Biblical examole of servant leadership
Jesus servant leader
Releasing His Reputation (Kenosis)
Being a Servant
Embracing Humanity
Humbling Himself
Exemplifying Obedience
We are dependent on Jesus not only to be our example; we are dependent upon Jesus to be the one who is able to produce this in us.
we are able to serve others because we have first been served by Christ. We are able to embrace the humanity of others because Jesus has embraced us in our humanity. We can be humble with others because Christ has modeled for us and has humbled Himself
The reality is Jesus serves as our example, but He also is the power behind this example.
Leadership From JOSHUA
There is a core question that we each must face as we begin to take on some leadership roles: Are we able to be in authority? Are we able to be under authority? And are we able to share authority?
We need to see red flags that emerge in our own minds and our own hearts, if we have difficulty on one of those fronts. Do we have difficulty being under authority? It’s a major red flag even for leaders. Leaders need to be able to be under authority.
LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
transformational leadership theory, servant leadership theory, and authentic leadership theory. There are others that we will touch on as we move along in this course; but those are three examples of shifts that have moved from an organizational-level focus to more of a follower-oriented level of focus, where more human-oriented forms are not just good ideas but also are being found to be effective.
It’s not just that organizations need leadership or management, organizations really need both leadership and management.
So leadership helps to cast vision, and it does so, according to Kotter, by three primary mechanisms. Well, leaders cast vision by setting direction, leaders cast vision by aligning people and systems and resources behind that vision, and finally, leaders go about implementing the vision through inspiring and motivating.
So management is about operationalizing the vision through mechanisms such as planning and budgeting, organizing and staffing, and controlling and problem solving.
We need organizations that are headed in the right direction, and we need organizations that are doing so in an efficient and effective manner.
Leadership without management oftentimes is characterized by good ideas that don’t get done. Management without leadership can be about moving in a direction that’s very efficient, but it’s not moving in a direction that is meaningful to the organization
Setting direction is about developing a vision for the future, developing strategies for producing change that is needed to achieve that direction and that vision. Alongside direction setting is the principle of aligning people and resources. It’s about communicating direction with our words and actions. It’s about communicating direction so that teams and coalitions are created that understand and embrace the vision and the strategies; and it’s about motivating and inspiring when people grow discouraged. It’s an opportunity to energize these people to overcome barriers to change and help to ensure that basic needs are satisfied to aide people in overcoming barriers.
Planning and budgeting is about establishing detailed steps and timetables, it’s about allocating resources that are necessary to get the job done. Organizing and staffing is about establishing necessary structure in order to plan. It’s about providing necessary staff for this structure with appropriate delegated responsibilities and authority. It’s about providing systems for monitoring the implementation of the plan. And finally, controlling and problem solving is about monitoring results, identifying deviations from the plan, and planning and organizing to solve these problems.
Writing a vision
two dimensions of organizational vision. These dimensions are destination and path. When casting a compelling vision for a community, this is a work that is to be defining both where we’re headed—that is, the destination—but also how we are going to get there, the path.
“Vision creates meaning for everybody in the organization.… Vision provides a worthwhile challenge.… Vision is energizing. Vision [helps to bring] the future into the present.… [And] vision [helps to create] a common identity.”
organizations without vision tend to be focused on stability, whereas organizations with vision are focused on change—in other words, how are they changing things and realities in their organization in order to move to a preferred future?—not just focused on the status quo or a sense of stability.
Again, organizations without vision tend to be focused on past performance, where visionary organizations tend to be moving towards and progressing towards goals in the future. Again, organizations without vision tend to be somewhat tactical in nature—responsive, if you will—organizations with vision tend to be more strategic and are active and proactive in bringing about this future. Organizations without vision tend to be focused on short-term results; organizations with vision are looking towards long-term results along the way. Organizations without vision tend to be driven by habit and fear, whereas organizations with vision are focused on the positive dimensions of group pressure: How do we work together and have a collective ownership of this future vision and how we’re working towards it? And as we’ve already alluded to, organizations without vision tend to be reactive in nature, whereas organizations with vision tend to be proactive in nature.
vision helps to focus and appropriately restrain the work and energy of the community. Rather than working to focus on everything, there is a sense of staying focused on what matters most: that which the leadership and community is focused on in terms of its vision.
Effective leaders don’t push or production their followers. They don’t boss them around or manipulate them. They are out front showing the way. The vision allows leaders to inspire, attract, align, and energize their followers, to empower them by encouraging them to become part of a common enterprise dedicated to achieving the vision.”
“Good leaders don’t settle for what they know they can do; they envision what God can enable them to do.”
Purpose in Leadership:
it comes down to providing answers to at least three critical questions. We might frame this around “what?” “how?” and “why?”
