Running head: SERVANT LEADERSHIP 1
Servant Leadership
Name
Institution
SERVANT LEADERSHIP 2
Servant Leadership
Introduction
Leadership is the capacity to lead and develop others in ways that result in the attainment
of higher shared goals. It is a representation of the actions, decisions, and measures that the
leader uses for delivering services to the people and communities. Also, the leader's engagement
in service delivery through the utilization of shared resources and application of his or her
attributes makes him/her the servant of the people despite their perception that he/she is the
served. While research has shown that there are several approaches to leading, servant leadership
is a multidimensional concept that emphasizes the desire to serve people and build a community.
As Jesus stated during one of his teachings to the people, "even the Son of Man did not come to
be served, but to serve, and to give His life as for many"( Mark 10:42- 45). The implication of
this Biblical passage is that leaders must visualize a higher purpose that their groups must be
willing to pursue and invest their time and resources into processes and systems to achieve this
goal. Therefore, the purpose of this literature review is the evaluation of research findings on the
principles of servant leadership that bestows on the leader the characteristics that contribute to
the attainment of the higher purposes that ensure the positive impacts that the organization,
group, or society needs to grow sustainably.
Method for Review
The academic database that was accessible through the university's library was explored
for research studies on the theory of servant leadership and how it influenced the creation of the
principles that can be used to identify the servant leader. Also, a selection criterion was
established according to the themes that emerged from the purpose of the literature before the
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conduct of the database search. Also, the criteria for selection of these articles include the nature
of the study, sampling method, data analysis techniques, and publication in a peer-reviewed
journal. Similarly, the Credibility, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, Publication (CRAAP)
method was used to identify the relevant, credible, and valid information to support the
perspectives in this thematic literature review was defined by the themes of the studies. As a
result, the concepts and themes for this study informed their selection according to the criteria
that were established for this study. A summary of the selected studies are presented in Table 1
below:
Table 1: Selection criteria for articles
Type of Study
Inclusion Criteria
Exclusion Criteria
Quantitative
Detailed background information
Use of relevant, valid and reliable
methods
The sample population and size is
appropriate and adequate.
Data analysis is appropriate and
rigorous.
Clear and concise report on findings.
The study is focused and properly
planned.
The article is published in English and
in a peer-reviewed journal.
Publication data is between 2010 and
2019
Insufficient background
information.
Method is inappropriate
The sample size is inadequate.
Data analysis or statistical
method is not rigorous.
Finding results are unclear. The
study is poorly focused.
The article is published in
another language and in non-
peer-reviewed or scholarly
journals.
The publication is not within the
date range.
Qualitative
Sufficient review of background
literature.
The research design is appropriate
and valid.
Relevant theory or philosophy is
Vague review of the literature.
The research design is non-valid
and inappropriate.
No evidence of the use of
theoretical and philosophical
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identified and used.
Rigorous data collection and analysis
method.
A detailed description of the results.
The study is credible, dependable,
valid, and accurate.
The article is published in English and
in a peer-reviewed journal.
Publication data is between 2010 and
2019
perspectives.
The data collection and analysis
method is not rigorous.
A vague explanation of the study
findings.
No evidence of credibility,
validity, accuracy, and
dependability.
The article is published in
another language and in non-
peer-reviewed or scholarly
journals.
The publication is not within the
date range
Systematic
Review
A focused review of previous studies.
The study is organized, and review is
critical of previous findings.
The purpose of the review is the
extension of the topic.
Adequate citation of current research
on the topic.
Identification of the differences
between the theories and opinions of
the studies.
Relevant, valid, credible, and peer-
reviewed literature were used.
The article is published in English and
in a peer-reviewed journal.
Publication data is between 2010 and
2019
The literature review was not
focused on the topic.
The study was disorganized.
The review was not an extension
of the topic.
The current research was not
properly cited.
Differences between research,
theories, and opinions were not
identified.
Selected literature was
irrelevant, invalid, non-
scholarly, and non-credible.
The article is published in
another language and in non-
peer-reviewed or scholarly
journals.
The publication is not within the
date range.
The Principles of Servant Leadership
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The vision of a higher purpose is a critical attribute that leaders require to conceptualize
the future through the identification and implementation of solutions to current problems.
