The definition of servant leadership

Given so much literature on leadership and management written today by such luminaries as Seth Godin, Peter Drucker, Peter Senge, and Tom Peters, among others, I wonder why there is still so much confusion about the definition of servant leadership.

It’s actually quite simple, servant leadership is where the leader has learned to put others before himself. Of course, there are two important concepts placed side by side in this term: service and leadership.

The servant is one who does the whim of his masters. Whatever the masters say, the servant does it without flinching and without complaint. In turn, the master provides for the servant. Well, in an ideal world, the master is a benevolent person who looks out for the welfare of the servant. After all, if the latter is weak and ill, then the work is not completed, and the interests of the master will be compromised. To ensure that the business continues, the master must see to the welfare of the servant.

Leadership, on the other hand, is how a person translates vision into reality. For some, this means gaining position and power within an organization. For others, it means gathering followers to carry out orders. The leader is very different from the servant because the leader has followers who can do his bidding.

Now if we put these two concepts side by side, the leader will become a servant. The master of him would be his constituents and even his own clients. By doing so, the servant leader will be able to improve the life of the organization and lead it to a better situation.