Leadership

There are many types of leaders in this world, and as a result, there are several theories of leadership. This paper will explore the theory of Servant Leadership, and identify Winston Churchill as a Servant Leader using the Five Practices of Effective leaders as identified by Kouzes and Posner. Servant Leadership is a relatively new concept of leadership theory that was first identified in 1970 by Robert K. Greenleaf in an essay titled, The Servant as Leader. Servant leadership focuses on the betterment of a group instead of the traditional leadership style that focuses on the excise of power. In his essay, The Servant as Leader, Greanleaf states, “The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first, perhaps because of the need to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire material possessions…The leader-first and the servant-first are two extreme types. Between them there are shadings and blends that are part of the infinite variety of human nature. The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant-first to make sure that other people’s highest priority needs are being served.”

Servant Leadership allows leaders to share power, put the needs of others first, and encourages individuals to perform at their best. Greenleaf developed a set of characteristics associated with servant leaders. These characteristics are: listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualism, foresight, stewardship, commitment to growth of people, and building community. Listening allows a person to identify the common goals of a group of people. Empathy is an important charactheristic because it allows one to accept others for all of their unique qualities. Healing is important when dealing with someone who has had their spirit broken. Awareness allows an individual to hold on to ones...