How to Coach Yourself and Others Essential Knowledge For Coaching | Page 506

Spears (2002) lists: listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion,
conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to growth of
people, and building community.
An excellent example of a servant leader is Ernest Shackleton, the early
20th century explorer who, after his ship became frozen in the Antarctic
life, brought every one of his 27 crew home alive, including an 800 mile
journey in open boats across the winter Antarctic seas. It took two
years, but Shackleton's sense of responsibility towards his men never
wavered.
Discussion
Greenleaf says that true leadership "emerges from those whose primary
motivation is a deep desire to help others." Servant leadership is a very
moral position, putting the well-being of the followers before other
goals.
It is easy to dismiss servant leadership as soft and easy, though this is
not necessarily so, as individual followers may be expected to make
sacrifices for the good of the whole, in the way of the servant leader.
The focus on the less privileged in society shows the servant leader as
serving not just their followers but also the whole of society.
Servant leadership is a natural model for working in the public sector. It
requires more careful interpretation in the private sector lest the needs
of the shareholders and customers and the rigors of market competition
are lost.
A challenge to servant leadership is in the assumption of the leader that
the followers want to change. There is also the question of what 'better'
is and who decides this.
Servant leadership aligns closely with religious morals and has been
adopted by several Christian organizations.

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