Servant Leadership Project
Leadership, Ethics, and Policing
Samuel Gibson
Liberty University
Abstract
Leadership has been defined and described variously as a trait, the focus of group
process, and the art of inducing compliance, an exercise of influence, a kind of behavior or act, a
form of persuasion, a power relationship, and instrument for goal attainment, and effective
leadership. Leadership is a power relationship because leaders are in power positions (Meese,
2010). When we look at leadership it either a good thing or also a bad thing depending on the
person. A lot of individuals do not have good leadership skills, which is presented during a time
when their leadership skills are tested. A lot of individuals are not good under pressure and when
tested they do not know how to respond. To better understand, servant leadership has to come
into play. An individual should become a servant first, before trying to lead in the front. When
finally understand the role of the servant leader, it will help the individual to better understand
how to lead when called.
Leadership has been defined and described variously as a trait, the focus of group
process, and the art of inducing compliance, an exercise of influence, a kind of behavior or act, a
form of persuasion, a power relationship, and instrument for goal attainment, and effective
leadership. Leadership is a power relationship because leaders are in power positions (Meese,
2010). When we look at leadership it either a good thing or also a bad thing depending on the
person. A lot of individuals do not have good leadership skills, which is presented during a time
when their leadership skills are tested. A lot of individuals are not good under pressure and when
tested they do not know how to respond. To better understand, servant leadership has to come
into play. An individual should become a servant first, before trying to lead in the front. When
finally understand the role of the servant leader, it will help the individual to better understand
how to lead when called.
Leadership can be defined by so many things, but whether acquired by birth or
circumstance, certainly the traits of great leadership are to be admired. Often the prerequisite to
manage a high performing team or to take a start up from humble beginnings to roaring success.
The healthy relationship and followership is very critical. A leader that stands alone achieves
nothing but mediocrity. There are 10 traits that are presented by real, true leaders…
Ambition: Great leaders boldly drive forward, passionately rising to new heights,
clearing a path for those who follows. Great followers boldly move down the
path, making the most of the opportunities afforded them by the leaders.
Patience: Great leaders used the wheels of time to their advantage, knowing that
fast and first are rarely the attributes of long-term success. Great followers are
methodical and deliberate, trusting that a steady pace will deliver better product
than a hasty approach.
Humility: Great leaders are energized not by being right, but rather by the glory
that comes from the entire team reaching the pinnacle of success. Great followers
are focused on executing the best ideas regardless of who provided them or who
gets credit.
Humor: Great leaders never take anything too seriously, especially themselves,
knowing full well that people need a congenial environment to succeed. Great
followers find the joy and humor in any situation so they can build camaraderie
and elevate the human spirit of their colleagues.
Vision: Great leaders are able to see a future and can articulate, in crystal clear
language, a strategic plan to get everyone there. Great followers are able to
harness disparate resources to interpret a vision and build a path to success.
Compliance: Great leaders know how to play by the rules since even a rebel has
to build respect and order for sustainability. Great followers stick to the path while
being creative within the lines so they can extract every value from each
opportunity.
Tolerance: Great leaders accept that people are individuals who thrive best when
allowed to choose their own approach to risk and happiness. Great followers
accept that leader are human, and allow them imperfection and failure without
chastisement.
Courage: Great leaders blaze a trail in the dark and shed their own light, despite
knowing that terror lurks around corners. Great followers will follow into the
unknown, and yet, will stand up and speak, when they know a dead end is ahead
or when values are comprised.
Accountability: Great leaders take full accountability when their team fails
regardless of when mistakes when made or whose performance was substandard.
Great followers take full ownership of their purview and support their colleagues,
knowing full well the term can is only as successful as it poorest performer.
Gratitude: Great leaders demonstrate appreciation loudly and often to those who
give of themselves to support the group’s success. Great leaders demonstrate
appreciation loudly and often to those who give of themselves to support the
group’s success (Daum, 2013).
As these are a few of the traits that great leaders presents there are so many other
traits that can be shown also. The traits of an individual will show what kind of person
that they are. If an individual has bad traits then they will be portray as a bad leader, if
they present good qualities then they are a good leader. But when we look at leadership in
a deeper light what comes to mind is servant leadership. Now, when we first hear about
servant leadership, we think about submission but in reality its help you put yourself in a
better situation to run an organization.
