Pros and Cons of Servant Leadership Management Style

Organizational Behavior 1
Organizational Behavior
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Organizational Behavior 2
“A servant leadership management style is the best approach for managing people in
organizations. Discuss the pros and cons of this argument.”
Servant leadership is a leadership concept that was introduced in the 1970s by a
philosopher known as Robert K. Greenleaf (Kim, 2016, pg. 1). The servant leadership
philosophy is widely accepted and implemented by world renown advocates and
companies since its embraces the ideology that servant leaders evolve into leaders due
to their desire to serve. Servant leadership refers to an approach of leadership that
requires leaders to readily attend and manage the needs of their followers so that they
can also become servant leaders (Kim, 2016, pg. 3). The philosophy holds that a
servant leader begins by having the feeling to serve then the conscious choice to serve
brings one to aspire to lead (Kantharia, 2012, pg. 3). A servant leader is quite different
from the traditional leader since a servant leader has no unusual power drive or
increased desire to acquire material possessions.
Servant leadership assumes completeness in itself since both the words servant
and leader act complementary to each other. According to many people, servant
leadership management style appears to be the best approach for managing people in
an organization. However, in this essay, the pros, cons and the recommendations of the
argument will be covered for easy understanding.
Beginning with the pros, servant leadership management is the best for
managing people since it supports team building particularly in a diverse workplace
(Song, Park, and Kang, 2015, pg. 1751). Managing employees with an autocratic style
promote conflicts which result in increased discordance and alienation. Therefore, by
employing the servant leadership management style, a leader creates an advantageous
outcome for each member in the workplace since each member is free to contribute
freely on the basis of his or her experience. Besides, through the team building activities
and exercises, each employee in an organization is able to showcase his or her skills
hence making it more effective for the employees to collaborate in work activities
efficiently (Chiniara, and Bentein, 2018, pg. 339). This translates to increased
productivity in an organization.

Organizational Behavior 3
Secondly, servant leadership management style makes it possible for the
achievement of employee needs and objectives. This style of management involves the
whole team in an organization, and therefore, each employee has a vote in each
decision. This creates a positive atmosphere in the organization due to the values
promoted (Newman, at al, 2017, pg. 54). Employees are therefore able to establish their
key performance indicators. In addition, employees are empowered to make
organizational changes that allow for the long-term success of the organization. Since
employees are able to relate to the objectives as well as have a say in the achievement
of the objectives, the motivation to achieve the objectives increases exponentially. In
such a setting, employees are able to work without a supervisor because they
understand their responsibility in the organization.
Thirdly, servant leadership management style makes use of staff viewpoints in
determining the goals and mission of an organization. This means managing change is
much easier and effective. Besides, employees can manage their careers such that
they are able to achieve an appropriate life and work balance hence being able to
determine their future (Chiniara, and Bentein, 2018, pg. 342). Employees that play an
active role in evaluating and determining an organization’s transition to the new style of
operation tend to be more productive, loyal and satisfied. Their focus and direction is
also sharpened and made effective. Therefore, an organization gets to benefit much
hence being able to grow exponentially.
Lastly, servant leadership management style promotes satisfaction in the
workplace. When employees work under a servant leader, they operate for the benefit
of everyone meaning that all needs get met. Besides, employee satisfaction rates
increase continuously since every employee is recognized as a special asset for the
company as well as needs of the employees are also timely met (Li, et al, 2018, pg. 7).
However, in a democratic leadership management style, a particular group is satisfied
hence missing on the others. This may lower the employee satisfaction rate. Therefore,
in a servant leadership management style, the inclusion of employees in activities such
as decision-making guarantees more satisfaction since everyone’s opinion get heard
(VanMeter, et al, 2016, pg. 63).