Servant Leadership Essay

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Running head: SERVANT Servant Leadership Jane Doe Submitted to Johnny Depp, MSN in partial fulfillment of MHA 620 Administration in Healthcare Wingate University October 28, 2009 Servant Leadership What makes a good, effective leader? This question is the basis for many current books, essays, papers and articles as it is (and should be) the aim of managers, directors, and officers in any level of leadership to perform at the highest level possible. Servant leadership is just one style of management utilized in the workplace to achieve success in a leader role. The best definition of a servant leader was provided in 1970 by its founder, Robert Greenleaf, in his poignant essay Servant as Leader. The Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership quotes, “The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead” (What is Leadership section, ¶2). This paper will examine the commonalities and differences between servant leadership and other styles of management, specific applications of servant leadership at Acme Hospital, and my personal goals to apply servant leadership to my newly appointed position as manager in our Biology department. Styles of Leadership Longest and Darr (2008) outline the following different styles of leadership: Autocratic, consultative, participative, democratic, and laissez-faire. These management styles range from the least amount of employee involvement in the decision-making process to the most involved where the leader is less of a voice than the staff below him/her. Servant leadership has the most in common with the middle range of styles, including consultative, participative, and democratic. Since servant leadership concentrates on serving employees and the greater good, employees will be

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