PREFERRED LEADERSHIP STYLE AND BIBLICAL APPLICATION ASSIGNME…

Below and attached are the instructions. Servant Leadership Style is what I want you to use.

OVERVIEW

This assignment provides students with an opportunity to assimilate the leadership knowledge

acquired from this course concerning their preferred leadership style and integrate it with

Biblical applications. Students will combine knowledge obtained from the textbook, peer-

reviewed journal articles, and the Bible in completing the assignment.

INSTRUCTIONS

Search the Bible for at least three verses / passages that demonstrate the application of your

preferred leadership style. The paper must include five sections:

First section: Introduction

Second section: State and discuss the Bible verses that can be applied to your preferred

leadership style. Please make sure to review and analyze the context of the verses you

selected to gain a correct understanding of the message contained therein.

Third section: Discuss leadership principles / concepts found within your Bible verses.

Fourth section: Discuss the importance of understanding and applying the truth of the Bible

in relationships concerning leaders and followers.

Fifth section: Conclusion

Your paper must include:

Minimum 2000 words body of the paper (not including the title page, abstract, and

references)

The Bible

5 scholarly, peer-reviewed sources

Course textbooks

Title page

Abstract

Reference list

Here is information about servant leadership from the textbook “Leadership” by Peter G Northouse

Servant leadership is a paradoxan 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 influence? How can a person be a leader and a servant at the same time? Although servant leadership seems contradictory and challenges our traditional beliefs about leadership, it is an approach that offers a unique perspective.

Servant leadership, which originated in the writings of Greenleaf (1970, 1972, 1977), has been of interest to leadership scholars for more than 40 years. Until recently, little empirical research on servant leadership has appeared in established peer-reviewed journals. Most of the academic and nonacademic writing on the topic has been prescriptive, focusing on how servant leadership should ideally be, rather than descriptive, focusing on what servant leadership actually is in practice (van Dierendonck, 2011). However, in the past 10 years, multiple publications have helped to clarify servant leadership and substantiate its basic assumptions.

Similar to earlier leadership theories discussed in this book (e.g., skills approach [Chapter 3] and behavioral approach [Chapter 4]), servant leadership is an approach focusing on leadership from the point of view of leaders and their behaviors. Servant leadership emphasizes that leaders be attentive to the concerns of their followers, empathize with them, and nurture them. Servant leaders put followers first, empower them, and help them develop their full personal capacities.

In addition, like the authentic leadership approach, which is discussed in Chapter 9, and ethical leadership, which is explored in Chapter 16, servant leadership is viewed as a moral form of leadership. Servant leaders are ethical and lead in ways that serve the greater good of the organization, community, and society at large. What sets servant leadership apart from other moral leadership approaches is its focus on serving these multiple stakeholders (Lemoine, Hartnell, & Leroy, 2019).

Servant Leadership Defined

What is servant leadership? Scholars have addressed this approach from many different perspectives resulting in a variety of definitions of servant leadership. Greenleaf (1970) provides the most frequently referenced definition:

[Servant leadership] begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. . . . The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servantfirst to make sure that other peoples highest priority needs are being served. The best test . . . 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? (p. 15)

Although complex, this definition sets forth the basic ideas of servant leadership that have been highlighted by current scholars. Servant leaders place the good of followers over their own self-interests and emphasize follower development (Hale & Fields, 2007). They demonstrate strong moral behavior toward followers (Graham, 1991; Walumbwa, Hartnell, & Oke, 2010), the organization, and other stakeholders (Ehrhart, 2004). Practicing servant leadership comes more naturally for some than for others, but everyone can learn to be a servant leader (Spears, 2010). Although servant leadership is sometimes treated by others as a trait, in our discussion servant leadership is viewed as a set of behaviors.

Historical Basis of Servant Leadership

Robert K. Greenleaf coined the term servant leadership and is the author of the seminal works on the subject. Greenleafs persona and writings have significantly influenced how servant leadership has developed on the practical and theoretical level. He founded the Center for Applied Ethics in 1964, now the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership, which provides a clearinghouse and focal point for research and writing on servant leadership.

Greenleaf worked for 40 years at AT&T and, after retiring, began exploring how institutions function and how they could better serve society. He was intrigued by issues of power and authority and how individuals in organizations could creatively support each other. Decidedly against coercive leadership, Greenleaf advocated using communication to build consensus in groups.

Greenleaf credits his formulation of servant leadership to Hermann Hesses (1956) novel The Journey to the East. It tells the story of a group of travelers on a mythical journey who are accompanied by a servant who does menial chores for the travelers but also sustains them with his spirits and song. The servants presence has an extraordinary impact on the group. When the servant becomes lost and disappears from the group, the travelers fall into disarray and abandon the journey. Without the servant, they are unable to carry on. It was the servant who was ultimately leading the group, emerging as a leader through his selfless care of the travelers.

In addition to serving, Greenleaf states that a servant leader has a social responsibility to be concerned about those who are marginalized and those less privileged. If inequalities and social injustices exist, a servant leader tries to remove them (Graham, 1991). In becoming a servant leader, a leader uses less institutional power and control while shifting authority to those who are being led. Servant leadership values community because it provides a face-to-face opportunity for individuals to experience interdependence, respect, trust, and individual growth (Greenleaf, 1970).

Ten Characteristics of a Servant Leader

In an attempt to clarify servant leadership for practitioners, Spears (2002) identified 10 characteristics in Greenleafs writings that are central to the development of servant leadership. Together, these characteristics comprise the first model or conceptualization of servant leadership.

Listening. Communication between leaders and followers is an interactive process that includes sending and receiving messages (i.e., talking and listening). Servant leaders communicate by listening first. They recognize that listening is a learned discipline that involves hearing and being receptive to what others have to say. Through listening, servant leaders acknowledge the viewpoint of followers and validate these perspectives.

Empathy. Empathy is standing in the shoes of another person and attempting to see the world from that persons point of view. Empathetic servant leaders demonstrate that they truly understand what followers are thinking and feeling. When a servant leader shows empathy, it is confirming and validating for the follower. It makes the follower feel unique.

Healing. To heal means to make whole. Servant leaders care about the personal well-being of their followers. They support followers by helping them overcome personal problems. Greenleaf argues that the process of healing is a two-way streetin helping followers become whole, servant leaders themselves are healed.

Awareness. For Greenleaf, awareness is a quality within servant leaders that makes them acutely attuned and receptive to their physical, social, and political environments. It includes understanding oneself and the impact one has on others. With awareness, servant leaders are able to step aside and view themselves and their own perspectives in the greater context of the situation.

Persuasion. Persuasion is clear and persistent communication that convinces others to change. As opposed to coercion, which utilizes positional authority to force compliance, persuasion creates change through the use of gentle nonjudgmental argument. According to Spears (2002), Greenleafs emphasis on persuasion over coercion is perhaps related to his denominational affiliation with the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers).