Robert Greenleaf: The Paradoxical Idea Of Servant Leadership
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There should be a combination of leadership styles used to position a company for success. I believe that putting employees first, would definitely aid a company whose product are second or third in the market as stated in the video featuring Nayar’s.
The paradoxical term, "servant-leadership," which appears to touch an innate need in many of us, and which therefore harks back to the beginning of time, became popularized twenty-five years ago by Robert Greenleaf in his books Servant Leadership (1977) and Teacher as Servant (1979). Greenleaf discusses the need for a better approach to leadership, one that puts serving others--including employees, customers, and community--as the number one priority. Servant-leadership emphasizes increased service to others, a holistic approach to work, promoting a sense of community, and the sharing of power in decision making. The words servant and leader are usually thought of as being opposites. When two opposites are brought together in a creative and meaningful way, a paradox emerges. So the words servant and leader have been brought together to create the paradoxical idea of…show more content… Many individuals and organizations have adopted servant-leadership as a guiding philosophy. For individuals it offers a means to personal growth--spiritually, professionally, emotionally, and intellectually. It has ties to the ideas of M. Scott Peck (The Road Less Traveled), Parker Palmer (The Active Life), Ann McGee-Cooper (You Don't Have to Go Home from Work Exhausted!), and others who have written on expanding human potential. A particular strength of servant-leadership is that it encourages everyone to actively seek opportunities to both serve and lead others, thereby setting up the potential for raising the quality of life throughout