The Attributes of Servant Leaders Term Paper

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Leadership Through Serving Others

While the definitions of effective leadership continue to be debated, one approach to leadership that has gained significant currency in recent years is servant leadership, a leadership approach that maintains a leader's fundamental purpose is to serve others. To determine the facts, this paper reviews the relevant literature concerning servant leadership and its original proponent, Robert K. Greenleaf. A discussion concerning the relationship between servant leadership and ethical leadership and the relationship between servant leadership and moral intelligence is followed by a description of a leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who exemplified servant leadership and the reasons why this individual was a servant leader. Finally, an analysis concerning how servant leadership may affect a current organization if all leaders were to practice servant leadership as their dominant leadership style is followed by a summary of the research and important findings concerning servant leadership in the conclusion.

Discuss the relationship between servant leadership and ethical leadership

In his book, The Servant as Leader, Robert K. Greenleaf maintained that, "The servant-leader is servant first ... It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead" (p. 6). While there is an inextricable relationship between servant leadership and ethical leadership, the two leadership styles are not synonymous.

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For example, Engelbrecht and Heine (2014) report that, "In ethical leadership, the emphasis is more on normative behavior whereas servant leadership has a stronger focus on the personal growth of followers" (p. 2). Notwithstanding this distinction, it is clear that effective servant leadership also require ethical leadership. In this regard, Engelbrecht and Heine (2014) emphasize that, "Ethical leadership is critical to leaders' credibility and their potential to exert meaningful influence. This credibility in ethical leaders is likely to have a significant influence on trust between a leader and follower" (p. 2). Not surprisingly, there is also an inextricable relationship between moral intelligence and effective servant-leadership that affects the nature of the relationship with followers and this issue is discussed further below.

Discuss the relationship between servant leadership and moral intelligence

A leader's moral intelligence provides the internal compass by which the moral dilemmas that are routinely encountered in the workplace are navigated and addressed (Gulab & Sario, 2015). In this context, moral intelligence refers to the ability of individuals to readily discern the appropriate course of action when several alternatives are available. For instance, Gulab and Sario (2015) advise that, "The term moral identifies behavior as right or wrong. Moral intelligence includes the concepts of moral awareness, moral….....

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