Introduction
Servant leadership is a management philosophy with a unique approach. It manifests itself in that a leader tries to bring as much benefit to their subordinates as possible. Empowering the team members is essential because it can ultimately positively impact the performance of the entire company or team. The style was popularized by Robert K. Greenleaf, who has spawned much research on servant leadership (Reddy, 2019). Thus, studying this type of leadership and its relationship with other styles and values is essential to understanding its impact on companies.
Servant and Ethical Leadership
The relationship between servant leadership and ethical leadership can be seen as these two management styles are similar in meaning. Both are designed to provide employees with the most comfortable working environment possible (Lemoine et al., 2019). This value is critical since ethical leadership is primarily based on observing all the norms and standards of morality.
In this way, it is inadvertently juxtaposed to achieve better conditions for those under control. Morally right actions are of imperative importance to both the servant leader and the ethical leader. The welfare of followers is an important goal to promote a culture of respect, fairness, and honesty (Lemoine et al., 2019).
Ethical leadership implies that these qualities should guide a manager to set an example for others. At the same time, the servant leader can use these qualities to create the safest working environment possible. Thus, these two types of leadership have a similar fundamental base and imply one approach to creating comfort.
Other Values-Based Leadership Styles
Transformational leadership is based on many aspects of values that promote correct relationships among associates. Each style has unique properties that emphasize aspects such as empowering followers. Both styles have a common feature in that they strengthen the ethical attitude toward employees and achieve better organizational effectiveness.
Transformational leadership is aimed primarily at increasing people’s motivation so that they can improve their results (Helmi & Sari, 2021). At the same time, one of the most critical parameters for this leader should be charisma. This characteristic is also important for servant leaders to promote initiatives necessary to establish better conditions for their followers.
Authentic leadership proclaims sincere relationships and transparency as the central values that can be achieved to promote the development of trust in the team and symmetrical communication. The servant leadership approach has one point of intersection, which is that it can use symmetrical communication to create all the important conditions for followers, without which it would not be possible to fully achieve the company’s goals (Lemoine et al., 2019). Thus, it can be said that all the considered styles have a common feature in providing people with comfortable working conditions.
A Servant Leader
An example of a servant leader is Indra Nooyi, a longtime CEO of PepsiCo. Throughout her career in various positions, she repeatedly exuded the qualities of a servant leader. One of her critical leadership aspects has been promoting a culture of empathy and overall employee development. Opportunities for growth for members of the PepsiCo team were provided so that the organization could achieve more outstanding sales (Jaiwant et al., 2023). These benchmarks helped define the company’s goals for creating a safe and comfortable work environment.
During her leadership, much attention was given to the equal representation of women and providing them with all the necessary opportunities to perform better in the workplace (Jaiwant et al., 2023). Inclusion has played a significant positive role in the company, as all employees began to take more initiative and contribute more to the organization’s development to ensure benefits. A concrete example that confirms her qualities as a servant leader is the “Power of One” program she initiated, which contributed to the promotion of the development of each employee (Jaiwant et al., 2023). This proves that it was important for Nooyi that all company employees feel cared for and respected.
Impact of Servant Leadership
If all leaders practiced the servant leadership style, this could result in significant positive results that could be seen in increased productivity. Such leadership would create a culture of trust and respect among all employees, reflecting their desire to work more productively and diligently. The increased productivity of an organization’s employees could significantly impact how the company develops in the future (Lemoine et al., 2019).
For example, improving the working qualities of the personnel could contribute to the company having more opportunities to use qualified personnel. By increasing dedication to the cause and people, the servant leader in my organization could earn more respect among subordinates, leading to increased morale and overall productivity. In addition, introducing the servant style by all leaders would allow employees to constantly improve their knowledge and skills through special programs such as the one introduced at PepsiCo.
Conclusion
Servant leadership can bring significant benefits to organizations, including potential empowerment for employees. Being a servant leader means constantly making decisions that will benefit all people in the organization and can increase their motivation and performance. Servant leadership is similar in many ways to other styles, such as ethical leadership. This allows this approach to apply the best strategies to create a safe and inclusive workplace environment.
References
Helmi, M., & Sari, N. P. (2021). Implementation of the Synergy of Transformational-Servant Leadership Character in Islamic Boarding School. Journal of Leadership in Organizations, 3(2), 173-192. Web.
Jaswant, S. V., Gowda, K. R., & Kureethara, J. V. (2023). Servant Leadership and Diversity: A Focus on Ethnic and Cultural Diversity. In Cases on Servant Leadership and Equity (pp. 177-191). IGI Global. Web.
Lemoine, G. J., Hartnell, C. A., & Leroy, H. (2019). Taking stock of moral approaches to leadership: An integrative review of ethical, authentic, and servant leadership. Academy of Management Annals, 13(1), 148-187. Web.
Reddy, A. V. (2019). Servant leadership and spirituality at the workplace: A critical review. International Journal on Leadership, 7(1), 8-12. Web.