The reason why a lot of people fail at running a organization as a leader is because
they never been in the position of servant leadership. They never know how to serve
others because they are so used of just depending on themselves and not anyone else.
Servant leadership is just not serving others but helping others become better individuals.
This type of leadership is help the people in the organization and also in the community.
This helps put the leader in the back hall and let them see outside looking in.
Servant leadership is a philosophy and set of practices that enriches the lives of
individuals, builds better organizations and ultimately creates a more just and caring
world. The servant leader is servant first it begins with the natural feeling that one wants
to serve, to serve first. The choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply
different from one who is a leader first, perhaps because of the need to assuage a usual
power drive or to acquire material possessions. The leader first and the servant first are
two extreme types. Between them there are shadings and blends that are part of the
infinite variety of human nature.
The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant first to make sure that
other people’s highest priority needs are being served. A servant leader focuses primarily
on the growth and wellbeing of people and the communities to which they belong. While
traditional leadership generally involves the accumulation and exercise of power by one
of the “top of the pyramid” servant leadership is different. The servant leader shares
power, put the needs of others first and helps people develop and perform as highly as
possible (Greenleaf, 2014).
When we compare and contrast the traits of leadership with the traits of servant
leadership often referred to as “great man” theories, traits approaches to leadership
focused on identifying the innate qualities and characteristics possessed by great political,
military, and social leaders. According to trait theory individual and predominately
psychological, inborn characteristics in human beings form the ingredients for leadership
ability. Individual’s traits such as popularity, originality, self-confidence, judgment,
sociability, humor, aggressive, desire, adaptability and others to follow a leader agenda
(Meese,2010).
There are so many comparisons that we can look at when comparing leadership to
servant leadership as there are also many difference between servant leadership and other
leadership types. The style of leadership in a business has a significant impact on the
productivity and culture of the workplace. No two leaders are exactly alike, though there
are some characteristics they may share. Servant and relational leaders share the same
broad focus on employees and customers that transcends company profits and
productivity.
There are differences to both leadership styles that affect the way in which managers
interact with employees and customers. A servant leader tends to focus on the ethical
interactions a business has with employees and the outside world. Relational leaders
typically focuses on the relationship between employees. These differences separate
servant leadership and relationship leadership styles....
Inclusivity: Relational leadership style emphasizes bringing employees
together for a variety of viewpoints. Servant leaders are not necessarily
concerned with building inclusivity in the workplace. Relational leaders seek
to combine a diverse cross section of the workforce so all view points on a
project or goal that are considered.
Personal Needs: Servant leaders focus on the personal needs of employees
with making business decisions. Through relational leaders typically consider
the well-being of their employees, servant leaders place higher emphasis on
well-being than relational leaders, sometimes at the expense of profits. A
servant leader realizes that if he makes the employee unhappy, the employee
might lose motivation.
Customer Focus: Relational leaders do not typically focus on a customer
needs beyond what the company must provide for its service or product.
Servant leaders, consider factors beyond the basic product or service and aim
to make a customer’s life better. A servant leaser goes beyond refunds and
asks if the customer is actually satisfied or happy.
Ethical Implications: Ethical standards are important to all businesses, no
matter what type of leaders they employ. However, servant leaders typically
go beyond generally accepted ethical principles and consider the broad
implications of their business practices (Marquis, 2015).
As we look at the differences between Servant Leadership and Relational Leadership
we can see that in Relational Leadership as stated earlier in the presentation focuses on
the relationships between employees as Servant Leadership focuses on the ethical
interactions a business has with employees and the outside world. As this is a different in
between two does not mean they cannot work together as one. Both leadership principles
can work together because they both focuses on the employee.
Let’s look at another leadership type that has it’s similarities and differences which is
Transformational Leadership. Transformational leaders transform the person values of
followers the vision and goals of the organization by fostering an environment where
relationships can be formed and establishing a climate of trust in which visions can be
shared. There are primary behaviors that constitute transformational leadership:
Idealized influence or (charismatic influence)
Inspirational motivation
Intellectual stimulation, and
Individualized consideration.
