Informative Essay: Servant Leadership
SGT Joseph R. Friedrich
Grizzly Group, #11
008-22
Throughout this essay, I will be covering what Servant Leadership is and their
qualities. The perspective of a Servant Leader and how it affects communication. The
ten principles of a Servant Leader and how they make the organization better.
A servant Leader is a leader who focuses primarily on the development and the
health of the people around them. Although, this is the general definition of a Servant
Leader there are many other qualities not mentioned. As Robert Greenleaf mentions in
his definition, “The servant leader is servant first. It begins with the natural feeling that
one wants to serve first.” In relation to the Army, this will be a Non-Commissioned
Officer (NCO) who puts his Soldiers’ needs above his own. This incorporates into the
actions that this leader takes by serving the group as a whole before his own.
The qualities of a Servant Leader come down to their character and development
thereof. They are a person who is very self-aware of their actions and how they can
directly impact the group. They constantly put forward the effort to help the organization.
Servant Leaders can motivate others to create a cycle of success by others emulating
them. “These great leaders always led by example and made professional
development/learning a priority in the workplace. This enhanced direct report
engagement and made everyone want to get more accomplished.” (Colin Powell)
A Servant Leader has an intuitive perspective on how leadership increases
communication. They keep things simple for their subordinates to understand a task
given. This increases the understanding of those associates under Servant Leaders and
is why many businesses put it into practice. According to business inquiries, the
average communication training has doubled over the last four years for businesses.
Without these following ten essential traits, a Servant Leader could not effectively
serve. Listening is essential to being able to understand those beneath your command
to attack the problem from the roots up. You must be able to understand why they feel
the way they do by listening to their issues through empathy. Using the trait of empathy,
which is understanding where they are coming from can allow you to heal them. The
process of healing through connecting to their mental and emotional well-being allows
subordinates to trust. This is tied into the trait of persuasion and allows the Servant
Leader to influence his followers.
As seen these traits tie into each other, yet they are incomplete without each
other. See in terms the art of persuasion doesn’t work without the trust that was built
from listening to followers. “When you listen first, you gather the information you need to
compose a personalized pitch that will make sense to the person you’re trying to
persuade.” (Mason Komay) Good listeners create effective followers who listen in turn.
Empathy also plays into this because if subordinates are not well you must be able to
understand their issues. “Research shows that people who are depressed are more
easily convinced to accept someone else’s views over their own.” (Mason Komay)
Awareness plays further into this for it’s the trait of being aware of your
subordinates’ struggles and strengths. Once struggles are realized you can use the art
of being persuasive with another trait, conceptualization. The trait of conceptualization is
the ability the see the reality of the present and create a vision of the future. Bringing
this vision of the future to a Soldier in the Army case will increase their productivity
under your command. “When people know why they are doing something they do it a lot
better.” (Kauffman)
The creation of this vision of the future for your followers must be followed by the
of trait foresight. This is the ability to connect the past and present to critically think
through an outcome of the future. To create this future, you must utilize the trait of
community building. This is the ability to bring everyone together under a common goal
to create a more effective team. “A successful and productive team works together to
achieve the same goal; this is also often the reason as to why the team is successful –
because each individual is working towards achieving the same target.” (Georgina
Stewart)
The final traits essential to maintain this team built are stewardship and is
committed to the growth of others. Stewardship is acting as a servant using the
resources of the organization to better it. This creates the ability to help grow and
continue to build your organization. In all, a Servant Leader is created of these traits and
when put into action can create an effective organization.
In conclusion, a Servant Leader is someone who focuses on the growth of those
around him. As shown, this type of Leader has distinct character qualities of serving
others’ needs. They also have a unique perspective that allows them to communicate
effectively. In ending, we covered the ten traits and how they improve an organization.
As in the words of a distinguished Basic Leaders Course instructor. “Leave the
organization better than you found it.” (SSG Pitz, William)
References:
Williams, D. C. (2021, February 23). Emulate great leaders and learn from bad
bosses. LinkedIn. Retrieved July 17, 2022
Herman, Rebecca. What is servant leadership? Purdue Global. (n.d.). Retrieved
July 17, 2022
Team, I. E. (2019, December 12). 10 principles of servant leadership. Indeed
Career Guide. Retrieved July 17, 2022
Grammarly. (2021, December 16). Why effective communication in leadership is
your most important skill. Why Effective Communication in Leadership Is Your Most
Important Skill | Grammarly Business. Retrieved July 17, 2022
yscouts. (2019, April 24). 10 servant leadership characteristics. Executive Search
| Executive Recruiters • Y Scouts. Retrieved July 17, 2022
Stewart, G. (2014, May 21). The Ability To Inspire People Towards a Common
Goal. Leadchangegroup.com. Retrieved July 17, 2022