Solved! Discuss the traits, behaviors, and leadership style you would expect to see in a person who identifies as a servant leader. In your response, include discussion about the following

Discuss the traits, behaviors, and leadership style you would expect to see in a person who identifies as a servant leader

Discuss the traits, behaviors, and leadership style you would expect to see in a person who identifies as a servant leader. In your response, include discussion about the following:

• In what ways can servant leadership be considered a calling?
• When people commit to being servant leaders, what does that mean about the types of behaviors they exhibit and prohibit personally and within the organizations they are leading?
• How does servant leadership differ from traditional forms of leadership?

Strengthen your claims with supporting citations from topic study materials. Provide in-text citations and corresponding references.

Expert Answer and Explanation

The identification of a servant leader is through the display of distinct traits. The core characteristics they must show include humility, empathy, and a deep commitment to the growth and well-being of others. Greenleaf (2002) stipulated that these leaders must have the intrinsic desire “to serve first,” which reflects a calling rather than a professional ambition. As such, the expectation is that a servant leader must have the desire to place others’ needs above their own and to view leadership as stewardship rather than authority.

Similarly, St. John (2019) noted that keen on servant leadership could emulate the lives of famous figures such as Jesus, Moses, Muhammad, and the Buddha who sacrificed their personal comfort for communal upliftment. Given that these figures assumed their positions via a calling, servant leaders should also consider their positions a calling.

When individuals commit to being servant leaders, their behaviors reflect ethical consistency, empathy, and active listening. Their respective organizations demand that they give up their personal ambition and sacrifice for their team. The practice of the leadership style prohibits behaviors such as manipulation, authoritarian control, and exploitation. Greenleaf (2002) indicated that that true leaders measure their effectiveness by the growth, autonomy, and health of those they serve. Aspiring servant leaders must practice participatory decision-making, shared vision, and moral accountability that promotes both organizational success and human dignity.

The above servant leadership practices differ from traditional leadership models. The latter is keen on manipulation, authoritarian control, and exploitation to wield power (Sternberg et al., 2025). Conversely, those keen on being servant leaders must be keen to practice service, moral influence, and holistic development. Servant leadership calls for a leader inspiring others not through command, but through compassion and service.

References

Greenleaf, R. K. (2002). Servant leadership: A journey into the nature of legitimate power and greatness (25th Anniversary ed.). Paulist Press.

St. John, C. (n.d.). Transcending boundaries: Servant leadership and world religions [Video]. Grand Canyon University. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGG0BnodEUg&list=PLg_v7K-G8mej78wWAMH_IQCreR8HfvM81

Sternberg, R. J., Soleimani Dashtaki, A., & Power, S. A. (2025). The wonderland model of toxic creativity in leadership: When the “never again” impossible becomes not only possible but actual. Possibility Studies & Society, 3(2), 348-373