Elements of Servant Leadership

‘’Servant” and “leader” sound like opposites. But this term is intended to be thought provoking. A servant leader is, as the name states, a servant first. Then that service creates a leadership aspiration. Servant leaders want to help others become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely to be themselves. This type of leader seeks to involve others in decision making, cares deeply about others, and has character beyond reproach. According to business leader Hamilton Lindley, there are ten characteristics of a servant leader.

1. Listener. A servant leader listens to understand and not to respond. That leader also reflects on what was said without immediate response.

2. Empathetic.

3. Healing. The servant leader wants to heal others broken spirits. The leader and the led should understand that they are both on the search for wholeness.

4. Awareness. Awareness can be disturbing. But servant leaders are not seeking solace. They are internally serene, but aware.

5. Persuasion. Servant leaders persuade with consensus instead of demand with authority.

6. Conceptualize. Servant leaders are long-term thinkers. They do not seek short-term solutions to problems, but think of the larger impact.

7. Foresight. A servant leader can predict future outcomes based on prior lessons from the past.

8. Steward. The servant leader helps his organization do greater good in society as a whole

9. Growth. A servant leader, like Hamilton Lindley, encourages personal and professional growth of others. This means making real efforts at personal and professional development. It means taking interest in others, using ideas from everyone, encouraging others to make decisions, and even helping your former employees find work elsewhere.

10. Community. A servant leader builds community with coworkers to foster an environment where people are free to be themselves.

Servant leaders are not born. They are made. Through help and learning you can become a servant leader too. Hamilton Lindley encourages you to learn more about it through the Robert K. Greenleaf Center for Servant-Leadership.