Servant Leadership Philosophy and Its Link With Leadership Theory
It has been pointed out on the Businessballs information website that there is a difference between a leadership philosophy (e.g. “Servant leadership” or “ethical leadership”) and a leadership theory (e.g. functional and situational leadership theories). The former is a values-based view of how leaders should act whereas the latter is usually a way of teaching leaders how to be more effective.
For decades, the older leadership theories (e.g. traits, behavioral/styles, situational and functional) did not explicitly support or address the philosophy of servant leadership. However, this changed with the emergence of Integrated Psychological leadership theory – as represented by James Scouller’s Three Levels of Leadership model (2011). Scouller’s model – which attempts to integrate the older theories while addressing their limitations by focusing on the leader’s psychology – emphasizes the idea that leaders should care as much about their followers’ needs as their own and view leadership as an act of service. Thus, the link between the philosophy of servant leadership and modern leadership theory has strengthened in the 21st century.
Read more about this topic: Servant Leadership
Famous quotes containing the words servant, leadership, philosophy, link and/or theory:
“But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed.”
—Bible: New Testament, Luke 7:7.
Centurion, by word of messenger, to Jesus.
“Nature, we are starting to realize, is every bit as important as nurture. Genetic influences, brain chemistry, and neurological development contribute strongly to who we are as children and what we become as adults. For example, tendencies to excessive worrying or timidity, leadership qualities, risk taking, obedience to authority, all appear to have a constitutional aspect.”
—Stanley Turecki (20th century)
“The sun of her [Great Britain] glory is fast descending to the horizon. Her philosophy has crossed the Channel, her freedom the Atlantic, and herself seems passing to that awful dissolution, whose issue is not given human foresight to scan.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“Before I had my first child, I never really looked forward in anticipation to the future. As I watched my son grow and learn, I began to imagine the world this generation of children would live in. I thought of the children they would have, and of their children. I felt connected to life both before my time and beyond it. Children are our link to future generations that we will never see.”
—Louise Hart (20th century)
“... liberal intellectuals ... tend to have a classical theory of politics, in which the state has a monopoly of power; hoping that those in positions of authority may prove to be enlightened men, wielding power justly, they are natural, if cautious, allies of the “establishment.””
—Susan Sontag (b. 1933)