Question
Please answer the questions in the first paragraph (highlighted) in reference to the post.
Post: Servant leadership refers to the type of leadership that is directed towards enriching the lives of individuals build better relationships and create an enabling environment for everyone. Sipe & Frick (2015) define a servant leader as one who places the interests and needs of others ahead of self-interests and needs. Servant leadership involves leading by serving others. In their service, servant leaders accept the possibilities and responsibilities that come with leadership. The concept of servant leadership can be used to empower teams though the creation of self-directed teams. By sharing power, the team members have a get a voice in such a way that they are engaged in developing strategies and implementing action plans. According to Liden, Wayne, Liao, and Meuser (2014), the most effective way of empowering a team through servant leadership is by the leaders serving by example. The leader is encouraged to be the change to impact on others.
The approach of servant leadership is different from that of transformational and transactional leadership. The major difference that sets servant leadership from transformational and transactional leadership is the element of power-sharing (Yoshida, Sendjava, Hirst, & Cooper, 2014). Servant leadership involves sharing power, putting the interests of others first and helping others achieve their potential. Unlike servant leadership, the transformational and transactional leadership styles have a stipulated power hierarchy in the form of leader-follower relationship. Although the three types of leadership are meant to accomplish the vision of a group, major differences arise in the approach. Where a servant leader would empower and entrust the employees, the transactional leader expects results from the followers who have to deliver unless they wish to suffer for not accomplishing what is expected of them. Rather than expect the followers to deliver, a servant leader becomes involved to understand, inspire and motivate them.
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Questions in Reference to the Post Attached
There are two major challenges that make servant leadership unpopular. Firstly, the effectiveness of style has not been supported by solid research. Thus, many leaders, particularly those who work in very large, highly competitive industries, find it too risky to attempt to reorient their approach to leadership without proper justification. Secondly, contemporary workplace culture glorifies leaders who appear tough. In such a culture, the soft reputation of a servant leader is easily mistaken for indecisiveness. Thus, many servant leaders may find it extremely difficult to get promotions to the positions of senior executives.
Meanwhile, there are certain situations where this leadership style may work best. For example, it is highly preferred in situations where there is a need to reconcile the interests of different stakeholder groups over an extended period. It also works best in situations where the success of the organization is more important than career growth. Moreover, some leaders choose if persistence needs to be demonstrated in efforts to achieve long-term milestones as opposed to short-term gains. Lastly, it works effectively for leaders who are ready to be patient enough to let trust develop and to become a basis for organizational excellence.
Nevertheless, a manager may be reluctant to pursue servant leadership if he/she is overseeing work being performed by seasonal workers and temporary employees. In such a situation, the leader may not be patient enough to demonstrate persistence in the inculcation of trust, civility, and respect. All he would be interested in is the realization of short-term objectives. Similarly, there are some situations where negative connotations relating to servant-mindedness may be too strong to make it a desirable leadership style, for example, in businesses that are anchored on partnerships involving an aggressive pursuit of interests by diverse stakeholder groups.
