Three Strengths of Servant Leadership
The term "servant leadership" was first coined by Robert K. Greenleaf in his 1970 essay, "The Servant as Leader". He said, "The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first… The best test, and difficult to administer, is: Do those served grow as persons; do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants?”(1)
There appear to be three distinct strengths of Servant Leadership (SL) clearly stand out: a). it is about serving God; b). it flows from leaders’ identity; and c). it has proven effective. The major strength lies in the fact that SL’s primary focus is on serving God. In so doing, the leaders do not solely rely on the outcome or performance of their work. Therefore, they are likely to continue their mission even when the results are not apparent. Consequently, the leaders are protected from either blaming themselves when efforts do not bring the desired results or, in contrast, taking all the credit when they succeed. If their work does not depend on recognition or appreciation from those they serve, similarly, if the result is not a determiner of whether they should continue, then to some extend it is true to say that they more resilient and consistent. Being a father to two adolescent sons reminds me that it is possible to do the job and be genuinely interested in the growth and well-being of others without expecting anything in return including gratitude or even gestures of appreciation.
Another strength lies in the premise that SL flows from the leader’s identity. It rejects the idea that a leader should try hard and ‘play a role’. Since it suggests a rather ‘natural’ leadership behaviour, it is therefore more effective in the long term. There is no need to remind oneself that he or she needs to “look like” they care or have empathy. They need to be the ones who genuinely care and the ones that are authentically empathetic. One of my Bible college teachers said, “Church begins with a pastoral heart”.(2) It is hard to disagree.
Finally, SL’s strength is in its reliability and efficiency. It has proven effective in the ministries of Jesus, Paul, and Timothy. As an ESL instructor, I have seen many cases where progress was not immediately evident. Some students tend to rush to ‘magic’ methods and then often fail, while those who persevered in a steady process eventually saw clear, meaningful outcomes.
1. Robert K. Greenleaf, The Servant as Leader (Indianapolis: Robert K. Greenleaf Center, 1970).
2. Nikolay Sychev, "Planting Churches" (lecture, Ukrainian Evangelical Theological Seminary, Kyiv, Ukraine, 2000).