Transformational leadership and servant leadership have analogous characteristics.
This is because both attempts to fine and explain people oriented leadership styles. To
both concepts their leadership frame works incorporate (a) influence, (b) vision, (c) trust,
(d) respect or credibility, (d) risk sharing or delegation, (e) integrity, and (f) modeling.
Both transformational leadership and servant leadership emphasize the importance of
appreciating and valuing people, listening. Mentoring or teaching, and empowering
followers. The theories are probably most similar in their emphasis upon individualized
consideration and appreciation of followers.
Both transformational leaders and servant leaders are influential, servant leaders gain
influence in a nontraditional manner that derives from servant hood itself. As these
concepts hold similaries, and they are complementary theories in many respects. The
ultimately form a distinctly separate theoretical framework of leadership because of a
primary difference. The difference between the two is the focus of the leader. While
transformational leaders and servant leaders both show concern for their followers, and
overriding focus of the servant leader is upon service to their followers.
The transformational leader has a greater concern for getting followers to engage in
and support organizational objectives. The extent to which the leader is about to shift the
primary focus of his or her leadership from the organization to the follower is the
distinguishing factor in determine whether the leader may be a transformational or
servant leader. As we used servant leadership in the police organizations I think I would
be good thing. The reason why I said that this kind of leadership will work is because the
servant leadership would put in place a type of leadership that will try to better a
organization and create a better world for its residents and citizens around them.
The other reason why I think that this type of leadership will work is because in
servant leadership they are not selfish because it is not about them but about others. They
want to see others take the leadership role while they servant others. This leadership type
will not only make the department better as a whole but also the individuals because it
will help these individuals growth and become better officers for the community. The
only way this leadership type will not work is if the leader comes selfish and do not serve
first other than trying to lead first.
There are benefits and pitfalls of servant leadership in a police organization as
barking orders at others and dominating every discussion may not be the best way to lead
a police department. The alternative is “servant leadership”, treating a commanding
position as a way to serve others. The benefits are….
Servant Leadership Boosts Morale: If leadership is good, it can inspire an
entire department. Cops and support staffers are eager to come to work, and
enthusiastic about their mission in the community. Cops who trust their
leadership and know he respects them are more committed than when the top
cop doesn’t tolerate questions or take advice.
A Road to Positive Change: Improving an organization culture has been
compared to teaching an elephant to dance. A servant leader, is the best type
for making positive change.
The pitfalls of this type leadership type could lead to…
: Not everyone’s a Servant: Servant leadership isn’t easy. Among other things, a
good servant leader has to listen to her people, empathize with them and build
consensus rather than force everyone to follow.
It can be a Rocky Road: Servant leadership can be a tough sell. Higher-ups in the
department may not buy into the concept, preferring to promote leaders with an
autocratic, don’t ask questions style of command. If the chiefs superiors in city
government may want instant results, not caring about long term organizational
change. Some employees instead of being inspired, may decide that a humble cop
is too soft or weak to be work listening too.
References
Daum, K. (2013). 10 Traits of Great Leaders (and Their Followers). Retrieved from
http://www.inc.com/kevin-daum/10-traits-of-great-leaders-and-their-followers.html
Greenleaf, R. (2014). What Is Servant Leadership? Retrieved from https://greenleaf.org/what-is-
servant-leadership/
Marquis, A. (2015). What Is the Difference Between Servant-Leadership & Relational-
Leadership Styles? Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/difference-between-
servantleadership-relationalleadership-styles-36559.html
Meese, E. (2010). Leadership, Ethics, and Policing: Challenges for the 21st Century (2nd ed., pp.
40-577). Upper Saddle River, NY: Pearson Hall.
Sherman, F. (2015). What Are the Benefits & Pitfalls of Servant Leadership in a Police
Organization? Retrieved from benefits-pitfalls-servant-leadership-police-organization-30587
Stone, G., Russell, R., & Patterson, K. (2003). Transformational versus Servant Leadership: A
Difference in Leader Focus.
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