The Case for Servant Leadership

When reflecting on my recently completed doctoral studies, one of the most significant takeaways from the experience is that I am an aspiring servant leader. 

For better or worse, it took me nearly 25 years into my career in the financial services industry to achieve that realization. 

What is servant leadership?

Servant leadership has technically been around for centuries. However, its status as a mainstream philosophy gained traction in 1970 when Robert Greenleaf published his seminal essay “The Servant as Leader.”

For more than 40 years of his career at AT&T, Greenleaf researched and led employee training on management and development before establishing what is now known as the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership.

James W. Sipe and Don M. Frick, authors of “Seven Pillars of Servant Leadership,” provided a definitional construct and supporting pillars of Greenleaf’s philosophy that especially resonated with me during a servant leadership course I took earlier in my doctoral program.

According to Greenleaf, servant leadership begins with the natural feeling an individual wants to serve and serve first. It is about service to others — not servitude. A servant leadership philosophy embodies a conscious decision with a basic test: Do those served grow as persons and become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous and more likely to become servant leaders to others? 

It is essential to underscore that servant leaders need not have direct reports. Anyone can be a leader, and therefore anyone can also aspire to be a servant leader.

Who are servant leaders?

When we think about servant leaders in contemporary society, we often point to historical figures like the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, Bishop Desmond Tutu, Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela and Jimmy Carter as examples. 

What makes these individuals servant leaders? While opinions may vary, Greenleaf and those who studied him often cite seven key pillars that characterize servant leaders:

1. Persons of character

2. Put people first

3. Skilled communicators

4. Compassionate collaborators

5. Have foresight

6. Systems thinkers

7. Lead with moral authority

When I first learned about the pillars of servant leadership, I recall not being surprised that good character, putting others first, possessing excellent communication skills, being compassionate, and leading with moral authority were critical philosophical elements. 

However, foresight and systems thinking were attributes I would not have otherwise associated with servant leadership. Leaders who practice foresight harness their creativity when contemplating decisions and are adept at communicating a shared vision. Systems thinkers balance the whole with the sum of its parts by integrating input from all parties to arrive at holistic solutions.

The good news is that it is not necessary to be a famous inventor or company CEO to exhibit foresight. Finally, systems thinking is not just reserved for engineers or IT professionals. All of us can aspire to become servant leaders with an appropriate mindset and focus.

Does servant leadership matter?

You are likely familiar with Jim Collins’ book, “Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t.” With the help of Magellan Executive Resources, Sipe and Frick compared the financial performance of the 11 publicly traded companies from Collins’ book to those most frequently identified in literature as servant-led (e.g., Southwest Airlines, The Container Store, and Starbucks). This comparison yielded the following results over a 10-year period ending in 2005:

• Stocks from the 500 largest companies averaged 10.8% pretax portfolio returns.
• The 11 companies referenced in Collins’ book averaged 17.5% pretax portfolio returns.
• Servant-led companies identified by Magellan Executive Resources averaged 24.2% pretax portfolio returns.

While the case for servant leadership should not boil down to this singular financial comparison alone, the results reveal the powerful potential application of servant leadership to an organization’s bottom line. 

A servant leadership philosophy may not work for everyone. Still, a leadership philosophy deserves consideration as we consider how to interact with and empower others in our organizations.