The concept of servant leadership has been continuously rising in popularity since the 1970s when Robert Greenleaf’s works established him as the pioneer of the movement. Unlike power-centered leadership, it focuses on empowering and inspiring followers to do their best and succeed. Naturally, the leader’s goal in this system is to serve, which creates a paradox, making it difficult to differentiate leaders from followers. The purpose of this paper is to explore how these two roles complement each other and serve the same goals, despite being different in some aspects.
Engagement and commitment to the shared goals from both leaders and followers are key to the concept. Blanchard and Broadwell (2018) argue that to achieve any progress, leaders and followers have to show a similar level of commitment. In fact, their research has shown that 85% of change initiatives in Blanchard’s company were coming from the followers. Exemplary followers are the key to the success of the system based on servant leadership. They demonstrate the qualities typical for leaders in more traditional systems – resourcefulness and critical thinking.
Emulation is another crucial element of the system, in which leaders serve the followers, and the latter can perceive leaders as role models and mentors. According to Marinan and Brown (2019), “they come to know and accept themselves and self-regulate their behavior to achieve goals that are, in part, derived from and congruent with those of the leader” (p. 24). This behavior creates a positive environment, as leaders and followers share common values and goals.
In a system based on servant leadership, the position of a follower is considerably elevated in comparison to more traditional systems. Rather than being a cog in a machine, a follower is a proactive member of the system, whose actions define its present and future. As followers take over many traditional leaders’ functions, servant leaders act as guides and mentors to ensure their success. These two roles share common goals and are equally important for the system to succeed.
References
Blanchard, K., & Broadwell, R. (2018). Servant leadership in action: How you can achieve great relationships and results. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
Marinan, J., & Brown, S. (2019). The relationship between servant leadership, psychological safety, and effective followership. QRBD, 6(1), 19-38.