Question

Boyum (2006) and Greenleaf (1977) suggested servant leaders have an innate desire to work in service of others; servant leaders respond to an internal mandate to work in service of others and develop a trust from those persons to whom they are given charge.

Principally, servant leaders have the foresight, willingness and ability to “act constructively… [based on] their ethics (of service)” (Greenleaf, 1977, p.26).

How much of what the authors describe do we attribute identity?

How much do we attribute to behavior?

Is there a difference?

Answer 1

We attribute to the identity and behavior to a great extent. However, there is a difference between in the two. In terms of a behavior, Servant leadership attempts to be more righteous in its approach by providing more concern to others by serving them in terms of their needs and aspirations. In case of the Servant leadership as an identity, the leaders following the same are considered more approachable and understanding because such attempt of righteous approach enable them to be more concern to others by serving them in terms of their needs and aspirations.

In terms of behavior, this leadership theory strives to the best to incorporate all the expectations of the teammates with the view to build an Organizational environment which is most conducive for the growth and benefits rendered to the employees. It further believes in putting the teammates first before themselves unlike in case of the Traditional leadership styles where the subordinates are required to adjust or accommodate themselves as per the leaders’ approaches for achieving more feasible results. That is where a servant leader stands out and attribute itself as an identity.

In fact, it is wwing to all this features, servant leadership can impact follower’s attitudes and behaviors in Organizations. One of the “real-life” examples of someone that I can think demonstrates a servant leadership approach in his role as a leader is Tenzin Gyatso. In terms of the attribution to the identity, he is a spiritual leader in Tibet and is popularly addressed in world over as ‘Dalai Lama’. He reaches out to his followers in an earnest possible way, by patiently listening to them and by attempting to provide solutions that could be practical in their lives. In terms of the behavior attributes, he believes in arriving at consensus than by ruling with authority. He allows the minds of the followers to speak and although he detests the solutions by means of violence, his approach has been known to be subtle yet strong.