The Secret Sauce of Servant Leadership
The Secret Sauce of Servant Leadership
Peter Scheuermann | 2022
Abstract
Today’s leaders often struggle with determining what the right path is for their leadership journey. What education, skillsets, requirements, and contacts should they develop to achieve leadership effectiveness and success? Where do leaders begin to find the right path or guide to achieve leadership success? Servant leadership is an approach everyone can apply both in their work and personal lives. Servant leadership is a leader’s complete focus on the follower, for their success and full benefit so much so, the leader will sacrifice their own personal gain and glory. While this approach to leadership is not the only method, everyone can improve by applying a few of its essential characteristics, making themselves more effective and successful in their leadership. This paper addresses these questions by reviewing leadership concepts and topics and identifying the required ingredients needed to develop the secret sauce of servant leadership for today’s modern leader to employ. This manuscript was born out of reading and studying several scholarly publications, academic research, and numerous books on organizational development, leadership theories, and practical application content.
Over the last sixty years, servant leadership has emerged as one of the prominent leadership styles for leaders to adopt and employ for organizational success. However, the primary focus of servant leadership is not the success of the organization or the leader, but the follower or individual. Servant leadership focuses on the individual and their ability to grow every day, pursuing self-actualization, and experiencing a life changed for their greater good and all those around them. How is this accomplished given the billions of people who exist on the globe today? Love. Love of people. Love is this primary ingredient.
This manuscript is designed to help either a new leader just beginning in their leadership journey or someone who has been in leadership roles (people manager or project related) to quickly understand the topics and start employing recommended application actions and behaviors. These chapters in this manuscript are designed to serve as a launching pad to ignite and quickly start a leader down the path of servant leadership. Each chapter is structured with four sections. The first section provides a definition and summary overview of the concept, supported by scholarly research. The second section offers modern-day examples over the last century in individuals and organizations that lived or live out the idea or topic that everyone can relate to. This includes a brief insightful summary of the leader or known organization and the concept or topic they display. The third section is an in-person interview with someone who lives out these characteristics in their profession. Finally, the fourth section is a recommended practical application of the concept that the leader can employ in his or her organization. While this manuscript is written with a strong Christian and biblical perspective including references and examples, the goal is for all readers to gain understanding as to what servant leadership is, and how it can be applied and lived out in everyone’s life, no matter spiritual affiliation, position, financial status, or location. The following paragraphs provide a summary of each chapter presented in this manuscript.