times of kings, rulers, where the whole power was in the hand of these people but now peoples have choices. They have the right. You may have heard about the labor strike. Today if any organization’s leaders focus only on growth and development, then it cannot grow.

Because we need servant leaders whose first job is to serve. Servant leaders’ priority is employees. And if employees will develop them altogether organization or company will also develop. The traditional style of leadership is unnecessary in today’s scenario where compassion and overall employee development are important for the growth of an organization.

The origin of servant Leadership!

The phrase or term “servant leadership” was coined by Robert K. Greenleaf when he used it for the first time in his essay “The Servant as Leader” which was published in 1970. In his essay, Greenleaf explains the term servant leader and also talks about the reason for coming up with a new leadership approach.

The popularity of the concept can further be seen in Hermann Hesse’s book “The journey to the East”, where the main character Leo acts like a servant and works with them until, one day, he disappears and everyone comes to the realization that nothing is the same without him and he was not a servant but a leader. Leo was seen as a servant throughout, but without him, the team felt lost and realized that he was their actual leader who helped everyone and brought out the best in everyone.

Servant leadership not only manages to get employees to be their productive best but also improves employer-employee relationships. Both, in the long term, are beneficial for the organization as a whole.

While Robert Greenleaf passed away in 1990, his legacy is carried on through the Greenleaf Centre for Servant Leadership in Atlanta.

Why is servant Leadership important?

First let us understand, what actually is leadership. Leadership is the influence. Most importantly leadership is not about you, it’s about people and your followers. Leadership is not about growing yourself or thinking about your position, it’s about your follower’s growth. And to do that, you have to serve, not just intake. And that’s what tomorrow’s leadership style is going to be.

Next-generation people want leaders, not those who are positional but who are personal. Kings and others have positional power but if you want to be a great leader, you have to induce personal power which is to serve. It’s not about you, it’s about people.

You may have listened to that leadership = influence. And to do that you need a servant leadership style. Servant leadership is any style where you work is to serve, serve and serve. People want leaders who understand them, rather than those who just want to make them work. If people get an opportunity to devote their time and money to be a great leader, everyone would do that, but same if I tell you to be a nice servant, no one will. And that’s the point, to be a great leader, you have to be a great servant.

How to be a Servant Leader?

Be a good listener

Listening is a great skill nowadays. Because today people want to share their thoughts, feeling,s and ideas with someone. But because everyone is too busy with their work, no one does it. So to be a nice servant leader, you have to listen to your followers, subordinates what they are trying to say.

You have to notice and listen to everything deeply so that you can understand the problem nicely and give a nice solution to them. Give them attention and try to understand what they want to tell, express by their words and body language. And you will understand the whole problem deeply. This can differ a lot from other leaders as many leaders don’t have time to listen to their followers, and their leadership cannot endure more.

Have empathy

Just listening cannot solve the whole problem, you have to understand them. A great leader understands the problems, and feelings of his followers. You don’t have to be blind eye towards your follower’s problems. Try very hard to resolve them by fulfilling the needs and wants of the public. This will not only let you create influence for your followers but also your organization.

Heal those around you

A servant leader is fit for mending individuals with an attention to their passionate wellbeing and a sensation of fulfillment. This implies the leaders need to ensure that individuals approach information and assets that empower them to establish a sound and quiet workplace.

Be aware

You have to be aware of yourself, your subordinates, your organization, your next goal, and your people. You have to serve everyone, not just a single person. Learn to manage the people.

Persuade without being forceful

A good leader is capable of influencing people in different ways. Leaders never make use of their authority to make people do something but instead motivate and encourage people to take the desired course of action. A leader is not forceful or bossy. That’s the main difference between a leader and a boss. A leader is a person who lets people do things they are not willing to do normally. And for that, they need the power of influence.

Conceptualize and communicate a vision

A servant leader can help build a concept for people. This includes the task of creating a vision and mission statement to provide a sense of direction for the entire team. There is always a goal, vision, and mission of an organization but what about the people. The team who is working for that company should also have the vision to work upon. People should see the place which they have to achieve. You have formed a concept or an idea or vision in your team.

Channel foresight

A good leader can anticipate future events and how they will impact their team, organization, and everyone. The ability to foresee is not a god-gifted talent but rather a skill that is acquired through experience, learning, and analysis of past trends. Analysis and foresight are very necessary in today’s world, you have to measure the growth and development of the team, people, and altogether the organization.

Practice stewardship

Stewardship is the ability to take accountability and responsibility for the actions, behaviors, and performances of your team. You and you as a leader are only responsible for the team, people, and the organization. You are accountable and responsible so you have to do things with care as you are accountable for the whole thing.

Commit

Good servant leaders are those whose main focus is the people, and this makes the leader fully committed to their growth and development. To develop people, it is important to analyze their needs and then cater to them accordingly. If you are committing something to the organization and the people, you have to fulfill that.

Build a Community

The leader should be able to walk with and among the people so that the leader can help them by serving and building a community. Building a community also helps you build a high-performance team, a leader builds a community among people with his influence.

Do you need servant leadership to manage yoru team?

Harvard research states that nearly 33 percent of employees stay in their jobs for longer times if they enjoy their work and continuously learn something. Since servant leadership focuses on these two aspects first, it is a proven model to establish a positive work environment. Servant leadership can help your team in many ways. For a good and high-performance team, we should always keep our team motivated and a servant leader can do it perfectly.

So if you’re just starting your business, establishing your team culture, or are looking into ways to improve how can you build a high-performance team, you should consider servant leadership.

Resource: How to build a high-performance team by Eshan Agrawal

Just you can experiment once servant leadership in your team and record the insights you got when you used this leadership style.

We’d love to learn more about servant leadership and feature your story, records, observations, experience, and insights here. Tag me on Twitter (@EshanAgrawal2) or LinkedIn (@me_eshanagrawal) and share your experiences!

Recommended books on servant leadership

Servant Leadership by Robert K. Greenleaf
The power of servant leadership by Robert K. Greenleaf
7 pillars on servant leadership by Don M. Frick