Leadership Case

Servant leadership demands those qualities in a leader that are absent in most of the other styles of leadership. Listening forms one of the most crucial tenets of servant leader. To actively listen is to convey, with body, face, eyes, posture, gestures, means that one is really interested in hearing what someone is saying. Research has shown that many people when engaged in dialog, listen inattentively to others and spend time in rehearsing what they wish to say. Such a tendency defeats the purpose of being a servant leader.

The servant leader must be able to put himself in the follower's shoes; be empathetic towards the followers. Empathy is a key trait of servant leaders. Without empathy, one can't build trust. And without trust, one will never be able to get the best effort from his employees. Empathy can be shown by persuasion. The leader who influences by persuasion need not tell the follower what to do. The leader acknowledges his dependency on the follower. Although a manager may have the authority to carry out certain actions without consulting subordinates, it is probably more effective to include them as it gives them the opportunity to express their opinions. By actively soliciting agreement a leader makes a strong appeal to the follower's esteem.

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