OVERVIEW
(UNDERSTANDING THE CONCEPT OF LEADERSHIP)
“It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership.”
Nelson Mandela (1990)
Gary Yukl (2006) defines leadership as “the process of influencing others to understand and agree about what needs to be done and how to do it, and the process of facilitating individual and collective efforts to accomplish shared objectives” .
Peter Northouse (2010) defines leadership as “a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal”
These definitions suggest several components central to the phenomenon of leadership.
Some of them are as follows:
(a) Leadership is a process,
(b) Leadership involves influencing others,
(c) Leadership happens within the context of a group,
(d) Leadership involves goal attainment, and
(e) These goals are shared by leaders and their followers.
The very act of defining leadership as a process suggests that leadership is not a characteristic or trait with which only a few certain people are endowed at birth. Defining leadership as a process means that leadership is a transactional event that happens between leaders and their followers.
Viewing leadership as a process means that leaders affect and are affected by their followers either positively or negatively. It stresses that leadership is a two-way, interactive event between leaders and followers rather than a linear, one-way event in which the leader affects the followers but not vice versa. Defining leadership as a process makes it available to everyone, not just a select few who are born with it. More important, it means that leadership is not restricted to just the one person in a group who has formal position power (i.e., the formally appointed leader).
Having given a brief introduction to what the concept of leadership is, this write-up/paper, shall attempt to explicate comprehensively the concept of Servant Leadership as a form/type of leadership. Exploring the definitions, origin, looking at examples or case studies of those who have engaged in such leadership style/pattern, the advantages and possibly, the dis-advantages.
Keywords: servant, leadership.