Research shows that theory of servant leadership is based on the principle of conceptualization
that requires the leader to nurture his or her abilities to use historical information to explain
current trends to the followers or members of the community (Fields, Thompson, & Hawkins,
2015). They further added that the capacity to become visionary is one of the fundamental
principles that guide the actions of the leader and support his desire to focus the energy and
perspectives of the team towards the future goals. Allen et al. (2016) corroborated this
perspective when they asserted that servant leadership is different from other charismatic and
authentic approaches to leading because the leader is expected to analyze different viewpoints
and positions of the groups or society on their present situation to envision future outcomes
before making decisions. In this regard, the vision that is created is crucial for the leader to
communicate the compelling perspectives to followers effectively. Also, the understanding that
followers derive from the communication of the vision is a vital foundation for the servant leader
in building other elements that are required for achieving the shared purposes or goals of the
team. As a result, the principle of creating and nurturing visions that reflect the shared values and
aspirations of the group, organization, or society is one of the fundamental factors that make it
imperative for the servant leader in establishing and in maintaining relationships with members
of the group.
Furthermore, the analysis of the principles of servant leadership that inform that
characteristic that differentiate it from others is the existence of the right personal attributes. In
this regard, research findings showed that the traits and values of the individual that plans to
adopt the servant leadership approach must be aligned. According to Allen et al. (2016), the
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desire to establish and maintain genuine relationships with the followers is a principle that should
be consistent with the behavior and perspectives of the leader to ensure the delivery of services
to the served. For example, the desire of the nursing practitioner to make patients trust her
capability to care and support the healing process is a fundamental principle of the profession
that all nurses must follow to deliver their responsibility. Similarly, the servant leader needs the
faith of the followers in his or her capabilities in the same manner as Luke and Peter trust Christ
during the establishment of his Ministry in Jerusalem. In the modernist perspective, Ozyilmaz
and Cicek (2015) asserted that the servant leadership is built on the principle of service to others
that is supported the nature of the leader-member relationship and its impacts on the pursuit of
the shared vision. Therefore, the emphasis on people is a fundamental principle that is reflected
by the leader's attributes that guide the desire to serve and demonstrate traits that inspire others to
follow his or her directions to them.
Additionally, the evaluation of the literature on servant leadership theory showed that the
principle of followership is a critical condition for the adoption of this leadership style and the
positive impacts of its characteristics. Fields et al. (2015) argued that the principle of followers is
the framework that the leader would use to build a relationship or communicate the vision of a
higher purpose effectively. In spite of Moses' efforts to deliver the children of Israel from
Pharaoh's cruelty, their worship of idols after crossing the Red Sea demonstrated their
unwillingness to become followers of God's laws. Also, research studies showed that while some
followers might consider the leader's emphasis on people first as strength, others might regard it
as weakness and a wrong method to lead them to success (Ingram, 2016). Similarly, the principle
of followership is essential for the group to appreciate their leaders' authenticity, humility,
integrity, and commitment to their empowerment or growth as a group. Although the servant
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leader can overcome the challenges that are created by the lack of support from the followers
through his demonstration of stewardship, transparency, and knowledge sharing, the alignment
of the perspective of the followers on the right leadership style for achieving their shared
objectives with the servant approach is vital for the theory of serving the served to result in the
positive impacts on organizational performance, group growth, resolution of problems, and
community development.
Characteristics of the Servant Leader
Leadership characteristics are the behaviors that define the actions and decisions that are
used by the individual to lead others towards the accomplishment of organizational goals or
shared group objectives. Northhouse (2018) argued that leadership characteristics are needed to
exploit the culture, conditions, and contexts that exist within the organization or community to
achieve its vision or mission. In the case of the servant leadership style, the consensus among
researchers is that some behaviors are unique to it and support its definition as the strategy that
incorporates or integrates several other models and theories. As a result, this section of the
literature review would describe the core characteristics that were identified in the selected
publications and illustrate their role in supporting the processes for applying the principles that
were discussed in the previous section of this paper.
