What is Servant Leadership? 5 benefits for businesses

Servant Leadership is a term that is being mentioned quite a lot recently, especially in global management forums. So, what is Servant Leadership and what does it bring to a business? Let’s find out with 1Office in the following article!

I. What is Servant Leadership?

“Servant Leadership” originated from the idea of Robert K Greenleaf – director of human resource development at AT&T in 1970, emphasizing that a leader’s first role is to serve, take a holistic approach to work, promote awareness, and share power with others.

A servant leader is a leader whose first role is to serve those around them.

Theoretically, leadership is divided into three main styles: the autocratic style, the democratic style, and the laissez-faire style.

Today, in many businesses, the autocratic leadership style is gradually giving way to a more democratic way of working.

You might see servant leadership as similar to democratic leadership. However, while a democratic leader values harmony, listening, and encouraging employees, their primary role is still that of a leader.

In contrast, a Servant Leader considers serving to be first and foremost, their highest priority.

Greenleaf realized that a leader could also originate from being a servant. Therefore, Greenleaf’s idea of a servant leader is:

“A great leader must first be a dedicated servant, possessing a sense of service from deep within.”

A leader following the servant leadership philosophy aims to help their subordinates and assist them in developing and performing their jobs well.

This philosophy also requires the leader to show empathy, be willing to listen, know how to manage work reasonably, and be dedicated to helping others improve.

See more: 10 Japanese business management secrets “worth pondering”

II. Benefits of Servant Leadership for Businesses

When you clearly understand what Servant Leadership is, you will see the positive impacts of this leadership style on businesses. These benefits have been proven in many studies by renowned scholars.

The most notable among them is the essay “Greenleaf’s Best Test of Servant Leadership: A Multilevel Analysis” by Professor Robert W. Hayden.

According to the study, he discussed what the Servant Leadership model is and pointed out 5 significant benefits that Servant Leadership offers compared to other management styles:

1. Servant Leadership builds employee loyalty

When you understand what Servant Leadership is, you will see that it is unlike traditional management styles. For a Servant Leader, the needs of the employees are the top priority.

The servant leader encourages their employees to participate in all aspects of the decision-making process.

Servant Leadership builds employee loyalty

When employees are empowered to build and contribute to a common goal, they will see their own responsibility and role, and a strong sense of loyalty is built over time.

See more: What factors influence corporate culture?

2. Encourages employees to participate in company activities

As a superior, most have authority and decision-making power in certain tasks. Thanks to this, they are willing to make small changes to help employees have more freedom in their work.

When they can comfortably perform their assigned tasks and receive encouragement and help from their manager, they will feel more at ease to take on other tasks outside their scope that are assigned by their superior.

3. Servant Leadership improves organizational productivity

Applying the servant leadership style can significantly improve your business’s performance. Servant leadership goes against traditional management, always supporting employees with the freedom and flexibility to learn, explore, and solve challenges on their own. As a result, employees will have greater job satisfaction and work more positively and diligently.

See more: 14 golden principles in business administration by Henri Fayol

4. Reduces the abuse of power at work

This is also a huge benefit that the Servant Leadership style brings to businesses today. Superiors who follow this style, instead of being autocratic and dictatorial in all matters, will share information and consider solutions proposed by their employees.

Such superiors are willing to give up their power to fulfill the desires that benefit others. Therefore, the problem of autocracy and abuse of power in businesses will be significantly reduced.

This helps the business create a more professional, civilized work environment and make new strides in the future.

5. Adapts quickly to environmental changes in large enterprises

The Servant Leadership approach can be effective in various work environments. If the management style is dictatorial and autocratic, it can easily cause resentment and misunderstanding from employees towards their leaders.

With the servant leadership style, the leader creates a more comfortable feeling for employees and makes them feel that their role in the company is truly important. This greatly increases employee engagement with the organization.

III. Servant Leader – The Secret to Success for Many Business Leaders

1. FedEx

Today, the servant leadership style continues to create significant change in many work environments around the world. Large enterprises known for their success with Servant Leaders include: Google, Microsoft, Starbucks, Marriott, FedEx, and more.

FedEx was founded in 1971 by Fred Smith, who still leads the company as CEO. He believes that “when people are put first, they will provide the highest possible service, and profits will follow.” The ‘People – Service – Profit’ philosophy has helped the company grow rapidly and remain competitive.

See more: 7 mistakes CEOs make in business administration and how to avoid them

2. Starbucks

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has long promoted principles consistent with the servant leadership model. CEO Howard Schultz believes that a great company can only be built by aligning shareholder value with employee value.

His company also puts those values into action by providing hourly employees with significantly better benefits than the average business, including access to stock options, healthcare, and even university tuition reimbursement.

The company is also known for holding several open forums each year, where employees have the opportunity to speak frankly with management, ask questions, and voice their concerns.

3. Google

Google has always been named one of the best places to work. Known for its strong corporate culture, Google aims to inspire creativity, innovation, and employee development.

Google employees are provided with free services such as meals, haircuts, transportation, and gym memberships. In addition to material perks, Google also encourages employees to communicate openly and listen to those around them.

Larry Sergey – CEO of Google’s parent company, Alphabet – held a weekly call. In it, he personally answered questions from employees at all levels of the business to better understand their thoughts and desires.

The success of the major corporations mentioned above demonstrates the positive impacts of the Servant Leader style on business development. You can see that Servant Leadership is a leadership style worth learning and applying in today’s era.

If you want to promote success and build a positive culture for your business, the Servant Leadership style is an excellent way to do it.

See more: “Boosting” employee morale – An essential skill for managers

IV. Effective business management secrets for Vietnamese enterprises

Understanding the challenges businesses face during the digital transformation era, 1Office provides a comprehensive business management solution that includes a set of digital tools to help businesses improve work efficiency, manage projects and campaigns, thereby saving time, costs, and other resources.

This is a powerful tool that helps leaders manage their businesses with ease.

With the Workplace toolkit, departments can easily search and filter information. Managers can easily access and monitor project progress without needing to be physically present. Digitizing all images and data helps businesses easily reach and attract potential customers.

In addition, the HRM toolkit can solve all human resource management problems by quickly digitizing all data. The process of nurturing, classifying, and screening candidate profiles during recruitment is also carried out in detail with a clear and transparent process.

This helps managers clearly grasp the personnel situation, and then provide a comprehensive overview of human resource fluctuations to address them promptly.

Furthermore, the data security feature is also enhanced, minimizing the risk of information leaks to prevent malicious actors from exploiting it and affecting the company’s reputation.

Anyone in the business can easily use the 1Office software. With simple and easy-to-understand operations, superiors and employees can interact, freely discuss, and share everything through the internal network, helping to save time and improve work efficiency.

In addition, 1Office has been selected by the Ministry of Information and Communications as a pioneering platform in the national digital transformation program, serving as a solution that brings sustainable efficiency to businesses.

1Office hopes this article has helped you better understand the “servant leadership” style and provided you with more information and knowledge to apply in your future work.

Additionally, if you are facing difficulties in business management, sign up for a trial to receive a consultation, and 1Office will help you resolve your challenges quickly!

See more:

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