Servant Leadership

Servant leadership refers to leaders who guide, motivate, instill hope, and create a humble and caring environment through establishing a high-quality relationship with their followers. Robert Greenleaf in 1977 first coined the term servant leadership and introduced it in the management literature. In his seminal article “The Servant as Leader,” he claimed [Page 1418]that a leader should view himself first as a servant, then as a leader. A servant leader places the subordinates’ motives, values, and interests above his or her own. A servant leader’s inherent desire and primary objective is to serve first, as opposed to lead. Servant leaders intend to transform their subordinates to become stronger, independent, sensible, and more likely to become servants themselves.

The concept of servant leadership puts the leader in ...