Authenticity
Authenticity was considered by the studies on leadership as the attribute that is
demonstrated when the leader is consistent in the display of his true intentions, visions,
inspirations, and identity to the group. In their systematic review of the literature on the
"Functions of the Servant Leader," Coetzer, Bussin, and Geldenhuys (2017) claimed that there
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was strong evidence from various studies that the servant leaders' adherence to their ethical and
moral values and willingness to accept the criticism of others is one of the core characteristics
that differentiate the style from others theoretical perspectives on leadership. Also, this
characteristic of servant leadership is essential for building the relationship with members of the
group or organization that enables them to apply the principle of followership in their actions. As
the originator of the servant leadership style in the Bible, Christ was authentic in words and
consistent in his behavior at all times despite the challenges that were presented by various
circumstances. Rather than abandon the ultimate message of salvation during his trial, He stuck
His strong moral principles and steadfast to His mission to save the people from eternal doom.
Hence, studies show that authenticity is one of the core characteristics that are used to identify
servant leaders.
Humility
Humility is the attribute that allows the individual to recognize his or her strengths and
weaknesses and their impacts on the performance of his or her responsibilities. In the case of the
servant leaders, humility is the characteristic that allows them to commit to the improvement of
their weaknesses through various learning methods, avoid arrogant behaviors, and the
appropriate application of their knowledge, skills, and abilities (Sousa & van Dierendonck,
2017). Also, the thematic analysis of the literature revealed that servant leaders would put people
first because of the humble attitude and disregard for their ego, as well as the power and
authority that their position bestows on them. Nelson Mandela's emphasis on reconciliation
instead of revenge towards the perpetrators of apartheid during his presidency is an example of
how servant leaders demonstrate humility when leading their society or community. An
additional aspect of the level of humility that servant leadership requires is how the leader
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invests in the development and growth of the followers through the recognition of their talents
and the use of their power and authority to advance members of their group.
Emotional Healing
Emotional healing is another theme that was identified as part of the characteristics of the
leader that research showed was critical to guiding the group to the attainment of organizational
goals. It is the attribute that is aligned with the leader's commitment to building trusting
relationships with the members of the team or community. Nandram & Vos (2010) asserted that
this characteristic enables the servant leader to show compassion and empathy for personal
issues or concerns that could affect the performance of the followers. The researchers further
asserted that the outcome of their study on the application of the servant leadership principle in
the spiritual context revealed that emotional healing is the tool that the servant leader utilizes to
work with others to solve their problems. Also, the review of the literature showed that
emotional healing directly connected to caring for others, promoting the values that are important
to people, and support the spiritual development of the group regardless of their religious
affiliation. Thus, the ability of the servant leader to place the interest of others over his/her own
was found from previous studies as closely related to the ability to support the emotional healing
of the members of the group.
Courage
While courageous leadership style is an emerging field of study in management, courage
is one of the attributes of servant leaders that discovered during the review of previous studies as
crucial for taking calculated risks and adhering to ethical principles at all times. According to
Ingram (2016), servant leaders are courageous because of their commitment to the attainment of
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the higher shared purposes that would benefit their groups and teams with engaging in immoral
activities due to the desire to generate results at all costs. Khan, Khan, & Chaudhry (2015) found
that courage is essential for servant leaders to moderate the role of culture during the delivery of
their responsibilities. The implications of these perspectives from previous studies is that servant
leadership is not limited to the maintenance of the status quo but extended to the emphasis on
activities that generate the right result for the organization at the right cost. Therefore the level of
consensus in the literature on the significance of courage to the delivery of the values or
outcomes of servant leadership without compromising the strong moral principles of the
individual affirmed that the attribute is a core characteristic.
Integrity, Transparency, and Accountability
Integrity, accountability, and transparency are three characteristics that are closely related
and were to be during the review of the studies on servant leadership as integral to the paradigm
of serving others to lead them to a higher purpose. While Coetzer et al. (2017) described these
attributes as the foundation for constructing the other characteristics of servant leadership,
Olesia, Namusonge, and Iravo (2013) considered them as the reasons why adoption of the
leadership style by public officials is difficult and unpopular. Also, the literature on servant
leadership posited that integrity, accountability, and transparency are linked to the courage that is
required to develop the strong moral principles that demonstrated under various circumstances.
As Allen et al. (2016) argued, servant leaders are respected and trusted by their followers
because they emphasize the setting of clear performance expectations for themselves and their
members provide an honest and fair environment for people to perform their duties, and willing
to hold others accountable for their actions in the same manner as their evaluation of their
decisions. Consequently, servant leadership is the multidimensional approach that incorporates
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ethical, transformational, and courageous leadership perspectives to deliver organizational or
community expectations.
