Three Positives and Three Negatives for Servant Leadership
Servant Leadership in Teams and Work Groups
After declining productivity in the United States and higher competition for qualified employees, organizations have become more responsive to the need to keep employees happy recognizing the high costs of employee turnover and the higher productivity rates for satisfied employees. Servant Leadership is characterized as a leadership style that aims to influence and motivate followers by meeting all their higher-order needs such as the need for training or skill-building, empowerment for creative problem solving, and favorable working conditions. This has led companies and leadership experts to explore servant leadership as a preferred leadership style.
To gain a better understanding of servant leadership it is worth looking at first the positives and then the negative aspects of servant leadership. The promise of servant leadership is high. Any follower hopes their leader is understanding and attentive to their unique needs, and leaders, for the most part, want to be perceived as putting their followers and employees first. Servant leaders exhibit three important behaviors toward their followers: listening, empathy, and stewardship. These three aspects will be discussed as functions of the positive attributes of servant leadership. However, there are also pitfalls and possible…
