Question
Think about Greenleaf’s principles of servant leadership and what you have learned about the biblical foundation of servant leadership. Identify specific principles of servant leadership that, when employed effectively, can proliferate respect for multiculturalism and diversity within the organizations and communities they serve? Provide specific examples to illustrate your ideas.
Answer
According to Robert Greenleaf, a servant-leader is first and foremost a servant. In essence, Greenleaf believes that to identify oneself as a servant leader, one must be willing to serve first (Greenleaf, 2002). Servant leadership refers to a set of principles that when applied effectively can create better organizational environments, enrich the lives of different individuals and ultimately create a world that is more caring and just (Parris & Peachey, 2013). The same concept of leadership can be found throughout the Bible and especially in the Gospel of Mark through the acts and teachings of Jesus Christ that emphasized on giving rather than receiving.
Greenleaf came up with several principles of servant leadership, many of which have been further formulated by other philosophers and writers including Larry Spears and James Sipe. Embracing multiculturalism and diversity is very important when dealing with different organizations and communities (Spears, 1995). Awareness, therefore, is a relevant principle in this case as it enables all the parties to understand that every culture is different and diverse (Greenleaf, 2002). Further, awareness makes people know that there are different practices all over the world and that every culture is unique in its way and as such should be respected.
Additionally, commitment to the growth of the people within the organizations as well as the communities they serve creates an environment in which the servant leaders are spirituality-driven and have a sense of belonging (Greenleaf, 2002). In a community, this is invaluable as its leaders embrace the different historical and cultural backgrounds of the people while at the same time maintaining their worldview (Hao, 2016). This way, everyone can learn to coexist with each other for the greater good of the community or organization in question.
References
Greenleaf, R. K. (2002). Servant leadership: A journey into the nature of legitimate power and greatness. Paulist Press.
Hao, Y. (2016). Servant Leadership in Communities of Color: A Powerful Tool. The William and Mary Educational Review, 4(2), 7.
Parris, D. L., & Peachey, J. W. (2013). A systematic literature review of servant leadership theory in organizational contexts. Journal of business ethics, 113(3), 377-393.
Spears, L. C. (1995). Reflections on leadership: How Robert K. Greenleaf’s theory of servant-leadership influenced today’s top management thinkers (No. 658.4092 R333r). New York: Wiley.