Contact Us

If you still have questions or prefer to get help directly from an agent, please submit a request.
We’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

Please fill out the contact form below and we will reply as soon as possible.

  • Courses
  • Tutoring
  • Home
  • Business Management & Operations
  • Management, Leadership, & Organizational Behavior

Servant Leadership Theory - Explained

What is Servant Leadership?

Written by Jason Gordon

Updated at April 8th, 2022

Contact Us

If you still have questions or prefer to get help directly from an agent, please submit a request.
We’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

Please fill out the contact form below and we will reply as soon as possible.

  • Marketing, Advertising, Sales & PR
    Principles of Marketing Sales Advertising Public Relations SEO, Social Media, Direct Marketing
  • Accounting, Taxation, and Reporting
    Managerial & Financial Accounting & Reporting Business Taxation
  • Professionalism & Career Development
  • Law, Transactions, & Risk Management
    Government, Legal System, Administrative Law, & Constitutional Law Legal Disputes - Civil & Criminal Law Agency Law HR, Employment, Labor, & Discrimination Business Entities, Corporate Governance & Ownership Business Transactions, Antitrust, & Securities Law Real Estate, Personal, & Intellectual Property Commercial Law: Contract, Payments, Security Interests, & Bankruptcy Consumer Protection Insurance & Risk Management Immigration Law Environmental Protection Law Inheritance, Estates, and Trusts
  • Business Management & Operations
    Operations, Project, & Supply Chain Management Strategy, Entrepreneurship, & Innovation Business Ethics & Social Responsibility Global Business, International Law & Relations Business Communications & Negotiation Management, Leadership, & Organizational Behavior
  • Economics, Finance, & Analytics
    Economic Analysis & Monetary Policy Research, Quantitative Analysis, & Decision Science Investments, Trading, and Financial Markets Banking, Lending, and Credit Industry Business Finance, Personal Finance, and Valuation Principles
  • Courses
+ More

Table of Contents

What is Servant Leadership?

What is Servant Leadership?

Servant leadership focuses on the role of the leaders as serving the needs of others through employee development and goal attainment. To summarize, the leader puts the needs and wants of the subordinates first by helping them to develop professionally. This effort may come at the expense of the servant leaders own wellbeing. 

Servant leaders are expected to have a strong sense of ethics, social conscience, and fairness. This is imperative for acting in the best interests of subordinates and third-party stakeholders. 

The focus on these factors at the expense of the leaders own well being distinguishes it from aspects of other leadership approaches. 

Interestingly, this approach does not focus on having employees support organizational goals. By fulfilling the obligation to support the subordinate (and other stakeholders), the organization ultimately benefits. 

Observed benefits include increased subordinate commitment, improved interpersonal helping behaviors, increases in citizenship behaviors directed toward the community, and improved job performance.

Back To: LEADERSHIP
Back to: BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
servant leadership

Was this article helpful?

Yes
No

Related Articles

  • Big Five Model of Personality Traits - Explained
  • Perception in Individual Behavior - Explained
  • Key Performance Indicators - Explained
  • Halo Effect - Explained



©2011-2023. The Business Professor, LLC.
  • Privacy

  • Questions

Definition by Author

0
0
Expand