Altruism
The characteristic is regarded as the commitment and willingness of the leader to place
the interests of others above his/her own and efforts to improve others through the provision of
the resources and environment to do so. According to Gandolfi and Stone (2018), altruism is a
fundamental characteristic of servant leadership because the attribute allows the leader to
determine the methods for making positive impacts in the lives of the followers and the
organizations. In this regard, the servant leader utilizes his/her actions and decisions to show the
members of the group or community that their collective success is more critical and valuable
than the individual ones. Khan et al. (2015) supported the importance of altruism to the delivery
of the responsibilities of the servant leader when they found that it is needed to help build the
community and help the individuals grow through the provision of coaching and mentoring
opportunities, as well as the platform for people to express their concerns and challenges with
assigned performance standards. An additional aspect of altruism that makes useful for the
servant leader to achieve success is the use of active listening to create and share the knowledge
that helps followers to grow in their respective assignment. Therefore, the evaluation of the
studies on the characteristics of servant leadership revealed that the style requires the leader to be
selfless to support both individual and collective growth of the people and organization.
Impacts of Servant Leadership
The analysis of the primary purpose of servant leadership is the establishment of an
organization or community that promotes the growth of members and impacts the society
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positively. As noted in different sections of this paper, the servant leader is always concerned
about the different contributions from the followers and identifying approaches that can be used
to assist them in reaching their full potential. Gandolfi et al. (2018) claimed that the progress of
the followers towards the attainment of their highest capabilities affects the organization
positively and contributes to its growth. Also, the other evidence from research that supports the
role of servant leadership in the growth of followers is that consistent support that exists in the
environment that nurtures their talents enhances their performance of their duties and delivery of
expected outcomes. Ozyilmaz et al. (2015) corroborated this perspective in their study on servant
leadership when they wrote that the empowerment and moral and spiritual development that
followers receive from their servant leader was found to contribute to their willingness to utilize
the same style of leading their teams when given the responsibility to do so. In this regard, the
findings from this study showed that servant leaders have great potentials to produce more
altruistic, authentic, compassionate, care, empathetic, accountable, and humble leaders through
their actions and words.
Furthermore, the organizational effect of servant leadership was another outcome that
was discovered as one of the common themes in the literature on the topic. It is an outcome that
was considered from how the leader-member exchange contributes to the organizational
behavior that results in high performance. According to Sousa et al. (2017), servant leaders
influence the performance of their organization by using their focus on empowerment to enhance
the effectiveness of the team, including their delivery of performance results. Aside from this
organizational effects of servant leadership, research also shows that the leader's courage,
integrity, and transparency strengthens the confidence of team members and promotes the
collaborative attitude that increases their efficiency and understanding of the values of their
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responsibilities. Also, the consideration for servant leader's commitment to the provision of the
resources for the followers to accomplish their individual outcomes that contribute to the overall
shared higher purpose is another element of the positive impact of the leadership style on
organizational performance. Hence, there is strong evidence from the current and previous
studies that servant leadership promotes followers' growth in ways that improve the effectiveness
of teams and impact their organizations positively.
Conclusion
In summary, the critical review of the literature showed that servant leadership
incorporates several principles of other styles of leading people, which makes it a
multidimensional approach to impacting individuals, organizations, and communities positively.
Also, the review of the studies on using service to lead people towards that attainment of a higher
purpose revealed its differences from other approaches and the factors that support its emergence
as part of the strategies for leading contemporary organizations. Although the leader has the
power and authority to make decisions and courage to take risks that he/she is accountable for
their outcomes, servant leaders are more focused on their engagement in selfless behaviors that
support the empowerment of their followers and providing an honest and fair environment for
them to thrive. In this regard, servant leaders utilize their high active listening and
communication capabilities to identify the needs of their followers, establish and maintain the
relationship with them, and motivate them to attain the highest level of their potentials. The
effectiveness of individuals and organizations is dependent on the altruistic nature of the leader
and the adherence of the members of the groups to the principle of followership that allows them
to become open and receptive to the ideas and support from their leader. Finally, contemporary
leaders should integrate servant leadership in their practice because it would help achieve
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performance result through power-sharing instead of the power-domination that is promoted by
other leadership styles.
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