Stewardship

Stewardship and Servant Leadership

Servant leadership, according to Peter Block, writing about the relationship between stewardship and leadership in an organizational context, means that a person is held accountable for the good of the whole organization by operating as a servant leader—that is, in service to others in the organization. This perspective on leadership can be contrasted to leadership based on authority and attempts to control others, where the emphasis tends to be on personal gains and self-interest. The key to stewardship in Block's view is the idea of service or servant leadership. Service needs to be authentic or real to be effective. Block argues that service is authentic when there is a balance of power that allows individuals who are not in formal positions of authority to be responsible for their own actions; when the first commitment is to the larger entity, organization, or community rather than the self; when the purpose of the enterprise is jointly defined; and when rewards are equitably and fairly distributed.

The idea behind stewardship is one of reallocating power and resources and the generation of meaning and purpose in an organization more equitably among all the participants in an organization rather than simply locating it in persons holding positions of authority. This view of leadership suggests that empowerment and individual responsibility are critical factors in creating successful organizations. From the perspective of stewardship, when organizations face crises, particularly economic crises, they should focus not on a wealth maximizing or economic goal but on quality, participation, and service. Rather than calling the way the organization is run management, as is typical, Peter Block says it is best to call it governance. This form of governance is focused on partnership and empowerment rather than more patriarchal or authoritative forms of managing. Partnership in this model has four key elements: exchange of purpose or the capacity for each individual to define vision and values for the enterprise, the right to say no or express one's point of view even when one does not get one's way, joint accountability in that each person is responsible for what is happening in the organization and its results, and absolute honesty.

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