Leaders really need to address for their communities, first of all, what it is that they’re focusing on. This is what we might call “goal orientation
there is a priority given to followers in leadership that is effective in our day and age. It’s not just about getting things done and walking all over peoples’ backs. It’s about getting things done in a way that also honors the community of people that we are working with and serving—follower focused in its orientation.
How do we motivate through a sense of purpose and meaning? That is, how are we orienting ourselves around the deep answers to the “why”
the servant leader’s focus is on the followers, and the achievement of the organizational objectives is a subordinate outcome.”
“Those who would aspire to leadership roles in this new environment must not underestimate the depth of this human need for meaning. It is a most fundamental human craving, an appetite that will not go away.”
Meaning is “that which makes one’s life most important, coherent, and worthwhile.” Another author put it this way: Meaning is “the degree to which people’s lives make emotional sense and that the demands confronted by them are perceived as being worthy of energy and commitment.” And finally, Eisenberg and Goodall put it this way: “[Leaders and followers] want to feel that the work they do is worthwhile, rather than just a way to draw a paycheck … a transformation of its meaning—from drudgery to a source of personal significance and fulfillment.”
The four i’s of transformational leadership.
Idealized influence is about the leader not only telling a follower what to do, but providing an idealized example of that
to inspire a motivation that is flowing from that heart, not just speaking to the mind of the follower but also to the heart at the level of inspirational motivation
intellectual stimulation. This is not only about leaders being intelligent, but it is about helping followers to think for themselves as well. It’s not a model that is just about dictating to followers what they’re to do, it’s about helping to stimulate the intellectual process for followers so they can begin to solve problems on their own, begin to think creatively about the challenges
Transformational leadership reminds us that the leaders and followers alike must be owners of the broad vision that they’re working towards as a community
The primary allegiance of transformational leaders is the organization. The personal growth of followers is seen within the context of what is good for the organization because of a desire to perform better.’ In contrast to this emphasis of transformational leaders, servant leaders see the value and growth of followers as primary, [rather than] secondary.”
Servant Leadership
A new moral principle is emerging, which holds that the only authority deserving one’s allegiance is that which is freely and knowingly granted by the led to the leader in response to, and in proportion to, the clearly evidenced servant stature of the leader.
servant leaders value people, servant leaders develop people, servant leaders build community, servant leaders build authenticity, servant leaders provide leadership, but they don’t just stay there, they also share leadership
even in our churches, we all too often lean on positional power to get things done. Positional power is where power is derived from the leader’s position or rank. And yet when we’re talking about principles of leadership that connect to things like transformational leadership, servant leadership, and authentic leadership theory, it’s much more important for leaders to possess personal power—that is, power that is derived from a follower seeing a heart for service in a leader and then being willing to follow this leader based upon this personal example that the leader is providing
“Increasingly, the best leaders are those who don’t order but persuade; [they] don’t dictate but draw out; [they] don’t squeeze but grow the people around them. They push power out of the front office, down into the organization, and become leader of [leaders]. Most important, as Peter Drucker insisted, they understand that the people in an organization are its number one asset.”
The fact is, when organizations do this well, even companies that do this well, they tend to thrive because employees that are cared for and honored work hard. They give back to their community, they serve the organization that they’re a part of
servant leadership is not only biblical and a good idea, it’s also effective. It increases follower job satisfaction, it increases the effectiveness of teams in organizations, and it increases the overall morale of the community
What servant leaders do
Inauthentic leaders can demand of followers what they as leader are unwilling to do. Authentic leaders, however, must model what matters and be willing to practice what they preach, so to speak, when it comes to expected organizational behavior
Similar to the biblical admonition to “first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye,” engaging in honest self-evaluation requires leader humility, a capacity for self-awareness, and a willingness to reflect on personal faults and shortcomings which shape the organizational environment and leader-follower relationships.
this leadership behavior highlights the importance of leaders encouraging followers to work together over competing against one another in the organizational environment.
The second cluster of servant leadership practices, leadership behaviors associated with team effectiveness, include the following: valuing and appreciating people, creating a place for individuality, and understanding relational skills
People are to be valued and developed, not used.… Leaders accept the fact that people have present value not just future potential.
Effective leaders accept a person’s value up front. They give them the gift of trust without requiring [them to] earn it first. As leaders work with people in organizations they will serve them by displaying the qualities of Valuing People.
a follower feels valued and appreciated “when a leader authentically and legitimately applauds the performance of a follower and acknowledges their unique contribution with concrete examples.”
One participant notes, “Set strategic goals, but allow individuals to engage in creative processes to get there.”
commonality at the level of mission, vision, goals, and values provides “the glue that holds the organization together,” and that “under this umbrella there is ample room for individuality.”
Knowing how to get along with people can feel like an overly simplistic leadership skill, but the analysis supporting the model in this reflection demonstrates that this is a key leadership behavior for team effectiveness