\u201cIt is exhausting. I get phone calls at all hours of the night. The employees don\u2019t want to think for themselves. They want me to fix everything.\u201d I was at a Thanksgiving gathering of expatriates. This was the response from an exhausted leader when I asked him how his business was going. This is a common theme I have heard from other Christians in my context: exhaustion and exacerbation that have developed from philanthropic motives. To attain a visa in our Islamic host country, one generally tries to meet a practical need through a business venture or non-profit work. Those of us here for the sake of the Gospel share a desire to see lasting change, both spiritually and practically, in the communities we serve. These believers would relate to the altruistic nature of servant leadership. How can we be servant leaders to those who do not want to be empowered?<\/p>\n
Peter Northouse\u2019s book Leadership: Theory & Practice addresses servant leadership. In the book, Northouse looks at multiple leadership theories, aspects of leadership, and practical applications. Given my context in Africa and my desire to grow in my journey of being a servant leader, I decided to explore what Northouse addresses concerning servant leadership. I will also look at how that applies to my leadership context. Northouse introduces servant leadership with this statement:<\/p>\n
\u201cServant leadership is a paradox\u2014an approach to leadership that runs counter to common sense. Our everyday images of leadership do not coincide with leaders being servants. Leaders influence, and servants follow. How can leadership be both service and <\/em>influence? How can a person be a leader and <\/em>a servant at the same time?\u201d[1]<\/a><\/p>\n Servant leadership is unique from other leadership styles in that its primary goal is putting followers first. Northouse explains that servant leadership is considered a \u201cmoral\u201d type of leadership, along with authentic and ethical leadership.[2]<\/a> The difference is that servant leaders strive for the greater good and growth of all those involved by serving them, with \u201caltruism\u201d as a central theme.[3]<\/a> The founder of servant leadership theory, Robert Greenleaf, contrasts a servant leader with someone who serves first<\/em> rather than leads first<\/em>.[4]<\/a><\/p>\n Northouse presents a servant leadership model with three categories for servant leadership. Firstly, the pre-existing factors may affect leadership progression: \u201ccontext and culture, leader attributes, and follower receptivity.\u201d[5]<\/a> In my host country, the culture is accustomed to top-down leadership. The country\u2019s recent history of slavery, colonization, and tribal conflicts all contribute to this hierarchy. The majority religion discourages questioning it and rather blindly trusts the head religious leaders. These cultural factors strongly affect follower receptivity to servant leadership traits, which are countercultural. Northouse asserts that cultures with high power distance are resistant to servant leadership styles.[6]<\/a><\/p>\n What are some of the behaviors of servant leadership? Northouse lists these seven attributes as the next section of the model:<\/p>\n Most Christian workers in my context would agree on the value and need to display these servant leadership traits. The actual application is difficult. In The Undefended Leader, <\/em>Simon Walker discusses these challenges,<\/p>\n \u201cA significant percentage of people in social leadership, motivated by his vision of servant leadership, may fail to find [the love and grace needed to serve others as] resources within themselves and instead run dry. So, they resort to constructing other kinds of collusion that secure them other emotional rewards for their work. The danger in this is that not only will they end up exhausted and bitter, but their followers will end up hurt.\u201d[8]<\/a><\/p>\n Walker goes on to address the need for Christians to run to the Living Water found through Christ Jesus.[9]<\/a>\u00a0When we can find our sustenance and strength in Christ, it is only then that we can display these traits of servants first.<\/p>\n The last aspect of the servant leadership model in Leadership: Theory & Practice is<\/em> the outcomes. <\/em>These are listed as \u201c<\/em>follower performance and growth, organizational performance, and societal impact.\u201d[10]<\/a> As seen in the conversation above, a question commonly asked in my context is, \u201cHow do we empower and help those who do not want to be empowered?\u201d Perhaps a different question is, as we grow and serve as leaders, are others also developing? Greenleaf gives a profound test to see if servant leadership is being effective:<\/p>\n \u201cThe best test, and difficult to administer, is: do those served grow as persons; do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants? And, what is the effect on the least privileged in society; will they benefit, or, at least, will they not be further deprived?\u201d[11]<\/a><\/p>\n According to Greenleaf, as we serve others, even the forgotten and outcasts of society will benefit. That makes me think about Jesus, the ultimate Servant Leader. He spent time with the least in society.[12]<\/a> He humbled himself and came to earth to serve.[13]<\/a> As I continue to serve in my context, Northouse warns that servant leadership may not be effective when those being served \u201care not open to being guided, supported, and empowered.\u201d[14]<\/a> It may be challenging, but in my personal experience, servant leadership can be effective in my context. It takes time, trust, prayer, and, most importantly, humility, like that of Jesus, our Servant Leader and the Holy Spirit\u2019s guidance.<\/p>\n [1]<\/a> Peter Guy Northouse, Leadership: Theory & Practice<\/em>, 9th ed. (Los Angeles, CA: SAGE, 2022), 253.<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> Ibid, 253.<\/p>\n [3]<\/a> Ibid, 253.<\/p>\n [4]<\/a> Robert K. Greenleaf, The Servant as Leader<\/em>, Kindle ed. (Westfield, IN: Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership, 1973).<\/p>\n [5]<\/a> Northouse, Leadership: Theory & Practice,<\/em> 259.<\/p>\n [6]<\/a> Ibid, 260.<\/p>\n [7]<\/a> Ibid, 259.<\/p>\n [8]<\/a> Simon P Walker, Leading Out of Who You Are: Discovering the Secret of Undefended Leadership<\/em>, The Undefended Leader Trilogy, Book 1 (Carlisle, UK: Piquant Editions Ltd, 208AD), 147-148.<\/p>\n [9]<\/a> Ibid, <\/em>168.<\/em><\/p>\n [10]<\/a>Northouse, Leadership: Theory & Practice<\/em>, 259.<\/p>\n [11]<\/a> Greenleaf, The Servant as Leader<\/em>.<\/p>\n [12]<\/a> See Matthew 9:10-17,\u00a0Mark 2:15-22, and Luke 5:29-39.<\/p>\n\n
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